I use Chicago cutlery for the most part, and I have one AG Russell paring knife. I use what I and my wife can sharpen well, either by quick swipes on a steel or by the longer and better method of Arkansas stones. I also have a couple of SMALL diamond whets, but I haven't really done much with them.

Some years ago I bought a "Japanese cleaver" type of knife. Stainless steel, and the tang doesn't got all the way through the handle. It dulled and my brother -- more about him in a minute -- sharpened it on his high-speed vertical sander. It's still got a heckuva an edge, but I don't use it much and when it dulls this time, it's history.

My youngest brother can sharpen knives. Oh Boy, can he sharpen knives or anything else with an edge. He brings 'em to a fine wire edge by using progressively finer diamond laps and then polishes off the diamond edges with the hardest Arkansas stone available. Following that, he'll strop 'em. He learned to do sharpen from an old-time barber and has simply updated his tools. When asked to sharpen something, he usually takes it up to "usable" (shaves the hair off his arm); the last time I told him to do a REAL job (on my Leatherman's blade) he took it up to "dangerous" -- and I promptly cut myself and bled all over the hardware store counter. The cut did close nicely, though, and left no scar. My bro has also won bets by sharpening the old-fashioned scalpels and having surgeons use them (on meat, not people) against the new disposable ones.

Someday, maybe this week!, he's going to mail me my epees AND the knife (damascus blade, antler handle) my other brother made and gave to the sharpener bro to, well, to sharpen.

No, I won't be using that knife for kitchen work!