How to sharpen a knife: V-style sharpener

The V-style sharpener is one of the easiest types of knife sharpeners to use. It produces good results with little practice which makes it great for beginners or people looking for a quick and easy way to sharpen their blades. This style of sharpener should not be confused with a pull through type, which we do not recommend.

The sharpener in this video is a lansky crock stick with a coarse and fine set of 9" rods. There are many other makes available, the spyderco sharpmaker for example. They all work on the same principals. They have abrasive rods held at an angle which you run the knife down to remove metal thus sharpening it. All the user has to do is hold the knife perpendicular to the base of the sharpener. This is a lot easier than trying to hold an angle free hand like with stone sharpening.

Before you start using this sharpener you'll want a way to test the sharpness of your knife before you start as well as throughout the sharpening session. If you don't know how to test the edge of your knife, watch our "how to test knife sharpness video". Our sharpening playlist includes a number of useful videos for anyone wanting to learn more about sharpening and edge theory!

To use the sharpener insert the coarse rods (unless you are only touching up the edge) into the shallowest angle holes; In the case of the lansky these are the 20 degree holes. Bring the heel of the knife to the top of one of the rods. Make sure to hold the knife perpendicular to the base of the sharpener. Draw the knife down and across the rod from heel to tip while keeping it perpendicular to the base. Next, repeat this procedure on the other rod. Keep alternating strokes until you have done 10 per side. At this point check sharpness. If the knife has improved a lot and cuts reasonably well (ie. edge reflects no light and it cuts paper fairly well) you are ready to move to the fine rods. If the knife fails the test do another 10 strokes per side and re-test. Continue this way until it passes, then move to the fine rods.

On the fine rods the process is exactly the same. Do ten strokes per side and test sharpness. If it slices paper nicely you can stop there. If you want a little more from the edge do another 10 strokes to see if it will improve further.

This sharpener will produce good results quickly for anyone. It isn't the most versatile in terms of angle or grit selection and It may not work on the very dullest knives (not aggressive enough) but it gets the job done in most cases and is affordable. Other bonus points are: it is quick to setup and use and it is quite compact.

I hope the video is helpful! If you enjoyed it please subscribe; You'll be updated when we release future sharpening videos.

[Mine]

#unintentionalASMR 😁
Thanks. Informative, helpful, and a relaxing sound lol

[whitepride]

Thank you for this video! I'm going to see about ordering the same tool you've got. You wouldn't believe how many different kinds of sharpening tools I've used on my knives, and the only one that came even close to getting the knives sharp is this cheap little electric one I ordered on Amazon called 'Kasonic Professional 2-Stage Electric Knife Sharpener'. I got reasonably sharp edges with that loud thing, but I never came even close to achieving a razor sharp edge. My next step was going to be to do a tiny bit of research before buying one of those grinders, like the ones the contestents use on that TV show 'Forged in Fire' on History Channel. Their knives seem to be able to cut through solid diamond after using the big grinder, while almost everything I've tried has left my knives with an edge that'd likely knock out an opponent from blunt-force trauma rather than harming from any attempt at slashing (that is, in hypothetical knife fight haha) I think there's a good possibility that a spooky curse is upon me to prevent my knives from achieving sharpness. We shall see. Thanks again and I hope I can find the same gadget you got.

[Tiger]

Could you do a video of you sharpening knives in the shop? (grinder)

[leepinnguin]

the link isn't working for seeing how sharp your knife is.