I've been using a fine Arkansas stone for sharpening #11 blades for years. I bought a box off 100 blades almost 8 years ago and still have not gone through the box yet. That's with a lot of building and covering jobs. As noted, covering, especially Ultracote, dulls blades quickly and sharpening rather than tossing makes a lot of $$ sense. Takes about as long to sharpen one as it does to change it.