SUBJECT: # 37760: What's your favorite fish cleaning knife and sharpening system?

Submitted by sandman from TEXAS on 7/21/02 5:13:00 PM

I have used a Buck fillet knife for a long time. It's high carbon and stain-free like the Dexters. Hard to get an edge on but it stays a long time when you get it there. Just started using a Dexter S136F 6" boning knife for cutting through the tough stuff and so far, I like it. It holds an edge very well. Since I started using the Dexter, my fillet knife edge stays sharp a lot longer. At the cleaning table, the Accusharp works great for putting an edge back and I use either a ceramic crock stick or a Razor's Edge steel to keep the edge lined up.

1. 7/21/02 5:59:00 PM Submitted by Thom/WV (12.165.13.195) from WEST VIRGINIA says In My Dreams
   Sandman,

   Only in my dreams is there a shaprening system that is foolproof enough for me to use. I simply can not get a knife to sharpen the way I want it - which is to say sharp enough to shave the hair off of you without discomfort. I can get them close .... sometimes .... but not consistantly.

   As to the knifes themselves. Well, I do not like long filet knives and to tell the truth I have never felt at all comfortable with the common 6"+ ones that are sold everywhere. I had one of those long ones by Shrade but some dam fool (read young son, when he was much younger) got it in his head would make a good prybar and broke the blade off. It layed around here for years until one day I took it to the grinder and made a short knife of it. The blade was down to about 4" and it was, and still is, wonderful. It was short enough that I finally felt that I had control of it. That left only my pisspoor fileting skils to blame. Anyway I liked that knife so much that I finally went whole hog for a filet knife.

   I contacted a custom maker who is over in Charlotte, VA and after a month of discussions about specifics of materials and style he agreed to build me a knife. The deal works like this; I say I want a knife but don't know squat about them. He says, OK, and proceeds to tell me a bit about knifes. I want stainless everything and he can make one out of stainless everything. I want it so long and he says that's fine. I fish around all the knifes I own (over a dozen filet knifes alone) and find the one with the best handel for me, I tell him about it. He tells me how little I know and explains handels, we decide on a handel. Then there are things like pins and bolsters and on and on. I send him a check for the deposit. About 4 months later he sends me a template for the knife in the mail. I make some minor changes to the blade shape on the template. I send another check to add to my original deposit. Finally the knife is done and he contacts me with the final price. I send him a check and a few days later my knife, in its custom made sheeth arrives. It took exactly 370 days from the first deposit slip until the knife arrived. That was because I was in the que most of that year. It obviously doesn't take that long to make a knife but this fellow is very good and so you gotta get in line. So my favorite knife, well, its tucked away out of the sight of most and I have to tell you it is a joy to behold. It didn't cost anywhere near as much as I expected it would, and in fact I commissioned the same fellow to make me a second knife. That one should be here in the fall and when it arrives I'm going to have him make a smaller duplicate of the first one and then I'm going to give the original to my son. He's in his late 20's now and knows not to play prybar .....

   Thom

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2. 7/21/02 7:08:00 PM Submitted by sandman from TEXAS says re:Thom...
   Get a Lansky system. For blades under 6", anyone can get a razor edge. The Accusharp is about $8 and it will get the longer ones sharp enough to shave with little or no effort. Don't give up!

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3. 7/21/02 7:53:00 PM Submitted by Local Motion from NEW YORK says 'joy to behold'..
   ..Thom, you are one crazy fisherman. :-)

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4. 7/21/02 9:47:00 PM Submitted by H2Outlaw (209.144.24.72) from TEXAS says Sandman
   Is the Accusharp that you refer to the white sharpener with the blue handguard? It's made by Fortune Products out of Marble Falls, TX. Just wondering if it's the same one I'm thinking of buying soon.

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5. 7/21/02 10:04:00 PM Submitted by sandman from TEXAS says re: H2Outlaw
   That's the one. They also have it in camo. I have a hard enough time finding a sharpener when I need it now LOL. I was really impressed with that rig for the money. Cut Rate has them out on the counter for demos in the new store. Another portable one that I've had good luck with is the grey Normark one. It's coarse on one side and fine on the other. They're about $2 and they will put an edge on quick.

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6. 7/21/02 11:28:00 PM Submitted by jimk (66.140.232.99) from ALABAMA says You're supposed to clean 'em?
   j/k...If it's just specks, I use an old 6" Rapala that I've had forever. If reds, sheepshead, drum, then I start off with a 3" Oxo(kitchen reject)with rubber grips and sharp point and finish off with the longer Rapala. I use a round steel or Buck steel and finish with "Crock Stix". Some of my friends swear by Dexter, but my old Rapala still does a good job. My biggest problem right now is that they're not used enough.

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7. 7/22/02 8:34:00 AM Submitted by RayJ (161.114.88.76) from NEW HAMPSHIRE says Depends on what your filleting
   I know that anything shorter than 6" (and even that's short) doesn't work very well for me on a large groundfish (cod, haddock, cusk) or bluefish. The fillet itself usually winds up being wider than 6" and, with a knife shorter than the fillet, I've always found it difficult to skin a sizable fillet, much less get the fillet out.

