Lanx
<Prior Amod>
i'll stand by the worksharp manual sharpenerI use different knives for different things. I try to be diligent about sharpening them maybe once a month, and a varies dependent upon how much I'm using them. The wife well occasionally say this isn't cutting well or I see you're trying to chop a tomato, and I say give me that to sharpen.
Sometimes a knife might be dirty but I'll hand wash it quick if I prefer it for different tasks. I'm not as rigorous about knife upkeep as I ought to be, but we've been using these Ikea knives for a few years and I've already bought a backup set, and for the money they're pretty phenomenal. They're really shaped and have the same feel as Global, which is a nice brand I've always wanted but I have a hard time spending that much money on them. I need to replace my Victorinox though. I battered and abused it, and it's just there for rough chopping at this point.
I guess with Amazon having sales for Labor Day I need to look at two things, replacing that chef's knife, and probably getting a new sharpener. I think the one I have is from back in college. It still works but I'd probably be better off with something new.
If you know of a good manual one, or hell even an electric I'm all ears.

Work Sharp Precision Adjust Knife Sharpener
while i now currently use a tormac clone (basically a slow bench grinder)
i've used a few of these types of "kitchen clamp, stationary sharpeners" and this is the best one, the angle is easily adjustable, theres no "clamp" to worry about sticking to your countertop or even cracking it, and the magnetic holder is nice in that it can be flipped easily.
(it's not practically for me as an all in 1 solution since i use chinese chef knives)
they have a motorized sharpener that uses belts, that i also have, but i find that it takes off too much metal and i find that it's great for my mower blades.
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