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I have an excellent set of knives (2 actually) unfortunately my sharpening skills start and end with the steel and they are showing for their neglect. What are people's thoughts about buying a whetstone/other sharpening device vs. sending them out to be professionally sharpened?
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Every few months, Sur La Table will sharpen 3 knives per customer for free.
Based on Cooks Illustrated magazine reviews, I bought this sharpener:
http://www.accusharp.com/
It cost about $12 at Ace Hardware, and it does a very good job. I don't think a > $100 electric knife sharpener is worth it for the average home cook.