Knives

[keith157]

So if I put a regular 20 degree blade in the ke3000, it will re-hone it to 15 degrees?

IMHO far better to go from 20 to 15, I've done that with about half of my knives now including, I'm delighted to say, my Japanese veg cleaver which is as sharp now as when I bought it. I'd have plumped for an electric one if I had the money & room (especially the room ) but am well satisfied with the results from my Chef's Choice sharpener.
However IF the numbers had come up I'd probably have an electric one as well. I purposely left my large chef's knife & cleaver at 20 degrees as they do the harder work and there is less likelihood of the edge turning.

[Swindon_Ed]

If I had the room to have something setup perminatly I'd go for one of these

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tormek-T-3-T3-S ... B0026LXEYK

[keith157]

They are brill, that's what my mate used on my Victorian carbon steel carving set. They take a bit of practice I'm told but they are the dog's dangly bits, also great for chisels. planes etc so a boon for the DIYer as well.

[keith157]

When watching the Edgepro vid on Youtube this vid was in the sidebar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzL41ygQG0o

Another great system if you've got the room, although the Edgepro can do serrated blades as well. I don't have either nor could I justify the expense of either of them (the numbers didn't come up again) but there are a heck of a lot of different systems out there, so plenty of choice depending on your needs.
I have the Chef's Choice sharpener for serrated blades and it seems to work well.

[aris]

I'm a bit torn now. Do I go for the ke3000 or a chefs choice electric asian knife sharpener? The chefs choice is actually cheaper.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chefs-Choice-31 ... B000FKV96Y

I like the fact that the ke3000 has easily replaceable abrasives. At the same time, the chefs choice has diamond abrasives.

[Swindon_Ed]

I've got no experience with the other sharpener that you've mentioned although if you go for it just go careful as diamond sharpeners can take away a lot of your blade when sharpening.

[aris]

Quick question for you. I see the ke3000 can take a fine or medium sanding belt - what do you use? Does it come with both?

[Swindon_Ed]

It comes with the medium belts only but this is good when you first get it as you'll wear them down putting a new edge on your European knives and then the belts will be similar to the fine grain. Replacement belts are about £10 per pair and I've only just changed my belts after 8 months of use. I've now swapped for the fine belts as I'm just maintaining the edge on my knives now.

[aris]

Cheers for that- so even with the medium belts, you get shave your arm sharpness?

I'm not sure if you ave seen this video on YouTube, but soe of the tests the Chinese chap does are hair raising!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXfGYd8HtuQ

[keith157]

I wonder if that's how Ken Hom lost his hair............................
Talk about the trust factor. It reminded me of the "multitool" demonstrators dulling knives on bricks then running them across their faces.............

Well aris looks like you've found another one to compare. If I had the choice I'd probably go with the ke purely on the basis it's made/sold by a knife company. I bought my 3 stage Furi system on the basis that that's what the company use to sharpen the knives before sale and I'm still highly delighted with it, but it's only for 20 deg.
Just to compound the problem there was a company at Brighton inporting beautifully made German knives but to add to the debate they were ground to 18 deg so you had to buy their sharpener.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.