Originally Posted by
John TenEyck
I sharpen my own knives, used to be 10-1/4" for my Inca, now are 14" for my MiniMax. I've done them by hand with Waterstones, with a friable wheel on my RAS, and now with a Grizzly knife grinder. Set up properly, all will give you a flat (within a couple of thousandths which is good enough for me), sharp knife at whatever angle you need. Doing it by hand using stones is the hardest to screw up but will take the longest if you have to deal with a nick.
FWIW, I found no great improvement in cut quality or time between sharpenings by adding a micro bevel with stones to what I get straight off the grinder, so I no longer do it. I suppose I would do it if I sent my knives out to be sharpened as a way to put it off, but it's faster to regrind a dull knife w/o a micro bevel than one with it.
John