Anyone have suggestions on sharpening? I have a couple of Japanese knives (global, shun, masamoto). I don't want to spend $40 dollars every time I need a knife sharpened, and I'm pretty horrible at using whetstones. Is there some easy way to sharpen knives? Oh, I did send the shun back to factory to sharpen for free, but the last time it came back so dull that I wasn't even able to cut a tomato cleanly.
DeviantTofuI have used the Apex-type sharpening system pretty effectively. Instead of the included stones, I use a version that holds Naniwa Chosera stones. Be sure to get a flattening block. For me it works as well as the whetstones, but with much more consistency.
DeviantTofuI'm not very good at wetstones either, but the Japanese method is pretty good, but only after a lot of practice. It's the easiest and quickest way once mastered.
MichaelLimYes those seem to be very good. If you don't want to invest in a setup like that, your best bet is to sharpen by hand. Learn by practicing on cheaper knives first so you get that muscle memory in first, and then move on to your nice knives. Lots of good youtube videos showing how to sharpen knives.
DeviantTofuI have tried a bunch of options for “easy sharpening” but was never able to achieve the desired result on my Japanese knives. I finally bit the bullet and taught myself how to use wet stones. It was intense, expensive (relatively), and time consuming but the results are phenomenal. I no longer look at my investment as a frivolous expenditure. My knives are finally delivering to their fullest potential, and all my German knives are now taking up space in friends knife drawers. And I’ll never have a dull knife or tool again. Well worth the effort to learn the craft and Utoob was very informative.