Best guided sharpener for traditional knives?

[Bladenoobie1]

So I have a problem. Everytime I get a nice new knife, I put a nice new edge on it. Most of time its a good keen quality edge--even so, if it gets the slightest bit dull I am tempted to sharpen the knife. Or if there is a slight issue (like the very heel right by the sharpening notch sitting higher than the rest of the blade) I may reprofile the knife. Or if edge is too thick for the application in which I'm using it in I sharpen the knife. Regardless of the reason, the knife always turns out sharp, but steel is unnecessarily removed. Especially when my mind is occupied or I'm working on something, any stress or misplaced focus will result in the end product (the edge) not being as good as it could.

Now sharpening fixed blades I have no issue as they are easier to handle and control. Folders I have almost no issue, but I still have yet to get perfect even edges. Sometimes, especially when I'm very occupied I don't like setting up my waterstones, flattening them, putting oil on my Arkansas stones, or all the little things I have to do to set up for sharpening. At least for my folders sometimes I just want to put on a nice new edge as quick as possible and be on with it. At the same time I don't want to rush and do a poor job.

That said, I want to hear the opinion of traditional forum members as to what is the best guided sharpener for sharpening traditional knives. It needs to be able to handle the smaller size of traditional knives (the small pen blades I can just freehand sharpen as they are so small for any guided system) and put on a quality thin edge. Now the wicked edge is wayyyyy too expensive and is out of the option.

As it stands there is the edge pro, the KME, and maybe others I don't know about. Help me decide on which one will work best for my folding knives and best for my wallet. Any and all input is greatly appreciated to help me with my obsessive compulsive sharpening (and stroppping).

- Julian

 

[Jason B.]

Moving to a guided system will not remove any less steel, YOU are the one in control of steel removal regardless of tools used. Also, there is a given amount of steel that must be removed in every sharpening and it does not change with the method.

With traditional knives I find that a little less pressure and shorter strokes on the stone can really help with control over the bevel. It must also be realized that traditional knives have poorly ground blades in most cases. Sometimes the way the blade is ground helps more with how it fits in the handle next to other blades. These factors contribute to wavy bevels or uneven bevel widths and it's something YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER.

My experience with guided sharpeners was with the DMT manga guide. It worked well but freehand on bench stones for me was easier, faster, and gave me far more control of the sharpening. If you really want to try a guided system buy the DMT clamp and use it with your bench stones. If you like it invest in a better guided system.

 

[kelbro]

Lansky system. DMT Aligner system. Both work well.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

For very small blades, such as found on traditional pocket knives, some iterations of the Lansky clamp work pretty well, holding the blade spine in a narrow milled notch at the edge of the clamp's jaws (see pics below). I've yet to find or see clamps from Gatco or DMT (Aligner) which handle those well. Small blades have to be supported by the very edge of the spine, else the clamp will get in the way with the edge of the blade very close-in to the clamp. I had one Lansky clamp that was able to handle them in this manner (gave it away), but another older Lansky clamp wouldn't hold it steady, nor would my Gatco or DMT.

I've read posts on the forum lately, that the KME system now has a clamp available that's been tailored for small blades. Might be worth a look.


David

 

[Amos Iron Wolf]

I use the KME these days with the gold diamonds and occasionally Chosera stones for the KME I used to freehand my traditionals on Arkansas stones. For the tinier biases you can get a pen knife jaw set. Is quick to change out and pen knife jaws will handle most sizes of traditional knives, peanut to large trapper.

I use the standard jaw and do my Case Mini Trapper as that's the jaw set usually already on. I only swap to the pen jaw if I'm doing really small stuff.

 

[pmew]

I've never used a guided system. I use a two sided stone and two strops. Most of the time a quick strop suffices on its own though.

 

[Bladenoobie1]

Moving to a guided system will not remove any less steel, YOU are the one in control of steel removal regardless of tools used. Also, there is a given amount of steel that must be removed in every sharpening and it does not change with the method.

With traditional knives I find that a little less pressure and shorter strokes on the stone can really help with control over the bevel. It must also be realized that traditional knives have poorly ground blades in most cases. Sometimes the way the blade is ground helps more with how it fits in the handle next to other blades. These factors contribute to wavy bevels or uneven bevel widths and it's something YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER.

My experience with guided sharpeners was with the DMT manga guide. It worked well but freehand on bench stones for me was easier, faster, and gave me far more control of the sharpening. If you really want to try a guided system buy the DMT clamp and use it with your bench stones. If you like it invest in a better guided system.

I completely understand your reasoning and I am in no way giving up freehand sharpening. I understand that I am the one removing the steel and somethings when I'm putting 30 degrees or lower inclusive edges, I just have to remove a lot of steel. For the most part my sharpening is fine and nowhere near as bad as it was maybe a year ago. You were one of the individuals that greatly helped my freehand sharpening. I just find that my current state of mind often affects the turn out in my sharpening and I would like a side option that is easy to set up and use for convenience in addition to using my waterstones. Anyhow thanks for the input and advice and sorry if I offended you.

 

[Jason B.]

No offense taken and hopefully none given. I often give a little bit different answer than one might expect because I deal with so many of these issues on a daily basis. I recommended the DMT (or similar) because it's a cheap way to see if you like a guided system. I feel the ability to use it with bench stones offers a better sharpened bevel but if you wanted to get a dedicated system the EP would probably be the best option. I haven't used one but it seems like the Glock of sharpening tools, proven reliability with a ton of accessories.