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How do some of you sharpen your knives? I am talking about seriously sharpening a knife so it will shave hair of your hand just like a razor. I normally run my knives backwards on 2000 grit wet/dry sand papper and then hold the edge of the knife on my buffing wheel but, that can be dangerous if you get the knife to deep in to the wheel. I have had the knives ripped out of my hand a couple times by the buffing wheel. It did how ever put the best edge I have ever had on a knife, they were shaving hair with ease. I am past the stones and all that crap, they only sharpen them so much. Is there some sort of flat table belt sander specifically made to sharpen a knife?
Any blade I own typically will shave you. Kinda a pet peeve of mine to pick up a dull knife. For many years I used the ouchita fine stones with some honing oil. Then a leather strop. Which could be my belt, the instep of my boot, etc.
For years I had a nice japanese water stone I picked up in Finland ( of all places). Finns take their knives seriously.
I still use a stone to shape the edge, but more and more I find myself using diamonds to keep them sharp between times.
And something that works with water. Oil is too much of a hassle and mess.
F. Dick SM-160 T Universal Sharpening Machine.
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However - that is just a little too extreme. I located this machine on a web site that another THT'er posted on a previous thread about knives. I learned more about knife sharpening from that thread than from any other source. It also has much lower priced sharpening machines/devices - also many How-To's It impressed me enough that I bookmarked the site - GOOD INFO
I used to think that my knives were pretty darn sharp but after reading the materials on this site - I doubt they are even close to being considered sharp
I used to use a Lansky manual sharpening system...works great takes forever. Last year I bought a 3 stage Chef's Choice electric. Great edge...very fast and now all my knives stay razor sharp all the time.
I have used a lot of stuff in the past but what I use now is a chefs choice 120(I think). Its around $120 and does a great job. You only need to use the coarse wheel for the first time or if you have damaged the blade. I only use the second wheel about every 5th or 6th time I sharpen my knives. Usually the buffing wheel is all I need to sharpen it enough to shave with.
It holds an edge real well too. I can clean and de-bone a deer and not need to buff during the process.
First you need to relieve the edge with the coarsest stone or a belt sander or wet sandpaper on a piece of glass. Do this until you can feel a wire edge first on one side then the other. Then with the finest stone you increase the angle 1 or 2 degrees alternating sides. The only way to get it perfect is to use some kind of guide. (lansky, buck, veritus) for this step.
Some times I do finish with a hard felt wheel on a cordless dremel tool and some flitz or buffing compound. Being able to free hand the last part is about as likely as drawing a perfect 3' line without a straight edge or making cabinet grade rips with a skil saw.
Polish the edge on note-book paper, on a table top. I use a circular motion but a straight motion will probably be fine. This will bring up the edge on all except the cheapest steel.
Good luck!
__________________ I'm not a boat expert, I just read THT!
When I want to sharpen a knife, I use a lansky sharpener so I dont ruin the blade angles by hand. When I want it really really sharp, I follow that with a very very fine stone that belonged to my great grandfather, pushing the blade across it. I think it is called a translucent Arkansas stone. It is so smooth it is shiny, milky off-white in color, sorta translucent. When done this way my knives are dangerously sharp, and will cut a swath of hair off my arm as easy as you please. Really, too sharp because no one expects a knife to be a razor, so they cut themselves by not treating it the same.
I also use a Chef's Choice 3 stage machine. Although I can't say it's razor sharp, I can cut a tomato in almost paper thin slices and glide through a steak. Filleting fish is no issue either. Quick to use and nearly foolproof. Sharp enough for me.
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The Chefs Choice is excellent, also the Spyderco system is very good. Depends what the knife is for which I choose. I use a diamond steel on fish knives, leaves a little "tooth" to the edge, works well on fish, and resharpens in 2 or 3 strokes.
I also just realised I was sharpening my knives at to steep of an angle. A few swipes at the right angle makes a world of difference. My Forschner knives are very thin and apparently need to be sharpened almost flat to the stone, big difference with just a few swipes the knife started to catch my hair on my hand.
I always wanted to know "the secret" and an old army guy moved into an apartment we own. everything he had would cut the hair off your arm. He told me knives with high carbon content were the best at getting sharp. a good set of kitchen knives that are cheap and have high carbon are Chicago Cuttlery. The carbon will rust if not dried after washing. also never wash in the dishwasher. the next thing he showed me was an EZ Lap diamond dust sharpening stone. I always sharpened at too low an angle he sharpened at a steep angle but I guess it depends on the knife. any way all my knives now will cut the hair off your (not mine) arm. Without spit. I bought a lot of EZ Laps sharpeners on ebay real cheap. The diamond sharpens but doesnt wear out.
Sharpening a knife to a razors edge. 
