aksavanaman said:
Sadly I don't have a few $$ to spend... lol... I go and buy a $200 knife... now I can't afford a good way to sharpen it. I've seen those
Lansky sharpening kits around... but seems to be mixed reviews. I know I can get a great edge with a plain stone, but I just don't have the skill set to do it properly.
I don't know what you consider a plain stone. I have 1200grit and 4000grit japanese stones which run about $50 each. Prices vary considerably depending on size and grit. Check Lee Valley, or Woodcraft sites.
http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/Index.aspx
http://www.woodcraft.com/
A couple other options for us cheapskates
:
You can make a strop out of a couple pieces of rawhide glued to a flat stick and impregnated with valve grinding compound or jewelers rouge for final polishing. One side coarse, the other side fine.
If you need to change angles the easiest way is a bench top belt sander with a range of sanding belts available from Klingspor
http://www.woodworkingshop.com/ . Never use a high speed grinder (which you probably already know).
Yet another option is the very fine grit wet/dry sandpapers available from auto shops. Stick the sheet(s) to a piece of flat glass, spray with water and have at it.
For maintaining specific angles, it gets a little more complicated due to the curvature of a typical knife blade. DMT does have a small jig for hand use with a stone, but otherwise it's eyeballs and practice unless you step up to a low speed grinder like the Tormek or other machinery.
Btw, knife and tool sharpening can be a fairly lucrative business if you have a market for it in your area, in which case the Tormek could pay for itself pretty quickly.
