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Prevention is half the battle in keeping your knives sharp:

1. Always hone your knife before using it.
2. Only cut on Wood or Poly....no acrylic, glass, tile, etc....
3. Never put them in the dishwasher...hand wash & dry immediately after use.

Learn the levels & definitions of "sharpening"....

1. Honing is simply straightening out the curl when the edge of the knife rolls over. This can be done on a steel or a ceramic honing device such as a set of wheels that maintain the appropriate angle. This should be done prior to every use. This gives you a better edge and delays the need for more aggressive sharpening.

2. Sharpening (At Home) There are aggressive ceramic sharpeners, diamond steels, metal alloy sharpeners, wet stones, etc....that can all be used to take a bit of steel off of the knife. This should be done only when honing will no longer uncurl the roll in the edge, and you need to actually take some of the metal away.

3. Sharpening (Professional) This is also known as resetting the edge. This can be a manual process (it's an artform) or can be done by a mechanical device, usually a series of a set of wheels. This actually grinds down the metal and not only creates a sharp edge, but also resets the angle for the type and construction of knife in question.

While you can buy electric sharpeners at home, I don't recommend it unless you really know how to use it, or the knife is disposable. They take too much metal off, too quickly.

I suggest to take your knives to a professional when they need to be reset. Here in Minneapolis we have a grocery store that will do it for free, wusthof-trident holds free sharpening events, and there are a couple of professional services that are very reasonable. The same options are available in most cities, just look around on the internet or phone book.

That being said, I use the following at home: Regular steel & ceramic honer for day to day use, a metal alloy sharpener for occasional use & a diamond steel that I use once in a great while. Otherwise, I take mine to a professional.

if you live in brooklyn, try mike's knife sharpener (the guy in the green truck).

How long should a steel last, especially if you use it evertime before you use your knives. What can you do to make it last longer? What is the best kind of steel for honing?