[majorvices]

Any suggestions on a good kitchen knife sharpener?

[HydraulicSammich]

Check out Henckels Knives website or Amazon.  Any of those are the best and very inexpensive.

[denny]

I use a Chef's Choice 440 manual sharperner.  It's inexpensive, not fancy, and very effective.  Just last week I cut the tip of my thumb off after I used it!

[gmac]

I use a Lansky sharpening kit.  It's not super fast but it produces the best edge of anything I've ever used.  Easily shaving sharp.  I've stopped sharpening knives for other people because they aren't careful enough and cut themselves.  It's happened twice, once quite badly because they didn't realize just how sharp a knife could be.
http://lansky.com/index.php/kitchen-blade/

[nateo]

My wife has a few knives from when she was a sous chef. They're really hard steel and 'normal' stones don't seem to work on them. What kind of stone would I need to sharpen it? They're the higher-end Shun, not the top-of-the-line but below that.

I've cut myself a bunch of times because my knives were dull, but have yet to cut myself because they're too sharp. If that lansky kit would work on the Shuns I might have to get one.

[Pinski]

I use a Lansky sharpening kit.  It's not super fast but it produces the best edge of anything I've ever used.  Easily shaving sharp.  I've stopped sharpening knives for other people because they aren't careful enough and cut themselves.  It's happened twice, once quite badly because they didn't realize just how sharp a knife could be.
http://lansky.com/index.php/kitchen-blade/

Which set you do have Gmac?

[MDixon]

I use Japanese Waterstones.

[nateo]

I use Japanese Waterstones.

I think that's what I'd need to do on the Shuns. How hard is it to free-hand the angle? How important is it for the angle to be precise? Are there any guides that are worth using?

I have these like clamp-on angle guides for my hand files for tuning ski edges, I wonder if there's something similar for knives.

[euge]

I use an aluminum oxide (2-sides) and a 1000/6000 grit Japanese waterstone. By hand baby. It depends a lot on the quality of the steel on how much force you need to use and how sharp they will get and keep their edges.

And you will need a steel to keep your knives honed if you don't already have one.

[tumarkin]

I use Japanese Waterstones.

I think that's what I'd need to do on the Shuns. How hard is it to free-hand the angle? How important is it for the angle to be precise? Are there any guides that are worth using?

I have these like clamp-on angle guides for my hand files for tuning ski edges, I wonder if there's something similar for knives.

+1 on the waterstones, though good synthetics or arkansas stones are also good. I'm not a fan of the automatic grinder sharpeners. some are ok, but others shorten the life of a knife considerably and never approach the edge you'll get with stones.

Hand held is the way to go, imho. however, there are guides available and some are quite good. in either case, with the shuns (or other japanese knives) keep in mind that the angle is shallower (about 15 degrees) vs 20-25 degrees on western knives. once you get used to the proper angle, it's not too hard to maintain. keeping it as consistent as possible is best, but a little variation isn't too terrible. ditto on the need to use a steel to maintain the edge. if you do so, your knife will seem sharper and will need actual sharpening much less frequently.

[passlaku]

America's test kitchen gave this their best buy, the one they liked $100 job.



http://www.accusharp.com/products/001/index.html

[euge]

America's test kitchen gave this their best buy, the one they liked $100 job.



http://www.accusharp.com/products/001/index.html

I have one of these. It provides a decent edge with very little effort, but it removes a lot of material. I wouldn't use one on an expensive knife.

[nateo]

I hone the edges every time I use the knives, but AFAIK honing just straightens the edge, and doesn't make it sharper. She always had the knives professionally sharpened when she was working, but it's been over a year since her last cooking gig, so they really need a proper sharpening.

I read on the higher-grit (3000+) waterstones, you're not supposed to soak them in water. Do you guys with combo stones only soak half the stone? How does that work?

I found this: http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/04/knife-skills-how-to-sharpen-a-knife.html Kenji is my go-to guy when I have cooking questions. He recommends an 800-ish and a 2000+ stone.

I was thinking of getting something like this: http://korin.com/Togiharu-1000-4000-Two-Sided-Stone?sc=7&category=17370 but I'm wondering if I'd be better off getting two separate stones.

[euge]

That is interesting. My instructions state that the stone can be stored in water or soaked for 5 minutes before use.

[nateo]

As I was thinking about this, I remembered that my wife has a sharpening kit. She's out of town for the next month, and I have to do all my own cooking now, which is why I'm trying to get my knives up to snuff.

She has some Spyderco ceramic whet stones. They're just labeled "fine" and "extra fine." After some more googling, I found this: http://nihonzashi.com/SharpenGuide.htm#Grit. Apparently Japanese grits are different than US grits. The whet stones I have should be used dry. I guess I'll give them a whirl and see how they do.