Cross-Carbide Sharpeners - A Dubious Convenience or Just a Scam?

M

missin_hobo

Joined
Aug 9, 2007
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761
The first sharpener I ever owned was one of those eight-dollar Lansky devices. It had two tiny pieces of carbide and two pieces of ceramic, each angled together into a pair of shallow Vs that the edge of the knife was meant to be drawn through, thus (apparently) sharpening the knife.
I have since moved on. Now I own a sharpmaker, a Lansky clamp with stones of various grit, and even a couple of handstones as well. Depending mostly on the geometry of the knife I'm sharpening, these methods all produce slightly different results, but they are always consistently (and exponentially) better than those cross-carbide sharpeners.

The discussion that I'm trying to initiate, then, is about the true value of those devices. If they could produce proper results, then their size/speed/price would make them invaluable, but I've never seen it happen. Neither have most people, judging by the prevalence of other more complex, more expensive sharpening devices. A few of the younger, newer enthusiasts seem to think they're worth something, but so did I when I was a younger, newer, naive enthusiast. Perhaps they're just a noob novelty?

I've heard many experienced knuts condemn them, openly and blatantly.
I've had them recommended by the folks at Canadian Tire and various camping stores, who may or may not know what they're talking about. I'm skeptical.
Most significantly I've used them myself, and my opinion is that they are dangerous, thoughtless products that will ruin a knife more often than not.

Can't be sure though. Has anyone used these devices to proper effect? Is there perhaps a certain theatre (eg., kitchen knives) where they are more effective? It would be interesting to get a debate going on this.
 
I've used them on cheap kitchen knives.I wouldn't use them on any quality knife,because it does ruin the edge by taking away too much material.
 
The will never work properly because one sharpener is in front of the other. When the knife is pulled through one side get a nasty burr because it is only scraping one side at a time. If they were even it might be a different story but until they figure out how to do that they will always suck!

The most likely reason they get recommended is because they are fast, easy, and a idoit could use one. If you ever have seen a blade that has been sharpened many times with one of these you will notice near the choil of the blade it starts to become re-curved. Thats just one of the wonderfull things that these sharpeners can do. :jerkit:
 
I don't consider myself a Noobie anymore, and I've used a carbide sharpener recently, and fairly often. As long as you're not putting a lot of pressure, they can offer a quick touch up on a decent edge. If you put a chip in it, or rolled an edge, a gently swipe can smooth it out. I'm no sharpening expert, but these things do have a place as an emergency touch-up, or for removing a wire-edge. I never would use one for extensive sharpening duty, though. And remember, use a light touch.

Let the debate continue...
 
Daniel Dorn said:
I don't consider myself a Noobie anymore, and I've used a carbide sharpener recently, and fairly often. As long as you're not putting a lot of pressure, they can offer a quick touch up on a decent edge. If you put a chip in it, or rolled an edge, a gently swipe can smooth it out. I'm no sharpening expert, but these things do have a place as an emergency touch-up, or for removing a wire-edge. I never would use one for extensive sharpening duty, though. And remember, use a light touch.

Let the debate continue...
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"Remove a wire edge" No they create a even bigger one.
 
I understand them as and emergency touch up, but thats about it. In a years I might use one of these devices once. They really tear an edge up.
 
I have one of the combo diamond hone, carbide v and ceramic v sticks. I do use them, but for a limited purpose. I almost never use the v-carbides for the reasons mentioned above (take away too much metal). I do, however use the v ceramic sticks for my kitchen knives. They don't get super super sharp with them. I have gotten my kitchen knives shaving sharp with the sticks. The diamond hone part is kind of small, but I do use it for fixing damage to some of my edges, especially if I need to fix a tip.


My real knives mostly get a convex sharpening with sandpaper, and then maintained on a leather strop bat.


I have a lansky clamp system, with the stones and guide rods that I have not used in forever, since I started convexing my users.

My dad bought me that carbide, ceramic stick, diamond hone combo dealio.
 
Those tungsten-carbide knife mutilatation devices should most definitely be avoided. They do more damage than they do sharpening.
 
They seem to work OK on some kinds of steel, not as good on others. They are reasonably suited to folks who are not knife nuts. Most folks on this forum would probably never be caught using a knife with such unrefined edges produced by these gizmos.

Soft stainless will burr easier on these type of sharpener, especially when used vigorously. Hard stainless, and many of the carbon steels I've tried are not quite affected in the same way. Tiny chips in edges seem to not do well with these, unless the chips are ground out completely. When done by carbide sharpener, this can get ugly.

These things are basically like two single burr files in a preset angle. Once I thought of them in this way, I seemed to get better results.
 
People who don't know what they're doing may be satisfied with a damaged edge; they may never really know the difference. That doesn't mean the edge isn't damaged.
 
A few years ago I was at my fathers cabin when he asked me to climb underneath to replace and insulate some heat tapes. At the time, I was only carrying an SAK which dulled quickly after cutting through fiberglass insulation. My father had one of those pull-through carbide sharpeners so I gave it a try. I don't remember if it gave me a razor edge, but it did work well enough for me to finish the job. At the time, I was amazed how quickly and easily it worked. All this said, I haven't used one since, and wouldn't unless nothing else was available for all the reasons given above. I do, however, keep one in each of the cars for emergency use only.
 
Sharp Phil said:
People who don't know what they're doing may be satisfied with a damaged edge; they may never really know the difference. That doesn't mean the edge isn't damaged.
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What does this even mean? If you can't tell a difference, does it matter? Every knife edge is damaged if you look closely enough. The big difference is that knife nuts are accustomed to looking more closely.

Carbide sharpeners work the same way stones work: they remove steel. As far as I can tell, the biggest gripes are that they remove steel quickly and coarsely, leaving an edge with a burr. The only bad thing here is a burr. Which is not unique to carbide sharpeners. The quick and coarse part is of no significance to most folks who are not knife nuts. May even be preferable.
 
JTR357 said:
I've used them on cheap kitchen knives.I wouldn't use them on any quality knife,because it does ruin the edge by taking away too much material.
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I use them on the $2-$5 knives that I take on the boat or when working on a paddock - the ones I don't cry over if lost or abused and which I won't waste time on sharpening as they don't hold an edge anyway. (I usually take a couple of good knives along as well but keep those as backups)
 
As I said before, it's all a matter of pressure. Light pressure will give a decent touch up, especially on a thinly ground edge. I try to keep my M2 bladed Benchmade working sharp, as I use it for the nasty stuff, like sheetrock, cardboard boxes, etc. When I have a "shiny" spot or two on the edge, I can lightly run the carbides over it, and magically, they're gone. Yes, a ceramic V sharpener would work better, but I've had a Benchmade carbide sharpener on my keychain for at least a couple years. :o

Now, would I put my William Henry, or Chris Reeve knives through there? No. But if nothing else is on hand, you won't do any more damage to the knife than you can take care of with a session on the Spyderco Sharpmaker. That Fix-a-flat WILL get you home!

Heck, the carbide V is great at putting an edge on things that had no edge, before, intended or not. I sharpened the edge of a titanium credit card to a decent edge.:D
 
I tried one about a year ago; it left my edge rather ragged and scratched. :thumbdn:

Since then, I have stuck with my stones and V-rods.
 
Back before I knew a little bit about knives, I bought an 'expensive' kitchen knife, and with my change, a Diamond coated drag through sharpener.

I destroyed the knife with it.
 
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