All About Pocket Knives

SO I'm sure most of ya'll Have seen this pull through knife sharpener by EKCO, and there's a 2-ring one
by Rada Cutlery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxRNbX0LUDM&t=8s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koZga0W3R_8

I watched videos on both and was impressed by how sharp knives became after pulling them though
these wheels a number of times.
As I watch them start and they claim the edge is loud and rough, and it's going to get sharpened as the
pilling gets quieter......I have to say I was impressed....BUT....
After thinking about it, didn't they just remove the grind mark on the blades edge?
Now you have a knife that will, not hold an edge for a long time?
I am a believer in using a honing rod to rehone the factory edge.

What say you all?

I would definitely not use these on a good knife.

I have a few of these old sharpeners but have only ever regarded them as a curiosity. They look like they'd eat your blade steel for breakfast . I've not attempted to run a blade of any type through one yet for that reason.

But now that you've brought it up, I'll have to give it a try. I'll use a knife that's crummy enough to not care about but good enough to be a solid example. I'm out of state now, but tomorrow evening I'll report back.

I would never use a pull through sharpener.
A stone requires a little more skill to get a knife sharp. It's worth the effort.

Those pull through sharpeners do work but they are not good on a knife over time. It is taking the steel right off the blade and does ruin the bevel. I used one back in the 80’s before I knew better and was surprised at how often I had to use it again on the same knife. The knife just wouldn’t hold an edge unless it had just been pulled through those wheels. Your impressions of this is correct. A honing steel is one instrument I use often and it will get you back to a good edge without removing steel.

My mother acquired all of our kitchen cutlery as weekly promotions from the A&P; needless to say, not the finest of cutlery. Religiously my mother would bust out her electric Oster Knife Sharpener like the one below and sharpen every one of those blades whether they needed sharpening or not.

When we emptied the family homestead in 2007, those 50 year old knives were still being used and none of them looked like the rock pick in Shawshank Redemption. I say this because while we as collectors of fine cutlery would never consider using one, they had their place in American kitchens.

Just another viewpoint and my $0.02 on nothing to do with pull through sharpeners.

I use a pull-through as a quick fix on kitchen knives. Nothing serrated though.

I use this one at times, both sets of rods are ceramic. Nice 21/22 degrees. Quick leather strop afterward

This Eversharp knife sharpener has been in my family for many, many, many years. In ALL those years, it was in many different drawers, in many different rooms of our house. I NEVER saw anyone ever use it. It is now mine, in my house, and I did try it on a cheap knife from Pakistan. It did NOT perform well at all. It now sits, NEVER to be used again by me, in one of my kitchen drawers. I believe it is from the 1950's. But, it could be from the late 1940's or possibly much earlier.

Maybe not that vintage wheel, but something like the Lansky's or ceramic/diamond pull throughs are a goto for me. I for sure could do more damage with a stone, and the results I get in just a few seconds havn't disappointed so far - just a different perspective I suppose

This little Lansky portable model is what I use on my EDCs (not on collectibles though). Works great

It's got me curious now. I just received a lot of old NOS Colonial knifes, some don't yet have a factory edge on them, wondering what the simple Lansky could do. I wanted to play with them anyway and experiment with sharpening, so this is spurring me on ! $6 knives what could go wrong?

New_Windsor_NY wrote: ↑Fri Jun 27, 2025 5:30 pm This Eversharp knife sharpener has been in my family for many, many, many years. In ALL those years, it was in many different drawers, in many different rooms of our house. I NEVER saw anyone ever use it. It is now mine, in my house, and I did try it on a cheap knife from Pakistan. It did NOT perform well at all. It now sits, NEVER to be used again by me, in one of my kitchen drawers. I believe it is from the 1950's. But, it could be from the late 1940's or possibly much earlier.

If that were mine, I would give it one more try on some decent blade steel. Anything but Pakistan steel. That stuff doesn’t sharpen well no matter what you use.

They don’t make stuff like they used to. That sharpener might work pretty good if you feed it better steel. Maybe not but I recommend giving it one more chance.

QTCut5 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 27, 2025 5:55 pm This little Lansky portable model is what I use on my EDCs (not on collectibles though). Works great

I have a similar model. I bought it to use on our “end table”knife”. I have probably had it for 5 years or longer and I’ve been afraid to try it.

Thanks for sharing your opinion. It may have given me the courage I needed.

I got up enough courage to try the Lansky D-Sharp on a knife that I have duplicates of.

I used the 20 degree angle and the results are not bad at all. I dulled the edge very carefully on some concrete and then did maybe 50 passes on the Lansky. It’s plenty sharp now and I can’t find any signs of edge damage.

Most of the edge in these pictures is the factory edge. My 50 passes at 20 degrees only put a tiny micro bevel on it which is just what I had hoped for.

Much to my surprise, I’m pretty impressed. Can’t believe I waited 5 years to try this thing.

Railsplitter wrote: ↑Fri Jun 27, 2025 7:52 pm I got up enough courage to try the Lansky D-Sharp on a knife that I have duplicates of

smart using your China made Spyderco as a guinea pig Rick and a duplicate to boot! I’m glad you were pleased with the results.

Sharpnshinyknives wrote: ↑Fri Jun 27, 2025 10:53 am Those pull through sharpeners do work but they are not good on a knife over time. It is taking the steel right off the blade and does ruin the bevel. I used one back in the 80’s before I knew better and was surprised at how often I had to use it again on the same knife. The knife just wouldn’t hold an edge unless it had just been pulled through those wheels. Your impressions of this is correct. A honing steel is one instrument I use often and it will get you back to a good edge without removing steel.

Thank you.......I knew someone would answer the question, and just as I suspected.

I got this one as a gift a couple years ago. It is from the Sharper Image catalog. Weird thing about it is the angle of the sharpening surfaces can change depending on how much down pressure is exerted. My wife uses it occasionally on large kitchen knives. I won't let any of my pocket knives even see it.