Best sharpeners?

I hope nobody actually uses their Wicked Edge like that guy in the video did. You have to take most youtubers with a grain of salt. But Wicked Edge has their own forum with a lot of info and videos to help people get great results.
 
Wivesknives said:
I am looking for a knife sharpener for my husband, and he has a collection of Busse, Swamp Rat, and Sykco knives. What would be the best knife sharpener for these style of knives? I honestly don't know much about this so I turn to you all! I want to surprise him with a nice gift that he can use, thank you for any help or suggestions!
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Have a look on Gritomatic at the Hapstone R2 sharpeners. You can't beat the quality for the cost. They are very well made (some of the best around), and excellent value for money. Pair it up with a set of Venev Centaur or Venev Ursa stones for him, and he will be set for life. If you want, you could also buy an additional scissors sharpening adapter for the Hapstone, they are very well priced too.
 
Wivesknives said:
a knife sharpener for my husband, and he has a collection of Busse, Swamp Rat, and Sykco knives.
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Does anyone sharpen these bushcraft knife sizes using the WE130, TSProf KO3 / Cadet / Hapstone, Worksharp Ken Onion kit with extra Blade Grinding Attachment?
Does anyone maintain woodworking, farming tools with these systems?
Wivesknives said:
my budget is 300 to 600 ish. I just want it to be high quality and last a long time, and work well with the knives he has.
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Wivesknive, For an heirloom class tool kit, matching the Wicked Edge WE130 with a TSProf cost wise is relatively close across a life time of use. Though they will just break the budget with the least expensive Worksharp KO and grinder and Hapstone going under budget.
Wivesknives said:
He is a fine woodworker and builder by trade, farmer, outdoorsman loves camping and hiking. Our kitchen knives are sharpened with a stone and wand (well I call it a wand) lol
We have a lot of tools and equipment. With this said maybe this info will help. I see your up in Jefferson country. We will be next year!
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He will definitely appreciate the quality of the previously suggested guided sharpening kits for sure. I'm surprised no one from the EdgePro fan club have not piped up...

Of the four systems we use, I think our KME sharpener is a great manual guided kit, that also performed well for training the kids; $300.00 is more then enough scratch. The Hapstone Build Your Own Kit with magnetic table and clamps was not around when I bought into KME's system, and with limited Fx in one hand the EdgePro was difficult until they started offering magnets. I wonder in his season of a very busy life, how often he would use these kits?
Of the 4 different systems we use, I recommend the Worksharp Ken Onion kit with extra Blade Grinding Attachment for a busy maker like him. My question is, how will your gift supplant or augment his current sharpening skills and work flows?
 
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Since husband is a woodworker, I would definitely consider Tormek, which sells jigs for sharpening all kinds of woodworking tools. A basic T4 kit for knives and simple tools is about the same price as a Wicked Edge, and you can add jigs for things like drill bits, gouges, etc. over time.
 
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You can also buy a chisel and planer blade attachment for the Hapstone R2 from Gritomatic. It will give your husband a compete kit.
 
000Robert said:
I'm one of the beta testers for the new WE60 sharpening systems that they are working on right now. It was supposed to be released this fall but has been pushed up to hopefully January.
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Any word on these ???
 
Busse, Swamp Rat, and Sykco knives - These predominately have convex ground edges and if he wants to keep them that way, I dont believe guided sharpening systems are the go, but I could be wrong.
A mouse mat and sandpaper technique is probably the cheapest and best way to maintain the factory convex edge. A 1" x 30" inch belt grider and an assortment of sharpening belts will also be very efficient if his knives are users / hard users and he wants to keep them convex and sharp.
If he just needs to touch them up a bit from time to time, a high quality strop loaded with diamond paste or Green compound will bring back the edge keenness if it is not too far gone.
If hubby is into wood crafts and sharpens his planer blades and chisels etc, and he is good with his hands, a set of Shapton Pros 320, 1000, 5000, 12000 would make a great present. Start on a course diamond stone or course stone to reset the bevels and finish off on the Shaptons would work well. This is my preference in maintaining hair splitting edges that last, but like guided systems, not the best for convex edges.
Good luck in your research and shopping.
 
Stockman said:
Busse, Swamp Rat, and Sykco knives - These predominately have convex ground edges and if he wants to keep them that way, I dont believe guided sharpening systems are the go, but I could be wrong.
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Many of the guided systems with convex sharpening adapters give some of the best and most accurate convex edges possible.
 
It's also possible to create a convex edge on the Tormek system with the recent addition of their KJ-45 knife jig.

 
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