How do YOU sharpen your knives

[DarkTemplars]

Smith TriHone.

It comes with an edge guide but I never use it. I also tend to have a very low edge angle.

[Quiet-Matt]

I like the Lansky knife sharpener. Simple and easy, not too expensive.

Same here, simple effective sharpener.

[chasetopher]

Generic (roughly 2"x8") two sided coarse/fine stone.
Same stone that I use for most all sharpening: chisels, wood plane blades, scissors, etc.
Honing solution sold for the diamond stones doesn't seem to work any better than plain old kerosene for the lubricant, and at <$1 a quart that is what I use.

With the fine side of the stone and a lighter touch, most blades can be made sharp enough to shave the hair on the back of my hand.
Despite this, I don't feel it is ever truly 'razor' sharp.

I've been interested in getting a leather strop but don't know enough about them.

[backcast88]

I like the Lansky knife sharpener. Simple and easy, not too expensive.

Same here.

[RBid]

Spyderco Sharpmaker. In my experience, this is the best sharpener for the money. It's VERY easy to use and set up. The sharpmaker has worked on everything from my kitchen knives to my edc knives.

This plus a strop makes it very easy to maintain a great edge on quality steel.

[asm3686]

I have tired most sharpeners in the past. About a year ago I landed a wicked edge pro pack 2. And I have never looked back. I have diamond stones from 50-1000 and some ceramic stones 1200-1600. Then I have 3 sets of leather strops for it with Diamond pastes from 14 microns to 0.5 microns. And I finish and maintain the edge on a flexxx strop 4 sided seems to keep my knives laser sharp.

[Chipper78]

Thanks for all the replies. I have been using 1000 to 2500 grit automotive sand paper on a mouse pad and finishing with a leather strop. That seems to work well with most of my knives. A lot of what works seems to be very dependent on the steel and the grind of the blade. I'll be looking into the work sharp and/ or the sharp maker in the near future.

[ra2bach]

don't know where I heard it but the type of steel makes a difference what type of sharpening system you use. the more common carbon blades are fine on the older stone and ceramic sharpeners but the newer "super steels" need a diamond system to sharpen properly.

the reason is the carbites(?) that are embedded in the steel will not be cut by the old stones and the metal around them is simply ground away. this leaves these particles sitting on the ridge of the edge like little teeth. this may at first seem to produce a very sharp knife that saws or pull-cuts very well but in heavier use, they are soon broken off leaving the knife duller than before.

for my super steel knives I use the Wicked Edge system with diamond hones up to 6000 and finish with a strop. it works well but my other knives I can get pretty good results with just an Arkansas stone and a butcher steel...

[T2C]

I have been using a Smith Tri-Hone sharpening system since 1989. It works well for most applications.

One of the guys from work who makes his own knives uses a diamond polishing wheel. He almost had a heart attack when he saw how I treat my knives.

[RBid]

don't know where I heard it but the type of steel makes a difference what type of sharpening system you use. the more common carbon blades are fine on the older stone and ceramic sharpeners but the newer "super steels" need a diamond system to sharpen properly.

the reason is the carbites(?) that are embedded in the steel will not be cut by the old stones and the metal around them is simply ground away. this leaves these particles sitting on the ridge of the edge like little teeth. this may at first seem to produce a very sharp knife that saws or pull-cuts very well but in heavier use, they are soon broken off leaving the knife duller than before.

for my super steel knives I use the Wicked Edge system with diamond hones up to 6000 and finish with a strop. it works well but my other knives I can get pretty good results with just an Arkansas stone and a butcher steel...

Not my experience at all. I have used a Sharpmaker and strop (grey and green compounds) to maintain Elmax, CPM S30V, and CPM S35VN. I touched up my ZT 0566 (Elmax) a few days ago and after about 20 feet of cardboard, 30 zip tie press cuts, and slashing about 15 feet of vinyl, foam, and seam threads, it still goes through paper like a laser.