All About Pocket Knives

I was wondering which one would be the best kind to get for pocket knives. I have tried non-electric ones and they just don't seem to make the knife very sharp. In fact the one I bought from Menards appears to be making mine duller.

I think the electric knife sharpeners work the same way as the non-electric ones you refer to: stone wheels set at a specific angle with the blade being placed between them.
The electric ones will be faster but will not yield sharper blades than the manual ones.
I think the electric sharpeners were brought out when serrated kitchen knives were new and popular: 1950's & '60's because they looked difficult to sharp on stones.
The Spyderco "SharpMaker" is a jig for sharpening knives by hand that most people get good results with. If you buy one of these be sure to also get the diamond rods as your truly dull knives will need them.
kj

Welcome here, mankatoangel.

These electric sharpeners should be avoided at all cost. More than anything they make your blades ....smaller.
There are many other good ways to sharpen cutlery. Avoid any kind of grinder.
Good luck in your research.

Welcome to AAPK! I've never seen an electric sharpener I would use on a good pocket knife. Lots of good knives have been ruined by electric sharpeners.

My recommendation is to buy a good whetstone, and learn to use it. No offense intended, but it's more likely to be the user using improper technique than the stone making your knife dull. The key is to get the correct angle on the blade in relation to the stone. Some folks like assisted sharpeners (like Lansky for example), which provide a fixture to hold the blade at the proper angle. I prefer freehand but it takes some practice. If you do a search on this forum for "sharpening" there are some threads giving some good pointers. YouTube also has some good tutorials on how to use a whetstone.

Don't give up too soon. Get a couple of old junker pocket knives to practice on (you can ruin a knife on a whetstone too, just not as quickly as you can on an electric sharpener). Good luck!

Ken

Edit: Here's a good thread to get you started http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... ing#p83347

I seriously doubt that anything has ruined more pocket knives than the electric knife sharpener. Do NOT use one on any knife worth carrying in your pocket. Mumbleypeg has given you excellent advice. Spend the necessary time to learn to sharpen a knife freehand on a good stone. You'll have a skill that will serve you well all the rest of your life.

Welcome to AAPK.

There will never be an electric blade remover in my house.

I can freehand but prefer the Lansky sharpening system Mumbleypeg mentioned due to it's consistency and ability to select angles.


http://www.lansky.com

The only thing I would use an electric knife sharpener for is a boat anchor.

I have a Blademaster which is made just like the Lansky. I got it at a yard sale for $5. It is so easy to use. Within 5 minutes you can slice the pages in phone book. There are dozens of videos on the web about using these types of sharpeners. Watch a few before you decide what to buy.

Well, I do own and use a Chef's Choice three station electric knife sharpener that I use on my kitchen cutlery.

I'm not going to devote two days to sharping all my kitchen knives by hand.

Chef's Choice does a great job and once you put a blade through the first two sets of wheels, you only need use the third and less abrasive set from then one, unless you damage an edge somehow.

I would never put a pocketknife through the Chef's Choice.

I sharpen my EDC's on a diamond stone.

If I find myself in Bass Pro Shop, I will hand my single blade EDC to the guy at the knife counter to sharpen on their wheel grinder, but those are fine wheels and he loads then with compound.

Yes, blades do get smaller when sharpened, but if you use them and resharpen them, they are going to get smaller, just at different rates of speed.

Buy yourself a decent stone and learn how to use it. It isn't rocket science.

Charlie