Knife Sharpeners

[bbhack]

Anyone have one of these? I am happy with mine. Did not want to spend ~$70, but dropped it. Was looking at it for over a year. This a belt sharpener, and it comes with a red grit and a gray grit belt (and a couple others).

The manual says it does - and it really does - produce a convex edge. For those who are used to a chisel edge on knives, this can make an edge that looks not right. The proof is in the cutting, though. A convex edge puts more metal forward, and that's good. For the thin kitchen knives, the convex edge is not noticeable. For a fat blade carry knife, it's very noticeable.

So now my blades are razor sharp, but the wear is obvious. I worked in a restaurant where we used a belt sharpener constantly, and the knives were "expendable". Obviously this is not the same type of wear and tear, but for non-keepsake blades, I might recommend this.

[cmgee67]

Be careful with those work sharps. Yes they are decent but you will chew up a blade quick. Also if your not careful you will really round off your tip. I had one for a week and sold it. I use the spyderco sharp maker and a double sided strop with bark river black compound on one side and green polishing on the other. I usually strop once a week and I don’t ever have to go back to the sharpener. If you maintain your knife then you won’t have to always Re sharpen. Most people forget to strop their knives after sharpening. This process actually gets your knife sharper and it also takes the wire off your edge that you get while on a stone or sandpaper. If you don’t take that microscopic wire off, the first time you cut something you will roll it over your edge and your back to square one, a dull knife.

[Grundy1133]

I have one. personally the lower grits are a waste. if i actually need to sharpen my knives i use stones but the honing strap (the greyish blue one i beleive) is nice to keep your blade nice and razor sharp. i have a set of water stones i use for sharpening then use this after i use my knives to maintain their edges.

[Take Down Sicko]

Can that sharpener be used for yard tools like say a pair of hedge trimmers and other scissor type tools?

[E.Marquez]

I have the Worksharpe and it does well to repair a blades condition after nicking it, but as others have mentioned I find it to aggressive for regular use.

For regular use I use Lansky Deluxe 5 Stone Knife Sharpening Kit. It works best for me because it takes the need to hold a correct blade angle away from me the clumsy guy that can never hold the angle consistent.
After the Lansky, I use a leather Strop

once a week or so, kitchen, work and EDC knives get sharpened

[Grundy1133]

Can that sharpener be used for yard tools like say a pair of hedge trimmers and other scissor type tools?

yes it can. it has a scissors guide and you can remove the guide altogehter for axes and the sort.

[bbhack]

Be careful with those work sharps. Yes they are decent but you will chew up a blade quick. Also if your not careful you will really round off your tip. I had one for a week and sold it. I use the spyderco sharp maker and a double sided strop with bark river black compound on one side and green polishing on the other. I usually strop once a week and I don’t ever have to go back to the sharpener. If you maintain your knife then you won’t have to always Re sharpen. Most people forget to strop their knives after sharpening. This process actually gets your knife sharper and it also takes the wire off your edge that you get while on a stone or sandpaper. If you don’t take that microscopic wire off, the first time you cut something you will roll it over your edge and your back to square one, a dull knife.

Yes, it has taken off quite a bit on my favorite Leatherman blade, but I cannot get it nearly as sharp with a stone or diamonds or ceramic. And the tip is rounded. So I'm trading sharpness for longevity. Thanks for the reminder about the strop. I do forget.

The grey belt is worn down where there is no perceptible grit left, but it does recover the edge usually.

[Pawpaw]

I have a Work Sharp. It has it's place, but will not put a razor edge on a knife. As others have said, you can eat up a blade (especially the tip) in a hurry.

The Spyderco Sharp Maker will put a definite razor edge on a blade. After using it to sharpen my Piranha P-1 automatic, I took it to the barbershop with me. I asked my barber to use it to trim around my ears and back of my neck and give me his opinion. He liked it better than his straight razor.

[flowrie]

Lansky Deluxe 5 stone with the bench clamp.
https://lansky.com/index.php/products/d ... ne-system/
https://lansky.com/index.php/products/super-c-clamp/

[strogg]

It does require some patience, but the edge that comes out of that system is phenomenal.

[cs1021]

I had that one, and it worked well. Then I got an itch for the Ken Onion edition and sold the regular one and got the Ken Onion edition. With the Ken Onion edition you get a wider belt, 3/4" instead of 1/2", more grit options, more accessories(the blade grinding attachment is awesome and I will buy one soon), and the biggest thing is you get variable speed. Makes a huge difference. I can repair a damaged blade and get a shaving sharp edge on it relatively easily.

Both units work as advertised, but it takes some trial and error to learn how to get a good edge, and not round tips etc. I suggest buying 2 or 3 cheapie knives to practice on, try different speeds of pull through, experiment with the different belt grits (FYI: you can buy other grits and types of belts, even a leather strop belt, on ebay).

Also, what I did is when one of the ultra fine belts (6000 grit i believe purple/gray) was worn out, I put it on and loaded it up with compound and used it as sort of a polishing/stropping step. Worked out pretty well.

I like mine a lot, just practice with it and learn the technique that works for you and the knives you are sharpening, different blade shapes take different technique. I think its a good sharpener, its just not a foolproof machine.

[bbhack]

I have a Work Sharp. It has it's place, but will not put a razor edge on a knife. As others have said, you can eat up a blade (especially the tip) in a hurry.

The Spyderco Sharp Maker will put a definite razor edge on a blade. After using it to sharpen my Piranha P-1 automatic, I took it to the barbershop with me. I asked my barber to use it to trim around my ears and back of my neck and give me his opinion. He liked it better than his straight razor.

But did you like it?