Which Brands/Type Of Kitchen Knives Are Easiest To Sharpen With A Whetstone? (tuna, chinese)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Here's a list of (I believe?) higher-end kitchen knife brands that I've compiled, but am interested to know if there's any others I've left out.
Mercer
Wusthof
Victorinox
Henckels
Mac
Misono
Kramer By Zwilling
But I'm mainly wondering, which ones are easier to sharpen on a whetstone? I wouldn't wanna get anything that you have to spend a lot of time sharpening. And it's interesting on Amazon how many no-name knives there are. You'll see listings that just say "Kitchen Knife Set...", but no actual brand name. Amazing how all the reviews are really good, all the fake reviews, that is.
So what do you think? What brands or type of knives are quicker / easier to sharpen? I've tried 2 of the roller diamond-style sharpeners that have a handle and they don't work well at all (even though the reviews are remarkably amazing). So I'm going with a whetstone now.
High end “professional” knives are a vanity for most people. Unless someone is employed at a job that has them cutting hours a day, why bother with knives that need whetstone sharpening? There are hundreds of options available for serrated, stainless steel knives that do a good job of slicing and they stay sharp. For fancier cooking duties, the single edge French knives wear so slowly that a touch up on a simple pull-through sharpener is all that’s needed.
From a guy who sharpened knives since childhood...
none with serrated edge
No ceramics or other odd non metal alloys/compounds.
The rest is free game.
Easy to sharpen is anything that has pretty much as close to straight line leading edge, or you will have to develop a nice waving motion in your wrist/forearm.
Very long flexible blades are rather hard to sharpen. Things like paring knife, for example.
Get a two grit stone, rough and fine. One for rough grinding and one for fine finish.
If you really want to have super sharp blade, get wide leather belt and some polishing compound to put onto it. That's how razors are finished.
And forget all those "moves" you saw in the movies. That's about the biggest joke I have ever seen. You go figure of 8 motion.
Also, keep in mind that factory sharpening is done, leaving a protruding edge below the cutting edge. For hand sharpening on a stone, you will have to grind that edge down. I start with grinding wheel, knock it off, then go with wet stone.
But using a roller diamond-style sharpener with a handle has never worked. They stay dull. So I'm going to try a whetstone. If that doesn't work, then they're going in the trash and its time for a new knife set.
I think all knives are just as easy to sharpen as any other knife. The huge difference is about how long the knife will hold the edge. Cheaper knives tend to be faster to sharpen but won't hold that edge for very long.
I love my Henckels, but they are the original forged steel ones from Germany and I'd not be too quick to buy a set from China. My German ones take an edge easily and they will hold an edge for a long time (with reasonable care)
I've got excellent knives from China. Cangshan brand: forged steel, full tang, made with German steel, comfortable handle, good balance, and these things really hold an edge for a very long time while looking nicely engineered. I looked at them in person and held them before I bought them. I would have never ever ordered knives from China, but I was impressed enough by these to take a chance on them.
A couple of the brands you ask about I don't know them, but you've asked about some good knives and should be happy with them.
The harder the steel the harder they are to sharpen. I have a hunting knife I earned selling magazine subscriptions when I was 10 years old. It has the hardest steel I have ever seen. I loaned it once, and the guy ruined the edge, which was razor sharp. It took me days with stones to get the edge back.
I have kitchen knives that haven't been sharpened in years. I use a steel to dress the edge when necessary. For ultimate sharpness, a strop is the final step.
Plain carbon steel knives are by far easiest to sharpen. The kind you either oil regularly or they rust. But something like 440C stainless tends to be fine.
Some knives are easier to sharpen that others. Jeesh watch some of youtube videos, ton on knife sharpening. Might look at Burrfection channel. He sharpens a variety of knives on variety of stones. He has technique down pat and still couldnt do much with some cheapo Martha Stewart knife somebody gave him as a challenge. Whereas he put decent edge on mid grade knife using a brick he found in his backyard (he doesnt recommend using a brick) I can also say I have played sharpening $1 "dollar store" knives. Yes you can get fairly sharp edge on them, but its not easy and it doesnt last long. I would guess they are some poorly tempered 420 stainless.
Might look at some of the Tramontina knives with the rosewood handle. Still made in Brazil. Have couple Tramontina paring knives from 90s like that, gave $1 each new at a "dollar daze" sale local hardware (they are $8 now) and easy to sharpen, hold edge real well. Be aware they are not very sharp new out of package. Or mine werent those many years ago. Still have them, they still sharpen easily, cut well, hold edge well, with plenty metal left. Pretty sure 440C, though they just have "high carbon" under the name.
