# Sharpening MAC knives



## tanyaden (Dec 14, 2012)

Hi all,

My cooking skills are really "can't boil water", my husband cooks for our family. I'm getting him 2 MAC Pro knives as a birthday gift - 9 1/2" Mighty Chef Knife and 5" Utility Knife.

My husband just started to learn how to sharpen - all our knives are really cheap stainless steel, so he's not afraid to ruin anything. We have a knife sharpening system at home. I don't know the name, it looks similar to this: http://www.edgeproinc.com.

So I have few questions (sorry if they are naive - I really have zero knowledge, just read lots of reviews/suggestions):

1. Am I correct that it's better to use wetstones to sharpen MAC knives?

2. If yes, can wetstones be used with our current sharpening system?

3. What kind of stones would you recommend? Nothing fancy, but I'm willing to pay extra for a good quality.

Thanks in advance!


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

All sharpening stones are whetstones. To "whet" is to sharpen. There are several different families of whetstones, the two most common are oil stones and water stones. I think, that by "wetstones" you're referring to water stones. The Edge Pro company doesn't sell oil stones for its sharpeners; and I can't think of anyone who sells oil stones cut to fit the EP.

Edge Pro sells _polish tapes_ and _water stones_ for its sharpeners. Other water stones and oil stones are available from a few retailers. The Edge Pro sharpening stones are really pretty good, but some of the after market stones are better than the Edge Pro stuff -- but not hugely. Put another way, either way you'll get a sharp knife but the other stones do more to improve the [cough] "sharpening experience" by making it go faster and leaving a _slightly_ finer edge. Upgrading the stones falls into the category of _not really necessary, but worth the extra money_.

However, as far as I know, stones cut to fit an Edge Pro won't fit in any other sharpener -- except perhaps the CanadaKnives counterfeit which was around for a few years on ebay. I just don't know about that one. So check the labels on your sharpener before buying anything.

If you do own an Edge Pro, I suggest either buying the Bester 500, Beston 1200 and Suehiro Rika from Chef Knives To Go, or the Chosera 400, 1000, and 3000 from the same store. The first set will sharpen as well as the second, but require a little more forethought to use because the Bester (which you'll hardly ever use) and Beston (which you'll always use) require a few minutes of soaking before use.

In addition to the stones, you'll need to buy a flattener which you'll need to use BEFORE using the stones, this one is the best deal I've seen for flatteners.

As you use and flatten them your stones will wear unevenly, and if you're very picky about sharpening angles you'll also need the angle cube and drill stop collar. But you're probably at least a year away before you need them. Maybe next Hanukkah.

I have a lot of sharpening stuff, including four different kits. One of those is an Edge Pro Apex using all Chosera stones; and in my full size, water stone kit the two coarsest stones are the Bester 500 and Beston 1200; and even though I don't own one, I know the Suehiro Rika very well. All, highly recommended.

BDL


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## mano (Dec 16, 2010)

You're a good wife!

To answer your first two questions, yes and yes. The third answer is if he is already using the sharpening system then he probably has at least a few -if not all- of the necessary stones depending on what it came with.

Look at what he has and call Mark at Chef's knives to go: 888-792-2094

He carries most all the stones for that system and will guide you through what you may need.

http://www.chefknivestogo.com/edgepro.html

Good luck

edited to add: I haven't read his post, but do whatever BDL says!


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## tanyaden (Dec 14, 2012)

Thanks a lot BDL!

I'm not sure if ours is an Edge Pro or something else, I'll check tonight. Most likely it's something cheaper, but if it can hold the edge - why not?

So I have to make sure that the stones fit the machine, right? Good to know, I thought they are all standard.

We live in Montreal, and therefore our choice of online retailers is a bit limited. But I'll check what I can get here. 

I'll get an Idahone 12" ceramic rod as well. Do I need anything else to keep knives in their best shape?


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## tanyaden (Dec 14, 2012)

> edited to add: I haven't read his post, but do whatever BDL says!


Yeah, I've got the idea 

Thanks a lot guys, I really hope my husband will be pleased. And you're right, I might wait with stones and let him decide what he wants. I just know that at the end he will ask me to "investigate" what's the best


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## tanyaden (Dec 14, 2012)

I've checked what my husband has - it's not Edge Pro, but some cheap counterfeit. I'm not sure if it's still ok to use on good knives. I assume yes, but please tell me if we might damage knives.

So it looks like good stones are still in the shopping list. I just have to make sure they are compatible.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

There are scores of rod-guide type sharpeners, some are good, some are bad, some are in the middle, many are good for pocket knives but too small for kitchen knives, and all but two of them *are not* made by Edge Pro. Before I can give you advice about yours, you have to at least identify it and tell me what it is.

BDL


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## tanyaden (Dec 14, 2012)

It would be hard to identify the "thing" we have :-( Everything on the box is in Chinese, no single English word...

I found one link to the model we have - http://www.tinydeal.com/practical-knife-sharpener-hones-with-support-honing-oil-p-40013.html.

I guess that for the professional eye it's a piece of ****, but well... that's what we have. If you tell me that good knives should never come in contact with it - we'll buy the good one I guess. But maybe good stones can be enough for the whole thing to work?


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