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I need something to sharpen my skinning knives with. I have some of the arkansas rods that I jave had for years, do a pretty good job. Anybody got anything easier to us?

I keep something like this around for my cheaper knives.



But for my hand made knives, it is a stone or nothing.

Ceramic is one of the best materials to sharpen with.

Lansky Sharpening Systems.

Spyderco Sharpmaker. I've tried them all. Spyderco is best. Easy to use, consistent, damned Sharp.

J.

Bottom rim of a ceramic coffee cup where the glaze doesn't cover the ceramic works extremely well!

make a leather strop....

We got a soft stone for the shop grinder. It is the best we have ever used, which includes all the above mentioned. You can be the knife in a vise and go to work.

Lansky

Gumbo wrote:make a leather strop....

+1 Once you use a diamond stone to define the edge, keep it sharp with a strop. Nothing better.

high pressure sodium bulb filament...yes it works and most don't know about it.

I use a butchers sharpening steel first if bad dull, then finish with an Arkansas oil stone. You can also put one of those flapper wheels on your bench grinder and put some Jewelers Rouge on it and in about 3 minutes you can shave with that knife if not too dull to start with.

jar0023 wrote:Spyderco Sharpmaker. I've tried them all. Spyderco is best. Easy to use, consistent, damned Sharp.

J.

+1

Pond

If you want a very good consistent edge, use something similar to the Lansky system. http://www.lanskysharpeners.com/LKC03.php
Keeping the consistent angle is very important. We use to own a knife shop back when they were actually needed and you didn't have the internet. We would sharpen knives for the public and always used a similar system. We would use the leather to really fine tune the blade after finishing with the system. The one we used actually had 5 stones that we would work through. You could take a knife that had been completely abused and have it shaving within 30 minutes. Can't remember the brand we used back then, but it was very similar to the lansky. The way the knife fits in the handle and the holes provide a guide, if you can count strokes, you can sharpen a knife perfect every time.

Spyderco all the way. Get 2 inch by 3 inch pocket aqn 5 inch by 1 inch dark on one side white the other both come in leather sheath and us it as a strop. Should be about 30 bucks and last a lifetime. I have had mine over ten years and still going strong. Clean them with scouring powder and water let dry an they are like new again.