The other day I heard a sound I hadn't heard in years; the slow steady ding ding of the mobile knife sharpening truck rolling through the neighbourhood. I first heard it in a small city one province away, so I guess there're knife sharpeners in many places. I tried out their services in a small town years later and wasn't keen on the results. (sorry for the pun) My kitchen knives wound up sharp, yes, but became roughly ground. And I was missing a surprising amount of metal too. Come to think of it I've seen these mobile sharpeners in every town and city I've lived in, with the same ding ding ringing as they roll down the street.
I have a fine sharpening stone I found in Canadian Tire, originally for lawn mower blades, but it has worked great on my axes and folders. Last year I bought a sharpener consisting of 3 stones that are set in a small plastic rack; coarse, medium, fine. It works okay but not great. I've managed to dull a few edges with it so it must have some bite. Last year I got so fed up with my poor sharpening skills on our kitchen chef knives we wound up replacing them all with new ones. I noticed the other day I had trouble slicing a tomato (which was firmly on the cutting board NOT tossed into the air) and wondered how much luck I'd have sharpening it. I'll probably practise some more on my two folders; not being in the mood or market to replace another set of kitchen knives just yet. Ha. BTW, I saw on a cooking show that serrated knives work best on tomatoes. Our serrated bread knife is very sharp, and easily handles anything tomato-like with pulpy flesh and thin skin. Ask me how I know.
I wish I could get as good an edge as my wife's Mora. I'd like to blame my low budget sharpening stones but I know it's my low level sharpening skills that are to blame. Any suggestions for better stones, techniques etc? (Besides tomato juggling tricks.)