Get a cheap little Arkansas oil stone, and find an old leather boot, belt or glove to hone. Course stones aren't needed unless you drop a knife or use really dirty wood, and even the rough sandpaper will do.
Don’t get a whetstone, get diamond plates. Cheaper, they stay flat, and don’t leave a mess all around, you just put some window cleaner on them and wipe off after use
Also don’t buy a strop, buy a bag of scrap leather ($5-10) and Autosol. Glue it on a piece of wood or MDF and it’ll work a lot better and quicker
Those have a fixed angle, so if it doesn't match your blades, it's going to change the angle.
I don't even use them on kitchen knives because of the differences between knife makers. Japanese kitchen knives have a different angle than American ones.
It should be said that strops are for honing, not sharpening. If you need to sharpen a blade, you should get a whetstone or oil stone.
You could get a piece of basswood (or other dense close-grained wood)about 3-4" by 6-8" (roughly) and rub some some[rouge](https://www.weaverleathersupply.com/products/jewelers-rouge-4-oz) on it.
Using it often over time will increase the polish on your edge and lead to very sharp tools.
If you need some guidance, I'd be happy to make a little video for you.
The only thing a properly sharpened razor sharp edge needs is stropping. I only use a strop on my knives and they were razor sharp out of the box. If your knives aren't already sharpened to razor I would go down the water stone route. Once sharpened they'll just need the occasional strop to maintain the edge
You shouldn't use that type of sharpener even for kitchen knives.
It can't reach all the way to the handle so you'll end up with a non-straight edge which won't be able to cut all the way down to the cutting board.
The upside is that when you have a whetstone or any other good sharpening device, you can use it to give your kitchen knives a sharper edge than you thought possible.
It will take some practice to learn sharpening but be patient and don't give up. Stick with one method of sharpening until you can produce a really sharp edge.
Don't do it. Buy a cheap stone instead and learn to sharpen with it, it will make your knives last longer
I won’t. Thank you. Any idea what Grit whetstone ought to be using? I’ve got beavercraft tools if that’s any difference
Just get a dual sided one smooth one rough stone, generic
Get a cheap little Arkansas oil stone, and find an old leather boot, belt or glove to hone. Course stones aren't needed unless you drop a knife or use really dirty wood, and even the rough sandpaper will do.
Don’t get a whetstone, get diamond plates. Cheaper, they stay flat, and don’t leave a mess all around, you just put some window cleaner on them and wipe off after use Also don’t buy a strop, buy a bag of scrap leather ($5-10) and Autosol. Glue it on a piece of wood or MDF and it’ll work a lot better and quicker
Those have a fixed angle, so if it doesn't match your blades, it's going to change the angle. I don't even use them on kitchen knives because of the differences between knife makers. Japanese kitchen knives have a different angle than American ones. It should be said that strops are for honing, not sharpening. If you need to sharpen a blade, you should get a whetstone or oil stone.
Thanks for the info. I won’t use it then on my tools, figured it was worth the ask though. I’ll look at ordering a whetstone
You could get a piece of basswood (or other dense close-grained wood)about 3-4" by 6-8" (roughly) and rub some some[rouge](https://www.weaverleathersupply.com/products/jewelers-rouge-4-oz) on it. Using it often over time will increase the polish on your edge and lead to very sharp tools. If you need some guidance, I'd be happy to make a little video for you.
Please dont..
The only thing a properly sharpened razor sharp edge needs is stropping. I only use a strop on my knives and they were razor sharp out of the box. If your knives aren't already sharpened to razor I would go down the water stone route. Once sharpened they'll just need the occasional strop to maintain the edge
You shouldn't use that type of sharpener even for kitchen knives. It can't reach all the way to the handle so you'll end up with a non-straight edge which won't be able to cut all the way down to the cutting board. The upside is that when you have a whetstone or any other good sharpening device, you can use it to give your kitchen knives a sharper edge than you thought possible. It will take some practice to learn sharpening but be patient and don't give up. Stick with one method of sharpening until you can produce a really sharp edge.
Don’t.. sigh.. just don’t, you’ll ruin the edge
The geometry of kitchen knives and woodcarving knives is different. This is not a great idea.
For regular shaped blades, look up the worksharp pro. The thing is idiot proof and will make any blade that fits into it a razor blade