Plain carbon steel. Still about the best material for combination of ease of sharpening, how sharp it can be got, and a reasonable compromise with ease of re-sharpening.
If I had to guess (it's been a while since I specified steel grades for cutting) I'd guess something in the AISI 1065-1070 range. Not sure what the best tempering (as measured by Rockwell C) you'd want to reduce brittleness just enough to make it resistant to chipping. Maybe aroudn Rockwell 60C?
Should mention you cant just go by brand. Henckels for example. Their twin four star knife line is very nice, easy to sharpen. Cost an arm and a leg new, but you can find reasonable priced used ones that need sharpening. Lot people really dont know how to sharpen and care for their knives. Many that buy the high dollar knives do so to impress people more than anything. But be aware Henckels also sell some China made schlock that is just cashing in on the Henckel reputation and name. Its just generic China schlock. Seems selling a few lines of cheap quality knives alongside your top of line knives is quite profitable.
Henckels is not alone by any means. They all do it. If you want cheap generic knives, no reason to pay more to get a fancy name stenciled on it. Some of generic knives can surprise you though. Probably 15 years ago, bought set of 3 forged knives from Aldi for like $7. Made in China. Nothing fancy, no name stenciled on to them. Heavy weight (why I bought them). Came out of package super dull. But took a nice edge and held it quite well. It was one of those Aldi "special buys" never offered again. They occasionally have knives for sale, but usually the super light weight "dollar store" type knives that really arent worth buying.
Oh and before you get the idea all "forged" knives are worth buying, they are not. I picked up another set somewhere else with name "Laser" on them. Craptastic. Really low quality steel and never did really get good edge on them. They were the "dollar store" version of forged knives. Hey the bread knife was ok, still have it on my magnetic strip. Mostly cause I have very little use for a bread knife and never had reason to buy a better one. LOL
So you want names... American made, Dexter and Case still around and make some really good knives, but again realize they make some good and maybe some not as good stuff. The older American made Ekco Flint Arrowhead knives were good. Both the older chrome-vanadium and the later stainless vanadium. The older USA made Chicago cutlery was pretty good. There were some of the oldest Chicago Cutlery when it was sold commercially that was especially good. Dont know who actually made it, there was line knives sold by Sears under Craftsman name that were ok.
There were some retail factory Japanese knives that were ok, look for ones that say high carbon or vanadium on them. Run away fast if it says 440A. Yorktowne seems like it was good. I have a filet knife with that brand that is quite nice. Got it for 50cents at thrift store. You want the ones made in Japan.
European... Well the Henckels twin four star line is excellent as is the Wusthof Classic line. There are some older Spanish made Henckels International classic (has full bolster) that some people seem to like Not quite the fit and finish of the German ones, but people that bought them said once sharpened properly, they were pretty good.
Oh I recently got a damaged Lion Sabatier, made in France. Has image of leaping/running lion on the blade. I reprofiled the damaged tip and resharpened it. I was impressed. Very sharp, had nice feel to it. Say it was equal of the better Henckels and Wusthof I mentioned. Probably same or similar steel. Watch out on Sabatier, there are maybe three or four companies using the name that made some decent stuff, but also lot of junk sold under Sabatier name. And historical periods of production where quality control not so good.
Oh and the Tramontina rosewood handle knives I mentioned. Tramontina is big knife/kitchenware company in Brazil and sells some good stuff and maybe some not so good stuff.
Oh the plain carbon steel knives. These unfortunately are mostly history except for small boutique lines. Dexter still sells a carbon steel line. You can still get some Sabatier Nogent carbon steel on Amazon with excellent rep (not cheap). Ontario sells carbon steel knives. Opinel sells some. Beyond that you will be looking for antiques. Some bring truly crazy prices. This mostly from collectors not people actually wanting to use them. If you want new, Ontario "old hickory" line probably easiest to find and cheapest to buy. I have couple Ontario, ok I guess, they take nice edge, but I didnt find them to have good feel to them. Not as nice as some of the vintage carbon steel stuff. Vintage Cattaraugus knives as example quite nice steel, sometimes little harder to sharpen but hold there edge extremely well. Notice I say vintage, think after original company bit dust, the name was resurrected to stick on lesser quality stuff. I have an old Utica Super Edge carbon steel cleaver I particularly like. I put really keen edge on it and use it like Chinese cleaver style knife, to cut up veggies. Slightly thicker blade than Chinese cleaver but has good feel and good weight.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
