Once you start to carry a knife daily, one thing that will become apparent to you before long is that edge retention is only so good. Even the hardest steel alloys will dull after a few days of very hard use.

That entails a necessity for you to know how to sharpen your knife, but there is more than one option at your disposal. Two of the main options are sharpening stones, in the form of pocket stones and bench stones, and knife sharpening systems, which use either a series of rods, belts, stones and guides to get the job done.

Each of them has its own unique advantages and disadvantages. This post will break down some of them.

About Sharpening Stones

While sharpening stones vary in size, generally speaking they are flat stones with a surface between 2 to 4 inches in width and 3 to 12 inches in length. Some are small enough to keep in a pocket and others are meant to be mounted to a work bench. Most stones are flat but some may be special shapes to accommodate inwardly curved blades, gouges, and V-parting tools.

Here are some of the benefits of sharpening stones as opposed to dedicated sharpening systems.

• Versatility: With one stone you can sharpen many different types of tools. Also, even though you’ll need more than one stone to get the advantage of many different grits, you can adjust the angle at which you set the edge, which will give you greater control over how robust or fine the edge is.

• Cost-effectiveness: There are some very expensive sharpening stones out there, but as a general rule, only stones of very high, fine grits are expensive. Moreover, you can usually get a whole set of stones for the bench much more cost-effectively than a sharpening system.

• You can use them for multiple different types of tools: Notwithstanding the grit, you can use one sharpening stone to sharpen many different types of tools. In addition to knives, you can sharpen chisels, gouges, V-parting tools and other woodworking tools, along with hatchets, axes, swords, machetes, and even shovels. Overall, stones are much more versatile and flexible than sharpening systems.

Even so, there are some drawbacks associated with sharpening stones. One is that it is much harder to use them appropriately and if you don’t know what you’re doing, not only will you not be able to use the stone, you could damage your edge. Also, you can’t just have one stone - you will need several different stones of varying grits in order to restore, finish, and if needed, polish your edges.

About Knife Sharpening Systems

On the flipside, knife sharpening systems are like workstations with many different grades of stones, rods, or sharpeners, which usually secure both the stone and knife in place. Many of them are guided and foolproof, making them easier to use.

Here are some of the benefits of knife sharpening kits as opposed to stones.

• They are easier to use than stones: The whole point of a knife sharpening stone is easy efficiency. Also, you don’t really need to know what you’re doing; just select the right grit, clamp the tool in place, and follow the directions that came with the system. Anyone could learn how to use a system quickly and there’s basically no learning curve.

• You can usually get a very sharp edge very quickly: Despite their complexity, knife sharpening kits and systems are very efficient and you can usually get a serviceable edge back very quickly, compared to how long it would take with a stone.

That being said, not everything about sharpening systems is superior to stones. Knife sharpening systems may be easier to use and faster than stones, but they are usually much more expensive. On top of that, they’re also not as flexible. There are many tools you can’t sharpen with them - for instance, axes and shovels. Though harder to use, for these, a stone is still better.

The Difference Between a Knife Sharpener and a Strop

One distinction we would like to draw attention to is the difference between a knife sharpening stone (or a system) and a strop, since we also sell strops.

A stone or a sharpening system removes material from the blade and reprofiles the edge. A strop does not; all it does is take the preexisting microserrations on the blade and align them so that the edge cuts more efficiently.

When sharpening, you push the edge forward over the stone or belt to remove metal; when stropping, you draw the edge away from the strop, in order to align the microserrations.

Stropping is necessary to get a truly razor sharp edge, nonetheless, which is why we sell strops in addition to sharpeners.

Explore Sharpening Stones and Knife Sharpening Systems Here

Whether you’re here for a new sharpening stone, a rod, or a whole knife sharpening system, we can help. Check out our collection and if you have any questions about anything we sell, get in touch with us.