It does…and a fantastic DVD. 
Thanks for all the help guys, it’s much appreciated. Now to save up for this thing, with school starting back up…
I like this Gatco system. A vendor at the SHOT show gave me one about 15 years ago. I like the consistent strokes it provides for. I can sharpen an edge in no time. It allows for different edge angles. Additional/replacement stones are available.
Here’s my little personal “Tao of Blades”:
Knives are a primitive tool. You have to make an effort to maintain them.
A good one will save your ass, but only if it can do what you need it to do. You need it to cut. A lot. And stab, sometimes. The tip needs to be strong enough to bore holes without bending or chipping, but fine enough to be precise. The steel needs to hold the edge but be ductile enough to bend instead of chipping. The blade profile must be shaped so that you can sharpen it in the field with found items and stones you can easily bring with you. A dull knife is a dangerous thing, especially when aid/assistance and medical assests are days away.
You might be willing to take a big stone or system out with you, but I rarely carry one of those (though I have owned them) and am much more likely to take a small double-sided diamond stone, which is also far less susceptable to breaking than the nice ceramics. If you will have daily access to your sharpening system for your forseeable future, it makes sense to get the “best” (which in sharpening is often synonimous with “large”) to maximize efficiency and in some people’s case, the ability to achieve absolutely finest edge possible. I love the mirror finish I can get with a super high grit Japanese water stone, but the edge is optimized for push cuts, thus lacking teeth for slicing tasks; it takes forever to work your way through the grits or you will prematurely wear your stones; and I am definately NOT lugging around between 5 and 9 water stones to maintain my working edge.
I have professionally carried knives into conflicts for 14 years, and I have never had one fail me when I needed it once I started following the rules. I attribute this to selecting the proper tool for the job, maintaining the tool, and sharpening before reaching dullness.
I know, not a simple, “buy this because I use it” post, but hopefully something to think about before making a relatively minor purchase.
I am TERRIBLE at sharpening knives with a stone, can never get the edge right. This IS a skill one must practice/use to be proficient as in shooting sports and this sharpening stone thing I do NOT use enough so I resort to the tools that cheat the stone.
I can see with folks being deployed out in the field having assortments of water stones and/or other “mechanisms” is not very viable. For me though, I’ll be damned to mess up my Randall’s due to my lack of gung foo manual stone sharpening skills.
Lots of sound advice and suggestions. In addition to the ones mentioned above in regards to knife sharpeners, there’s also < [b]Wicked Edge Precision Knife Sharpeners[/b] >.
(In closing) Here’s to fine honing your skills!
Hair popping technology
I would agree several stones to choose from for many different metals. Super easy to use and you can get a work bench mount
They do take practice and skill.
A “quickie” knife sharpener will easily give you a usable edge but for cooking, which I do daily, theres a certain appreciation I have for a water stone honed edge.
So I guess it more or less depends on the use, the knife, and where you are. When I first got my stones I sat down for 8 hours straight. Cutting up food is MUCH easier with a VERY sharp blade. Especially for cutting up things like onions and garlic or other mincing cuts. Anything with a skin on it will be hard to cut without a very sharp edge. It takes work, practice, and a learned skill but then again I buy nice knives, cook a lot, and don’t fool around.
Mentioned before but a water stone will give a polished edge. A quickie sharpener will give a micro serrated edge. A micro serrated edge is good for sawing like cuts. A mirror smooth edge is good for chopping and slicing (especially things like skinned veggies).
For cheaper field blades a quickie sharpener will work fine.
On a knife like this http://www.amazon.com/Ken-Onion-DM0504-10-Inch-Slicing/dp/B000NM0H8K/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1313885197&sr=8-15 I would spend about 4hrs on with the wet stones for the initial polish and edge work. Then it takes about 2hrs about once a month with the stones to keep the edge. You can slice through just about anything short of a lump of concrete and barely even feel it.
Can’t believe nobody hasn’t mentioned the Warthog sharpener.
I own most that have been mentioned including the EdgePro by Apex but the warthog is so much easier & idiot proof…worth a look.
I have sharpened knives and cutting tools for years…I’m in construction and use a LOT of cutting instruments. Further to that, my dad was a knife sharpening nut. He had a lot more money invested in sharpening stuff than in knives, actually…he mainly used old moras, which could be had cheaper then even than they are now.
