I am another fan of the Sharpmaker. It is downright relaxing to sit down with a bunch of cutlery and sharpen things up

One more thought: if the blade does not have serrations, there are many easy-to-use options available. Lansky has a similar unit with round rods, medium and fine grit, for considerably less money.

From a cost perspective, any of these are a good long-term investment. I still have medium-grit ceramic rods that I bought more than 20 years ago. They still work perfectly.

ok. I will buy the stone to sharpen the knife myself.

Got this,very easy to do.What I really like is the SHARP edge it puts on stainless steel blades.

It puts an amazing edge on the cheapy 2-3 dollar pocket knives so you can have a sharp blade in each vehicle,purse,bags,etc and it wont cost a fortune.Also does machetes,shovels, and keeps your good knives in fine shape too......I love the thing.

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Smith's DCS4 4" FINE & COARSE Diamond Combo Sharpening Stones
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Smith Abrasives
Smith's DCS4 4" FINE & COARSE Diamond Combo Sharpening Stones
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Can't imagine how anything could work better than the sharpmaker.
Even a 10 thumbed clod like me has always got a shaving sharp edge with it.
Sadly that situation ended yesterday when I was sharpening garden shears so had to hold the device on the edge of the table. Tip: sharpen above a carpeted floor. The stones break if you drop them.
One problem with the sharpmaker is; it's too big to keep in my possibles bag. Was wondering how well those pocket sharpeners with a V to put the blade in work? Doug reviews some of them in the gear section on the site home page.
Can anyone recommend any? Like I say i've nil skill so relying on my hand eye co-ordination to get the angle right is a lost cause.
qjs

Joey,all I do is hold knife on a surface and tilt the blade to the right angle,then run my diamond sharpener horizontally as it passes over blade across it,angle is perfect.

And why stones? IMO the diamond sharpeners are the cats meow,what cuts better than diamonds,why mess with stones,and yes,I have a couple stones,IMO the diamonds put em to shame.They sure cut down metal fast for a hand tool.

Now bearing in mind Im hardly an expert or knife guru.But my knives sure cut packages,wood or meat,all I need em to do.I shave with razors so havent tried that,BIC gets my 2 cents on that use.

BTW,took out my pruners yesterday,edge looked like it had been used as a bolt cutter,a few minutes with the diamonds and man,all the bent edges are gone and that puppy is SHARP,cant shave with it,then again,who wants to,LOL! Its NICE!

I think in this case diamond edges have passed stone technology by.

Thanks spud I'll give that a try. Diamonds has to be worth it for very blunt garden tools at least. It was a never ending process trying to sharpen dull shears. That ended in disaster!
qjs