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Originally Posted by Mitchell H.
but I couldn't get the specific answer from search function so here goes. Which sharpening system is the best in your opinion and why, I don't really like the lansky type as the clamp on the smith sharpening system I got would simply not hold my knife so I took it back and got a two sided diamond stone which is ok, but I feel like I am just not getting the right angle all the time so is the spyderco sytem easier to keep an angle on than flat stones?? Is the edge-pro sytem that runs from $130.00 to $180.00 worth the cost??? :confused:
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These things take practice practice practice. I have a Smiths Tri Hone that my father had (and never used), and that's what I've been using mainly for about 16 years. It has a course silica type stone, and 2 arkansas stones, fine and medium. Everyone reccomends that you use oil for these stones, but I hate to. It's messy, and I find that the "sludge" it produces makes your edge duller. I use them all dry, and strop with an old leather belt.
Speaking of the oil... even though I don't need it and hate to use it, I find it's useful for determining the correct angle on your blade, whatever angle it may be. When you get a little of the sludge going on your arkansas stone, drag the knife like you're cutting a thin layer off it and "load" some of the sludge onto the side of the blade. When you put your knife back down on the stone, lay the angle back a little further, and slowly tilt the blade up. You'll find that the sludge will have a kind of tension a little above the edge and it wont drip off. Keep a close eye and a steady hand, and as soon as you see that sludge finally break, and run off onto the face of the stone, you have your angle. Repeat this process for both sides of the blade.
I hope to hell that helped, and some of you guys aren't scratching your head at me....
Anyway. I haven't used anything else other than these stones. I'm sure there are $200 Japanese waterstones and such out there that will put a super mirror finish on your knives, but I find that the regular old flat arkansas stones do very well for me.
I never trusted crock sticks/steels/or anything like that. The Lansky will put a great edge on your knife, but I feel it's like training wheels, and not as satisfying.