Anyway, I grew up around knife sharpening and I own a half dozen japanese stones and so on. I shave with a straight razor and all that. I have made a few knives for myself and for sale. Lots of sharpening around here is the point I am trying to make.
SOOO…
These days I use my water stones once in a while, if I have some specific reason to do so. I maintain my knives in the field with a DMT folding diamond hone.
For regular use at home, I would never screw around with hand-powered anything, frankly.
A cheap belt sander with grits ranging from 320 on up to 9 micron can be had for about a hundred bucks. You can do every knife in your house in about ten minutes.
It’s nice to have the skill to do it all by hand and I do recommend learning, but the guided systems like the Lansky or whatever don’t really teach you that anyway, so if you’re going to spend the money on a machine that takes the skill out, why go the slow route? Just take a belt sander to them and bang off a knife every minute or so until they’re all done. If you do it regularly, a knife takes about ten seconds to bring back to shaving sharp because there is so little material to take off.
Anyway that’s my approach.
Spyderco triangle sharpmaker is excellent for most purposes/ everyday knife uses (15 and 20 degree angle per side using that system). They also make good gifts for people with knives that aren’t experts at sharpening using other methods and the whole system fits in a small case that can go in a bag easily.
Also check out the spyderco bench stones made out of the same synthetic sapphire as the stones for the sharpmaker if you like free hand sharpening.
I convex some blades using sandpaper and use a leather strop bat with the appropriate compounds for putting a final polish on my edges. Others I just leave as flat grinds and sharpen exclusively with the sharpmaker.
I’ve had good results maintaining edges with the sharpmaker by just giving a blade a few passes a side on the 30 degree back bevel setting and a quick pass on the strop after medium use. 1 minute at the end of day is all it takes to avoid the work to resharpen a badly dulled edge.
If you want to cut paper, the Spyderco will make it happen.
I have both an Edgepro and a Triangle Sharpmaker with the optional diamond triangles for reprofiling edges.
The edgepro is particularly good for medium-sized knives, say 3" to 6" but has problems with longer blades.
Spyderco’s triangles work for me better on a wider variety of blade lengths and is lots easier to set up and use; on the other hand, edgepro does allow a more refined edge if you take the time to work down to the yellow tape (whatever grit that is…)
I have a Lansky someplace but could never get it to grip the blade consistantly and the little aluminum rods were too flexible; the whole thing was pretty awkward (again for me).
As with lots of things you may need to experiment with various techniques and systems until you find the one best for your knives and skills. Some things you keep and some of 'em wind up in a box or donated down at Goodwill.
I think it might even be more important to have good steel in a quality knife than a particular sharpener. I have had some knives with steel that was so soft they were nearly impossible to sharpen. 154 CM and S30V have been favorites, as is Spyderco’s version of ZDP-189. Even I can sharpen those! 
Spyderco Sharpmaker for me.
Great thread gents, lot of good info in here.
Sharpening is deffinately becoming a lost artform or trade/skill. Its kind of tough for each individual to figure out which method works best for them with all the diffirent options and gadgets out there now.
It wasn’t that long ago where every home had an Arkansas stone and that was basically it.
Me personally if a blade needs serious work like taking out gouges or having the edge re-beveled I use a cheap Harbor Freight belt grinder with a miriad of diffirent belts from Lee Valley. From then on for touch up work I’ve come to love the Spyderco. And that’s after trying out much more expensive and complicated systems. What was a game changer for me was when I dicovered the strop, which takes its own practice to develop a feel for as well.
A trick I used to use when I was still getting the feel for things was to use a Sharpie, color the edge only and that way I could see where I was making contact and progress in comparison to the edge and the sharpener. Now I do it all on feel alone. In my circle of familly and friends I think I might be the only one who can really sharpen a blade. It is kind of sad.
+1 on the wet stones
I prefer using two Japanese wet stones 1000/6000 grit. Purchased and learned how use them by watching Murray Carter videos. You can find him on YouTube.
Definitely not to cheapest route to go, but I really had fun learning to sharpen a knife and never really knew what it was like to have a super sharp knife around.
Yea once you get spoiled on what sharp really is your never satisfied with anything but scary sharp. Assuming the blade has the right geometry to take that type of edge. Those 1/4 thick and thicker blades only get so sharp.
This is gonna be what I learn to do next actually, LOL. I guess I need help, but I find knife sharpening to be very relaxing and therapeutic.
