lookin to keep my filet knife sharp

[Guest]

as the subject puts it bluntly.
i want to keep my knife sharp. what would work the best for this?
it is a Buck 226.
Thanx in advance
Monty

[hydro]

Try a diamond stone. They are expensive but they work great, you don't have to use oil or water, and they last a long time.

[SuddenlySummer]

I acutally tried to sell knives one summer back in college. They tought me one thing.

You cannot resharpen a stainless steel knife. It is the sharpest it will be when you first purchase it.

It must be high carbon steel. Any expensive knife that you buy wil be high carbon steel. Leech lake Knives come to mind. I know that Reed's sells them. I purchased one for a friend and it never dulls.

[Guest]

thanx for the replies.
so i am gonna take it that my knife is a stainless blade?
since it will not hold an edge as well as the other materials you talk about....any other recomendations besides the reed knives?

Monty

[hydro]

Suddenly Summer,

While I agree with your comment that carbon steel knives are excellent at taking and holding an edge, I disagree that a quality stainless blade cannot be resharpened.

Low quality stainless is a gummy material that is very tough but not very hard, and is very difficult to put an edge on. A higher quality blade such as 440B, 440C or some of the precipitation hardened alloys combine this toughness with a high degree of hardness and make great blades. I agree that they are difficult to put an edge on because of this toughness but if you carefully hold the angle to the stone they will take as good an edge as any other blade.

Personally, I don't like my fillet knife to be too sharp. I like it to slide over the bones rather than cut through them. Just my preference.

[Big Bobber]

I used to worry about keeping a good edge on my filet knife until I started using an electric knife. I will never go back to the "old" way of cleaning fish again. I have a 12 volt that runs on a small gell pack battery. It works great.

[Guest]

I have a kershaw stainless with a rubberized handle. Just love the thing. I am think about buying an electric fisherman, just cuz I watched some guy next to me at LOW in the cleaning room fillet almost twice as many fish as me in about the same time. I think I am a fairly efficent filleter. I don't know how much more meat I lost or gained than he did per fish, but he was washing his hands before me.

As far as the sharpener goes, I always bring a Chef's honing stick with my knife. You know the long skewer type with the handle? I swick my knife back and forth across it about every 5 or 6 fish (I cut through the ribs and cut them out from the other side after skinning) and she's always a razor.

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[Jig stick]

Try using crock sticks,you just pull back and down.start from the heel of the knife pull back and down ending at the tip do it ten times on each side at each angel.with out any presure just read the directions when you buy the sticks.youwill be able to shave with you knife. Works great for me.

[AaronM]

I was taught by the commercial fishermen and the way they cleaned they needed a big knife so now I have a 12 inch chicago cutlery knife thats the best I've ever had. Never had a problem with it and keeps its edge.

fishinfrenzy