Did I get a good sharpener?

Z

Zakkaery

Joined
Mar 27, 2016
Messages
37
Hi Bladeforums I recently purchased a work sharp guided sharpening system and upgrade kit for my knives to be sharpened on (duh!) it has two angle guides a 20 and 17 degree plus the ceramics are 25 for microbevels, it came with two diamond plates (coarse and fine) and a ceramic rod with ridges, flat and fish hook part, and the upgrade kit had two more diamond plates (extra-coarse, extra-fine) and a strop plate.

I am currently sharpening my Manix 2 LW s110v and it seems to be working well but...

Basically I am asking the more experienced sharpeners if I got a good system, this is my first hand system I am used to industrial sharpeners from work, but as I just got laid off those are no longer available.

Any and all opinions are greatly appreciated.
 
A lot of people are happy with their Work Sharp systems so if it works for you that's fine, but I prefer stones as I think less blade gets used up with careful stone sharpening. I use the EdgePro Apex with Shapton Glass stones and I like the results I get a lot.
 
A lot of people really like the Worksharp, especially the Ken Onion edition.

I'm a Wicked Edge user, but I would have most likely tried the Worksharp if that came out first.
 
It's the manual one being discussed here, rather than the belt sharpener. It works very well. The only advice I would give is to tape the blade (masking tape, painter's tape, etc.), leaving basically just the edge bevels exposed, as the guides tend to get little bits of grit on them after a few swipes and will scratch the sides of the blade as you continue sharpening. :thumbup:

http://www.worksharptools.com/sharpeners-20/guided-sharpening-system.html
 
Seems like a decent system for the price.
I would try it, but been using regular bench stones too long now.
 
I have pondered buying one of those to try out, especially on knives I am having trouble getting as sharp as I like. The Work Sharp should work just fine. I mostly use bench stones.

The negative about the electric sanders is that you tend to grind off more steel than you need to when sharpening. But ya know, it's just a knife, a tool, and this system works.
 
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Yes, its a good system, I use mine and get hair whittling results, just a heads up, put some tape in the blade before sharpening, if you lean the knife a little more than you're supposed to, youll scratch the blade, otherwise great system to start learning free hand
 
Simple answer is-If you can sharpen your knives and get good results on it, it is a good system. If not, then you will need to try something else.
 
The basic rules of sharpening have been lost...

NO NEW SHARPENER should ever start out with power tools. Even as a professional sharpener I don't like to use power tools unless necessary. They remove lots of metal in a hurry and can greatly reduce the life of a blade.
 
Peter Hartwig said:
Simple answer is-If you can sharpen your knives and get good results on it, it is a good system. If not, then you will need to try something else.
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Sorry bud, but this is awful advice.

It's not the sharpening tools, its you. If you cannot sharpen with a stone or belt grinder then its not the tools fault.
 
Are there any truly BAD sharpeners on the market? There are some that are too expensive, too difficult for beginners, etc. But I wouldn't call them a bad sharpener. They all really just boil down to some sort of abrasive. It's your skill level that determines results.

I'd say you bought a fine system to begin using and with time may want to upgrade to some fine water stones.
 
I will repeat what others have said in that it's not really the sharpening system but it's the person using it. I've gotten hair popping mirror edges with a $25 Smiths guided system with wet/dry sandpaper taped on the stones and I've also gotten the same results with a $400 wicked edge system. If you master the system you use then the end result will always be great. Just like the old saying "it's not the arrow, it's the Indian".
 
Pardon said:
Are there any truly BAD sharpeners on the market? There are some that are too expensive, too difficult for beginners, etc. But I wouldn't call them a bad sharpener. They all really just boil down to some sort of abrasive. It's your skill level that determines results.

I'd say you bought a fine system to begin using and with time may want to upgrade to some fine water stones.
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Bad sharpeners ? As someone else said the pull through ones are horrible .

IMHO if you don't get a quality abrasive and have "super steels " then a lot of stones will seem bad or perform poor .

As far as the little work sharp sharpener speaking on the diamonds and ceramic here . I have some ceramic sticks I also have ceramic bench stones .

There is more pressure on the edge with a stick than with a bench stone . Just use very very very light strokes and it should be ok.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, Also everyone who suggested tape, good on you that's a great idea, I noticed my Manix had a few scratches where it was on the angle guides. Wouldn't I also be able to just tape the angle guides?
And I am talking about the manual system, this will be my first manual sharpener, but like I said in the original post I have been using industrial machines (Tormek T7, 5 diamond wheel pull through electric etc...) and have used the belt grinder and attachment and wasn't a big fan of the edge it gave. Also a good point was brought up with diamond eating more knife then a stone, but most of my knives are using a hard steel (s110v, ZDP-189. CTS-204p) so I figured the diamond would be less work to sharpen and more importantly reprofile.
 
No. Taping the guides just allows the grit to stick to the tape and then scratch the blade. Tape the blade.
 
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