My knives after switching to a whetstone for 3 months

I used to send my knives out for sharpening every few weeks, but I switched to a $20 whetstone in January. After 3 months of practice, my chef's knife is sharper now than it ever was from the sharpening service, and I've saved about $60 already. Has anyone else noticed a big difference after learning to sharpen on stones?

2 comments

2 Comments

jordanr8923d ago

My neighbor has been sharpening knives for 30 years and he says cheap stones ruin the edge geometry. I tried a $15 stone once and ended up with a burr so bad I had to send my blade to a pro to fix the angle. Plus those 3 months of practice cost you $20 and hours of frustration, while a pro sharpening is $5 per knife and takes 2 minutes. Your $60 savings is really just paying yourself $3 an hour for tedious work that wears down your stone. A sharpening service gives you consistent results without the risk of grinding your knife into a thin, fragile piece of metal.

cora56222d ago

Hold on, a burr so bad it needed a pro to fix the angle? That's wild. I've messed up sharpening before, but never to the point where I couldn't just re-set the bevel myself with a coarser stone. Honestly, it sounds more like your neighbor was trying to use way too much pressure or had a really warped cheapo stone to get that kind of damage. For $15 I'd expect a rough finish, not a ruined knife. Your mileage may vary, but I've seen people turn butter knives into lasers on budget stones just by taking their time.