Knife Sharpener Information

Most fine-edged knife sets include a sharpening steel. Using it can prolong the period between when you need to sharpen. Steeling cannot, however, replace sharpening entirely.

Once your knives are sharp, experts say you should store them in a knife block, use a magnetic strip or use some type of guard. Plastic guards are inexpensive.

If you prefer to send your knives out for sharpening, know that some professional sharpening services offer mail order. It costs about $6.50 on average to sharpen an 8-inch chef's knife, not including shipping. Sharpening scissors usually costs between $5 and $7.

Knife-sharpening how-tos

If you are interested in learning more about knife-sharpening options, visit Chad Ward's lengthy article at eGullet.org, which has great -- though very technical -- how-to instructions. For a more digestible knife tutorial, check out Bon Appetit magazine's knife-sharpening video.

Other websites also dole out sharpening advice. Andrew Knowlton, restaurant editor at Bon Appetit, offers easy-to-read sharpening tips in his column The BA Foodist, while Harry Hurt III of The New York Times shares his hands-on training experience in "How to Succeed at Knife-Sharpening without Losing a Thumb." For a more in-depth guide, visit the tutorial by Steve Bottorf, cutlery expert and author of "Sharpening Made Easy." KnifeSharpeningTips.com is an easy-to-read website that has a sharpening FAQs, a forum and some product reviews.

BladeForums.com has more than 11,000 members and bills itself as "the leading edge of knife discussion." There are some interesting comments here on sharpening.

Spyderco, the maker of the Tri-Angle Sharpmaker, hosts discussion forums about its products.

The Knife Sharpener blog offers tips on how to choose a sharpener and handful of reviews.

Knife-sharpening videos

It's helpful to see manual knife sharpeners in action, and the following websites offer useful video tutorials:

This YouTube clip demonstrates the Spyderco knife sharpener, including assembly.

Here's a Cooking.com video showing the Furi Diamond Fingers in action.

A demonstration of a Japanese water stone can be found here.

Manufacturer websites are a good place to find more information.

AccuSharp

Aladdin (Sharp'nr Co.)

Anolon

Breville

Chantry (Taylors Eye Witness)

Chef's Choice

EdgePro

F. Dick

Henckels

Kuhn Rikon

LamsonSharp

Lansky

Meyerco

MinoSharp (Sointu)

Morty the Knife Man

Norton

Ozitech

Presto

Smith's

Spyderco

Wusthof