First timer with ken onion work sharp

V

vinnier6

Joined
Aug 18, 2014
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Got the kows for Christmas, can't wait to get good at it...

Well my brother in law gave me a reason to get started as he dropped my zt 0770cf on the tile floor and the tip took the brunt of the fall...

I have watched some videos and read the handbook that comes with it...any tips or tricks yall want to add or offer any what not to do's before I get after it...otherwise just going to follow the book
 
Fortunately the tip didn't break, but the very end got deformed slightly, just enough to where you can feel it snag on jeans...I have learned my lesson now twice with two different brother in laws...never hand them my expensive knives
 
In terms of the tip, the key is to sharpen right up to the tip, but not past it. For the WSKO that means stopping the blade with the tip touching the belt, but NOT dragging the tip off of the belt. I freehand with the WSKO to I just lift the blade off when I'm at the point I want to be. With the guide in place, I guess you'd have to stop the machine by releasing the trigger.

I've done a BUNCH of work on the WSKO and it's a wonderful machine. Good luck to both of you with yours.

Brian.
 
You should NOT start learning on the KOWS by grinding on your ZT (or another good knife). Start off on some junkers so you get a feel for how the machine functions and the best way for you to manage it.
 
Read bgentry's & Andy's posts again... they're both right on the money. I use the guide a lot so I just stop the machine when I get to the end of my draw and before the tip goes off the belt. Andy's right about practicing with some beaters first before you tackle anything that you're fond of. Set the ZT aside for a bit and work on some things that you won't miss if you mess them up. Develop a bit of technique with it and get some confidence with the machine. Then go after your ZT.
 
Andy and Dale both have a good point about starting with beater blades. In that vein, here's something I did when I first got my WSKO: I used the machine on the lowest speed setting to sharpen a $1 thrift store blade I didn't care about. It actually turned out really well. I started at the lowest speed and by the end of that first blade, I think I was at speed 3 or so (it has 14 speeds). To me, the variable speed is one of the best features of the WSKO and you can use it to really learn how each belt cuts and remove minimal metal while you are figuring everything out. The great thing about this is that you can regulate the speed to only be as fast as you're comfortable with, and dial it back any time you want to be more careful.

I still don't do blades on full speed with mine. I only go as high as speed 10 or so and that's rare.

Brian.
 
Thanks guys....I sharpened all the kitchen knives and then went after my 0770...I think k I did pretty good, not sure I got it exactly where I wanted it, but it's got a mirror polished edge and it cuts phone book paper pretty good...I don't think the tip is as good as I wanted, but I didn't want to keep chasing it...

I will try to get a pic or two up tomorrow
 
Pics are always welcome. I'll add some here. This is an Emerson Endeavor that came off the Work Sharp, then a hand stropping with 1 micron diamond paste on balsa wood, and finished with a few strokes on bare leather. It isn't quite mirror polished along the whole edge, but that wasn't the point. There was some edge damage back at the heel and the knife was dull. Now it's sharper than it ever has been and the heel damage is fixed. I used the 30 degree setting on the WS and still had to expand the bevel some. I suspect the original angle was closer to 40 degrees. Doesn't look bad to me, though, especially since I got a sharper edge that I can maintain with strops now.

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Question for yall...can I take a brand new knife like my zt 0801 and just use the x4 belt and just strop it, or do I have to reprofile it starting from the beginning...
 
vinnier6 said:
Question for yall...can I take a brand new knife like my zt 0801 and just use the x4 belt and just strop it, or do I have to reprofile it starting from the beginning...
Click to expand...

I strop by hand. My WS is for fixing things that would take too long by hand, but I do my finish work, including stropping, by hand. If you were going to strop with the WS, I'd use the UF belt at it's slowest speed and go real easy on pressure. I'm still not sure it would work as well as a leather hand strop, but that's where I'd start. I think you'd also need to make sure that you keep the belt running in an edge-trailing direction. To do that, you'd have to use the same side of the WS and keep reversing the knife so that the belt is always running off the edge instead of onto it, if that makes any sense. Seems like a lot of effort to do what's really pretty natural and therapeutic when done by hand.
 
Here are the best pics I could manage
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Looks good vinnier6! I too got a KOWS for Xmas, my question is wear do I get belts in bulk? Thanks
 
I was thinking about 10 each of the finer grits, if they last a while I guess I will have a lifetime supply.
 
bigretic said:
Micro Mesh has a good selection...shipping is kinda high.
Click to expand...
.... just tracked down the 3/4 x 12 MM belts from a supplier down here. Got 10x of each grade through to 1200MX. I have some mates with the KOWS so we will share them out I am sure.
 
I've done about 125 blades on my WSKO so far using the stock belts (up to about 75 blades or so) and now with a set of Stiff Norax belts I got from Darex (worksharp). All belts are still going strong. The X200 has lost a little bit of bite, but still grinds like crazy. I don't foresee needing replacements for a while. Most of the blades I've worked on took considerable effort and lots of steel was removed, so these represent a lot of grind time.

Brian.
 
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