Knife woes

[Lumpy]

I have a couple of pocket knives, and I've been trying to teach myself (with the help of online tutorials) how to keep them properly sharp. I have a store-bought "v" sharpener, a honing stone, etc. I thought I was getting the edges sharp, or at least sharper. But today I actually tried to put one to use and it failed the "whittle" test- it wouldn't cleanly and smoothly shave a piece of wood. It either skips over the wood or if I use a lot of pressure gouges a small chip out. Sharp this isn't. So now I'm back to square one: apparently I don't know how to sharpen a knife properly. What to do?

[870TC]

Buy one of these kits, http://lansky.com/
or a knock off. They hold the blade, and have a guide for the stone, keeping the angle the same the whole time you are sharpening. Pretty foolproof. I'm guessing an expert knife guy with a Arkansas stone set could do better, but that's not me.

[srtolly]

I'm pretty picky about my knives and the sharpness. Gotta shave hair. That Lansky set is money well spent. The only thing I'd add is a strop. You'll be shaving like Crocodile Dundee in no time.

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[Ghost]

3rd the Lansky. Money well spent.

[Hmac]

SharpMaker from Spyderco is excellent.

[old guy]

Another vote for the Lansky type, mine is the Gatco.

John

[Ivan45]

I'm quite obsessive about sharpening, have both the lansky and the work sharp belt sharpener and both do well depending on the type of edge you want. I would say most importantly is choosing the right edge angle based on steel type and usage. I usually go for a 20 degree angle on my pocket knives.

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[LarryFlew]

smith's precision is another that is probably not quite as good but a bit cheaper on ebay and amazon.

[goett047]

Another vote for Lansky

[Scratch]

I know this wasn't my thread, but thanks for starting it, and thanks for all the replies. I've never had a good knife sharpening system but have always wanted one. It looks like the Lansky system is well liked, I've found the Lansky universal kit on Amazon for 24.99 and will order it in the next few days I think.

[Lumpy]

Interesting postscript: I took my knife and the piece of wood I was trying to whittle to my local hardware store to see if they could get it to work. The guy at the store tested the knife and said it looked plenty sharp to him; so I had him try to whittle the piece of wood. Sure enough, he could barely get it to work either. He asked "what kind of wood is this anyway?". As it turns out it was from a decorative bush (an "almond bush", genus Aloysia) that I cut down after it died overwinter. Apparently this bush has incredibly hard wood- it makes mature oak look soft by comparison. When I tried something softer (pine branch) my knife worked fine.

[2in2out]

The only thing I can consistently sharpen anything with is my Lansky set.

[gbono23]

I've got the Lansky and like it, I've got stones and they work too, but I've also gotten lazy and now I take my knives into a knife shop and have them professionally sharpened about once a year! It costs about $2 a knife, unless you catch them during a deal. Most Byerly's butcher shops also sharpen knives ( I've never gone there, but friends of mine have). I just find it easier to do that, I'll take our kitchen knives, my hunting knives and my pocket knives in all at the same time and it takes about 20 minutes and i'm out of there.

[BigBlue]

I've got the Lansky and like it, I've got stones and they work too, but I've also gotten lazy and now I take my knives into a knife shop and have them professionally sharpened about once a year! It costs about $2 a knife, unless you catch them during a deal. Most Byerly's butcher shops also sharpen knives ( I've never gone there, but friends of mine have). I just find it easier to do that, I'll take our kitchen knives, my hunting knives and my pocket knives in all at the same time and it takes about 20 minutes and i'm out of there.

What are some examples of local places that do this type of knife sharpening for prices like that?

Thanks,
BB

[yuppiejr]

Capras in Blaine charges $1 per blade.