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A few months back I started a small knife and cutting tool sharpening service. I am good at it and enjoy it very much, so I figured, why not!
Most of my life (since I was a Boy Scout) I have used Arkansas Stones to do my sharpening. Arkansas stones work well and give a keen edge, however they cut fairly slow, are pretty expensive and need to be used with either oil or water. I used oil and it is a fairly messy job. Arkansas stones are just not practical or cost effective for multiple daily usage.
After sharpening many knives, I spoke to StrawHat and at his suggestion I switched over to Diamond stones. When sharpening many knives on a daily basis Arkansas stones are not practical and diamond stones cut many times faster and last many times as long. No water or oil is required.
I have a few Sharpal 325/1200 grit two sided stones as well as a few from DMT. They work incredibly well as StrawHat states. Sharpening on diamond stones is a little different than using Arkansas stones and there is a slight learning curve but it does not take long to transition and is well worth the small effort.
Over the years I have bought and used many sharpening systems as well. I have a Spyderco, a Lansky and a KME. The Spyderco (uses ceramic stick stones) is a very easy, clean and straight forward system however while it will easily sharpen knives that are only somewhat dull very well, the system is very slow in bringing back abused, blunt or chipped knives. If you are one who always keeps after your knives and they never get all that dull, the Spyderco system is excellent.
The KME system works very very well and will also work great for blunt, dull knives. It will hold an exact angle all throughout the grit progression and will result in a very sharp knife. The downside to the KME system is that it is very slow and buying the stones gets a bit pricey if done on a commercial level. For a casual knife sharpening or to sharpen your kitchen knives a few times a year, that is not a concern. All in all it works very well but again, not a quick method of sharpening. A typical set of a dozen or so kitchen knives can take hours.
I can now sharpen pretty much any knife, even really dull and abused ones on a diamond stone in under 10 minutes, - most in 5. The key to using diamond stones is you need to develop muscle memory and be able to hold a consistent angle by hand. It does take time and lots of practice however once you have "got it", it becomes well worth the effort. Like StrawHat says, diamond's are very cost effective, they last for a very long time and will sharpen pretty much anything with a blade edge.
Electric sharpeners, pull through sharpeners, and carbide sharpeners ruin knives and wear down the metal blades in no time by removing way too much metal. The edges they put on are crude at best. Belt grinders can give very good results (if properly used), however they are also metal hogs and will eat up precious metal from a good knife's edge very rapidly. Personally I only use a belt grinder to repair a badly damaged edge, re-profile or remove large dings and chips - then I go to the diamond stones for actual sharpening. The belt grinder is not something I'd recommend for normal knife sharpening tasks and must be used in a skilled and gentle way.
As far as bench grinders are concerned, I'd say stay away from them for knife sharpening. This statement does not apply to the Tormek system. That is a very nice system and does a very good job but will cost you big bucks after getting all the attachments wheels, etc. It is also very hard to justify spending that much on a casual knife sharpening system as just a homeowner.
So while some of the better sharpening systems do work well, they can get very expensive and will not give any better results than a plain & simple diamond stone. One the skill is developed, diamond stones by far are the way to go. Don't get frustrated, just keep practicing and you will soon become proficient with them.
Most of my life (since I was a Boy Scout) I have used Arkansas Stones to do my sharpening. Arkansas stones work well and give a keen edge, however they cut fairly slow, are pretty expensive and need to be used with either oil or water. I used oil and it is a fairly messy job. Arkansas stones are just not practical or cost effective for multiple daily usage.
After sharpening many knives, I spoke to StrawHat and at his suggestion I switched over to Diamond stones. When sharpening many knives on a daily basis Arkansas stones are not practical and diamond stones cut many times faster and last many times as long. No water or oil is required.
I have a few Sharpal 325/1200 grit two sided stones as well as a few from DMT. They work incredibly well as StrawHat states. Sharpening on diamond stones is a little different than using Arkansas stones and there is a slight learning curve but it does not take long to transition and is well worth the small effort.
Over the years I have bought and used many sharpening systems as well. I have a Spyderco, a Lansky and a KME. The Spyderco (uses ceramic stick stones) is a very easy, clean and straight forward system however while it will easily sharpen knives that are only somewhat dull very well, the system is very slow in bringing back abused, blunt or chipped knives. If you are one who always keeps after your knives and they never get all that dull, the Spyderco system is excellent.
The KME system works very very well and will also work great for blunt, dull knives. It will hold an exact angle all throughout the grit progression and will result in a very sharp knife. The downside to the KME system is that it is very slow and buying the stones gets a bit pricey if done on a commercial level. For a casual knife sharpening or to sharpen your kitchen knives a few times a year, that is not a concern. All in all it works very well but again, not a quick method of sharpening. A typical set of a dozen or so kitchen knives can take hours.
I can now sharpen pretty much any knife, even really dull and abused ones on a diamond stone in under 10 minutes, - most in 5. The key to using diamond stones is you need to develop muscle memory and be able to hold a consistent angle by hand. It does take time and lots of practice however once you have "got it", it becomes well worth the effort. Like StrawHat says, diamond's are very cost effective, they last for a very long time and will sharpen pretty much anything with a blade edge.
Electric sharpeners, pull through sharpeners, and carbide sharpeners ruin knives and wear down the metal blades in no time by removing way too much metal. The edges they put on are crude at best. Belt grinders can give very good results (if properly used), however they are also metal hogs and will eat up precious metal from a good knife's edge very rapidly. Personally I only use a belt grinder to repair a badly damaged edge, re-profile or remove large dings and chips - then I go to the diamond stones for actual sharpening. The belt grinder is not something I'd recommend for normal knife sharpening tasks and must be used in a skilled and gentle way.
As far as bench grinders are concerned, I'd say stay away from them for knife sharpening. This statement does not apply to the Tormek system. That is a very nice system and does a very good job but will cost you big bucks after getting all the attachments wheels, etc. It is also very hard to justify spending that much on a casual knife sharpening system as just a homeowner.
So while some of the better sharpening systems do work well, they can get very expensive and will not give any better results than a plain & simple diamond stone. One the skill is developed, diamond stones by far are the way to go. Don't get frustrated, just keep practicing and you will soon become proficient with them.
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