Knives. How do you keep yours sharp?

[HuffwardlyRudge]

I was brought up in a family where knife sharpening was a manly pursuit for men.

The men in my family sharpen knives with whetstones or those long ridgy stick thingies. NEVER with anything that might make the job easier or less manly. (My father is still uncomfortable talking about the Christmas my middle brother's wife gave my middle brother an electric knife sharpener from Lakeland).

Now I end up with a dh who couldn't find the pointy end of a kitchen knife with written instructions and a Youtube demonstration clip.

Soooooo... I have blunt knives. I bought a thingy with lots of circles that you draw the blades through, but I keep nicking the blades which isn't ideal.

What do you do? Help me.

I don;t.

for some reason all my knives are still sharp, and I bought mine cheap before DH and I even got married.

not sure if that means they were (are) in fact very good knives, or I don;t use them properly.

mind you, I go thru scissors a lot as I cut up meat with scissors normally.

You can buy a stick thingy to sharpen them with, looks a bit like a lightsabre made out of bumpy metal IYKWIM. My dad used to use sandpaper IIRC. My knives rarly need sharpening for some odd reason though.

Have you thought of asking at a key cutting place if they sharpen knives??

I use a chantry knife sharpener from lakeland - not the most thrifty thing to buy but it works a treat and has lasted for ages....

lightsabre-style steel here as well. Top tip is never to put proper knives in the dishwasher - they lose their edge completely.

(OP - would it entirely emasculate your DH if you were to get your father to do mass knife-sharpening next time he visits?)

I have taught myself to sharpen my own knives with a steel (a la Gordon Ramsay) .
I just sharpen a few times every time I use them. Wash them by hand and keep them in a knife block (as opposed to all jumbled in a drawer which is how it was before I bought some decent knives!).