Union Market has a knife sharpener:
http://www.dcsharp.com/

The steel will do the trick, if you know how to use it (low angle), but your knives will still need to be sharpened periodically. One problem is most places you need to leave the knives for some period of time -- not sure if that is true at Sur Le Table or W & S but I used to get mine sharpened at the butcher at Eastern Market where I had to leave them overnight. Other butchers may also sharpen them. Pretty cheap usually although the farmers' market ones generally charge twice was others do, but they do it there. The electric sharpeners never worked for me in fact I think I have one around here I could sell.

The steel is used to align the edge of the knife. It gets very thin at the edge and can bend over a litle. Yo should be able to find some videos on youtube of proper technique. You want to do this frequently, bt gently.

Note that Japanese knives tend to use harder steels than German knives. For these knives you want to use a ceramic steel, which is also slightly abrasive. Harder steels hold the edge better, but also are harder to sharpen up once they are dulled.

Sharpening is done to take small nicks out of the blade, and to set the "dead edge." Pros do this every few weeks or so. Ths, for a home chef, this should be done very infrequently. Do not take yor knives to a hardware store, since they will probably sharpen them too aggressively. This will heat the blade, and destroy the temper on the steel. This is also why you shouldn't do it yourself wth any power sharpener.

+1 to taking the knife back to Sur la Table or WS -- they can recommend where to take it.

Anonymous wrote:You should almost never have to really sharpen your knives. You should be using what people often refer to as a knife sharpener or a sharpening steel, but is really a honing steel, to hone the edge of the blade. If you have a good knife and treat it well it takes a lot to dull it.
Never use a dishwasher. Don't cut on ceramic or glass or stone. Use the right blade for the right task. HOne the blade every so often. I have had my knives for 6 years, used very very heavily, and they are as sharp as the day I brought them home.

I have both German and Japanese knives. Of course they need sharpening, although the honing steel will tend to extend the time between sharpening.

You should almost never have to really sharpen your knives. You should be using what people often refer to as a knife sharpener or a sharpening steel, but is really a honing steel, to hone the edge of the blade. If you have a good knife and treat it well it takes a lot to dull it.
Never use a dishwasher. Don't cut on ceramic or glass or stone. Use the right blade for the right task. HOne the blade every so often. I have had my knives for 6 years, used very very heavily, and they are as sharp as the day I brought them home.

Most neighborhood hardware stores will sharpen knives.

Thank you, FC&R friends!

Get a knife sharpener like this: http://www.amazon.com/KitchenIQ-50009-Stage-Knife-Sharpener/dp/B001CQTLJM/

Yes, the knife experts are going to tell you there are better ways, and I'm sure there are, but I don't know how to do it properly, and having your knives professionally sharpened is not a say-to-say solution. This is. No learning curve, very quick, and you can just swipe a few times every week or so.

Whetstone plus sharpening steel (i.e. the rod).

http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/knivescutlery/ht/whetstone.htm

sometimes there is a knife sharpener at our farmers market

Williams Sonoma and Sur La Table both sharpen knives periodically. If you have lots of knives, you could buy one of the Chef's Choice knife sharpeners.

To help keep your knives sharp, never, ever put them in the dishwasher.

Williams Sonoma.

Wow my knives are so dull. I've been informed that the little cylindrical rod was to sharpen them but it's only to straighten them! Is that true? (I've been neglecting to do it lately anyways)

Do I buy something to sharpen knives or do I take them somewhere? I'm in N. Arlington, btw.