   For a sharpener I use a plain old stone; coarse on one side fine on the other (read: cheap and easy to find). I usually just have to run the stone over the knife 2-3 times on each side. I hold the knife blade against a counter with the cutting side up and at about a 40 degree angle and, holding the stone parallel to the counter in my other hand, run the stone into the edge with a slight bottom to top motion as I run the stone into the blade. I'm not sure if I could shave with it but it will fillet just fine and takes me well under a minute. The stone leaves kind of a coarse "grabby" edge on the blade that helps get the blade through the skin. Once through the skin that's more than half the battle for some fish.

   One thing that seems key to getting a good fillet is to NOT use a sawing motion. Once through the skin, the less strokes the better.

   Some fish are harder than others. Cusk are tough skinned and very slimey and will dull a knife in short order. Wolfish has tough sandpaper like skin and will dull a knife even quicker. Cod, haddock, and pollack as well as bluefish and mackeral are a piece of cake. Mackeral could easily be done with a shorter knife.

   I've been told by a couple mates from party boats that you don't want a razor-sharp knife for skinning. Not only is it not needed, it just makes it more likely that you will cut through the skin rather than between it and the fillet. I figure people that do this for a living probably know a bit about what they're talking about, though some amount is also personal preference. For example, I prefer a fairly wide fillet blade (1.5"?) where most mates seem to like the narrow (.5"?) blades. It also might be that their blades started out much wider, from all the use they see ;-)

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8. 7/22/02 3:43:00 PM Submitted by Thom/WV (12.165.13.118) from WEST VIRGINIA says Alas :~(
   Sad to say, I've got a Lansky system sharpening set. Got two of those gray Normark things too. Got a wonderfully cheap 2-sided stone from a NAPA dealer that is 20 years old, three Arkansas stones, a razor strop, and three different grits of those dimond impregnated things in the drawer as well. I've read every how-to I have ever been able to find on the subject of sharpening and watched guys who could bring fear to your face with their skills. You gotta understand, its not the tools that are lacking, its not a case of missing information, and its not that good help hasn't been available. Sad to say its just me. Hansome as the thoughts of the devil, reasonably well to do, sire of mirads of children (don't laugh, I could be your father), clean, brave, wise, reverent, honest, and kind to boot, but for the life of me I just can't get a knife sharp. One of life's great failings I guess.

   This is a picture that led me to the knife maker I was fortunate enough to get to make the knife for me. This one is very similar to the one he made for me. Mine is a bit smaller and the bolster and pins are different, blades is a bit narrower too, but other than that this one and mine are similar: http://holmes.acc.virginia.edu/~rjs7m/k29.html

   Thom

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9. 7/22/02 6:04:00 PM Submitted by Nimrod (12.17.202.43) from TEXAS says Two Main Knife Choices.......
   One is 110 volt, the other is 12V. Are you guys talking about rib meat?

   Just Joking!

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10. 7/22/02 6:54:00 PM Submitted by Speck-Tacular (216.106.45.232) from LOUISIANA says Knifes
    I think most fish require a different knife although I keep it down to two knives. I use a russel 2 sided shark knife for tuna/amberjack/wahoo/ and then I use a 9 inch russell narrow filet for trout/snapper/flounder. Russell makes some high quality knives at a good price.

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11. 7/23/02 7:32:00 AM Submitted by Tom Bare (172.149.236.231) from NORTH CAROLINA says Forschner Fibrox
    Cheap and durable. 10" breaking curved blade and a 6" boning, depending on the fish.

    TB.

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12. 7/23/02 1:10:00 PM Submitted by RayJ (161.114.88.74) from NEW HAMPSHIRE says Forgot one thing
    A critical thing to getting the cheap two-sided stones to work, at least in my personal experience, is that you have to rinse them before using them. The stones are relatively soft and the sharpening process will sometimes leave grit on the stone. Once there's grit on the stone it doesn't work anywhere near as well, if at all. Not sure exactly why that is but that's what I've found FWIW. I just rinse it under water running my thumb over the surface until I can't feel any grit. No need to wait for it to dry before using it.

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13. 7/27/02 11:44:00 PM Submitted by Alex from GA from GEORGIA says Knives
    I side with Nimrod. I have a 12v one on my boats for about 5 years now and don't know how I did without it. I also have a Forstner and a dual grit stone that gets used, but when I'm fortunate to have a lot of or bigger fish to clean I use the electric.

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14. 7/31/02 6:48:00 PM Submitted by Mike (198.190.222.34) from FLORIDA says sharp knives
    Lansky systems are great if you have all day to sharpen your knives. If your knife still has a halfway decent edge to it,(meaning it will still cut), start out with a medium grit wetrock(I like Smith stones personally), some 3 in 1 oil, hold the blade between 10 and 15 degrees(I have read that 11 deg. is the perfect angle), and make sure you use the same amount of strokes on each side. Use a circular motion firmly about 15 times on one side, then the other. Do that 3 or 4 times, then use a light pressure, repeat pattern. Then go to a fine stone, use firm then light pressure just like before. By this time you should have a pretty good edge. Stop going in circles now and with the blade pointing directly away from you, just pull the blade to you firmly 20-30 times alternating sides, then lightly. It should shave your arm at this point, but not smoothly, it will kindof grab the hair a little bit. Take a leather strap, and go back and forth about 15-20 times. It should shave smoothly now. The leather takes the wire edge off. The MOST important thing is keep the same angle EVERY stroke. buckknives.com has a good animated illustration on this. Any questions drop me an email. weeksjm@gru.com

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