![]() For normal wear and tear, sharpening your knives every three to six months will give you the best performance. Blades with narrower angles are sharper but won’t retain their edges for as long as wider angle blades. Pocket and outdoor knives are usually between 20 and 30 degrees for a single bevel. The factory edge is typically 15 or 17 degrees for each bevel on Japanese kitchen knives and around 20 degrees for Western knives. If you’re happy with how your knife cut when it came out of the box, sharpen it to the same angle it initially had. However, they don’t have preset sharpening angles, demanding more patience and practice. Stones work just as well on kitchen knives as they do on smaller blades like scissors, fixed-blade knives, and pruning shears. Multipurpose sharpening stones give you the most control as you sharpen, letting you remove only as much metal as necessary to return a keen edge. Pull-through manual sharpeners are more affordable but require more effort on your part than their electric counterparts. Electric sharpeners are fast and easy to use but are more expensive and have more parts that can break. You also have a choice between electric sharpeners that have abrasives on motorized wheels or belts and manual models, such as pull-through options that have V-shaped sharpening slots and whetstones. Reserve coarse abrasives below 1,000 for reshaping damaged blades. For routine maintenance, start with a medium grit in the 1,000 to 3,000 range, then progress to a fine or ultra-fine abrasive in the neighborhood of 3,000 or higher. This third stage polishes the edge and removes any remaining metal shavings. Some sharpeners also include a ceramic honing rod or leather strop. ![]() A coarser lower-grit abrasive is ideal for the initial sharpening and should be followed by a finer higher-grit option that produces a smooth finish. Not every manufacturer shares this measure of particle size, but knowing what it is indicates the best use for the abrasive. It’s worthwhile to pay attention to the material type and its grit. Carbide and ceramic are two common and wallet-friendly abrasives, whereas diamond, which is the hardest, offers more durability at a higher price. Knife sharpeners come in a variety of builds, but they all work similarly: Hard abrasives grind away a blade’s dulled edge to form a smoother, sharper one. Best for Pocket Knives: Work Sharp Guided Field.Best Sharpening Position: KitchenIQ Edge Grip.Best Value Manual Sharpener: Smith’s 2-Step.Best Multipurpose: Work Sharp Benchstone.Best Manual Culinary Sharpener: Sharpal 191H.Best Value Electric Sharpener: Presto EverSharp.Eight made the cut, if you’ll pardon the pun. We evaluated a slew of models-including manual and electric options and those designed for kitchen knives or your EDC-to find out which is worth your hard-earned buck. That’s where a good knife sharpener comes in. Proper maintenance of your blades makes for safer, more efficient cutting in the kitchen or the field. We all know we should be doing it more frequently than we probably are. As far as routine chores go, we put sharpening knives on par with flossing.
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