^ Stropping is always nice.
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I use the Work Sharp (Ken Onion model - it was on sale, and hey, I figure if I was in the bathroom with the guy, at the urinals together and chatting once, this will just remind me of the hilarity of that!) for my kitchen knives and any user that I've neglected for too long.
The kitchen stuff is nothing special, just the usual Henckels "Professional" series, and the Work Sharp really does them both quickly and nicely. Works just fine for my junky el-cheapo Chinese-grocery-store cleaver (I can't call myself an Asian unless I have one, and yes, I do use it for *EVERYTHING*), too.
For my nicer stuff, I prefer to go at it manually, with my trusty old Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpener set. I've had this ever since I started really getting into the knife hobby in the late 90s, and I still love it. It's gotten my knives sharp enough that it passed muster as a proper defensive knife (the instructor's cutting demo opened my eyes as to the kind of damage that a 3 to 4-inch folder could do
) as well as led to the amusement of a kitchen full of cops, when a knife that I sold as a user from my collection was used by one officer to demonstrate to his buddy that the latter's slash-proof gloves really weren't, by cutting off all five fingers in one swoop. 🖐
I really want to get a Wicked Edge setup, but I've been holding out. I haven't been active in the knife world since the mid-oughts, so I haven't really been tempted. Still, pictures posted by various online friends' - both of the overall look of the edges they've been able to achieve as well as what they can see under a microscope really often has me frothing at the mouth.......
