- Joined
- Apr 8, 2013
- Messages
- 387
Ive never had, or really required, much in the way of sharpening tools to get the edges that I like on my own knives. I have a Sharpmaker that I've had since Christ walked the earth, and a Smiths 2-sided diamond hone that I only use on edges that need a lot of work. I've always worked to keep my edges sharp through regular quick maintenance on the Sharpmaker, and Ive never had much trouble keeping them where I wanted. I prefer 1095 and similar carbons, but carry a D2 blade almost every day, and even the D2 wasn't much work, as long as I kept up on it.
However, I get knives from family and friends frequently, asking me to sharpen them. Im sure a lot of you get the same kind of blades from people, with the same requests. So, youll know the condition a lot of these knives come to you. I hate to tell people no, and I really like sharpening.
The problem is that some of these are so abused when you get them, and the majority of them were questionable even new. So, they take a lot of time and effort to get them to where I feel good about giving them back, and calling them sharp. I've even had to give back knives to their owners, who again are friends and family, with an explanation that I just cant get them right.
For Fathers Day, my boys picked up a Ken Onion Work Sharp for me. I've been playing with it, and really like what it does. I like the small amount of time it takes to use, as well. I've used it on 9 or 10 knives now, and am amazed at the quick results. From a little Buck I have in S30V, that was both dull and had a broken tip (dont ask), to my daily-carry Benchmade in D2 (which was already in good condition), a friends old 440-something Buck Bowie with an edge so dull you couldn't cut yourself trying, to a cheap Chinese-made $5 fillet knife, and everything in between, the KOWS makes quick work of them. On every knife I've worked on so far, its taken just minutes to achieve a shaving, polished edge.
What a great little time and effort-saving machine. Im not throwing out my Sharpmaker or my little diamond hone, but I wont be using them for the hard-to-sharpen steels, or the mangled blades Im asked to save, either.
So far, so good. As an example, this is a little Gerber carried daily by a friend of mine. I have no idea what steel the blade is made of. He carries it because it was free through a Buckmasters membership. It was so dull you could saw it across your arm and not leave a scratch. The tip was broken off, likely from being used as a screwdriver. But, hes not a knife guy, other than he carries one for the same day-to-day tasks the rest of us do. Like most knife owners, I doubt he even owns a sharpening stone, and would doubt this knife had ever so much as been touched-up in the years hes carried it.
I wish I had a before picture of the blade, but didn't think to take one. The reason Im using it as an example is because it went from the described condition to a nice, polished edge that will easily shave arm hair in just a few minutes. I even managed to repair the broken tip with the machine, as a nice bonus. On the other knives I've run through, I've been able to keep the bevels even from heel-to-tip. On this little Gerber, that wasn't much of a priority, nor would it be noticed or appreciated, so it's lacking a little there.
In summary I like this machine, and see a lot of uses for it.
However, I get knives from family and friends frequently, asking me to sharpen them. Im sure a lot of you get the same kind of blades from people, with the same requests. So, youll know the condition a lot of these knives come to you. I hate to tell people no, and I really like sharpening.
The problem is that some of these are so abused when you get them, and the majority of them were questionable even new. So, they take a lot of time and effort to get them to where I feel good about giving them back, and calling them sharp. I've even had to give back knives to their owners, who again are friends and family, with an explanation that I just cant get them right.
For Fathers Day, my boys picked up a Ken Onion Work Sharp for me. I've been playing with it, and really like what it does. I like the small amount of time it takes to use, as well. I've used it on 9 or 10 knives now, and am amazed at the quick results. From a little Buck I have in S30V, that was both dull and had a broken tip (dont ask), to my daily-carry Benchmade in D2 (which was already in good condition), a friends old 440-something Buck Bowie with an edge so dull you couldn't cut yourself trying, to a cheap Chinese-made $5 fillet knife, and everything in between, the KOWS makes quick work of them. On every knife I've worked on so far, its taken just minutes to achieve a shaving, polished edge.
What a great little time and effort-saving machine. Im not throwing out my Sharpmaker or my little diamond hone, but I wont be using them for the hard-to-sharpen steels, or the mangled blades Im asked to save, either.
So far, so good. As an example, this is a little Gerber carried daily by a friend of mine. I have no idea what steel the blade is made of. He carries it because it was free through a Buckmasters membership. It was so dull you could saw it across your arm and not leave a scratch. The tip was broken off, likely from being used as a screwdriver. But, hes not a knife guy, other than he carries one for the same day-to-day tasks the rest of us do. Like most knife owners, I doubt he even owns a sharpening stone, and would doubt this knife had ever so much as been touched-up in the years hes carried it.
I wish I had a before picture of the blade, but didn't think to take one. The reason Im using it as an example is because it went from the described condition to a nice, polished edge that will easily shave arm hair in just a few minutes. I even managed to repair the broken tip with the machine, as a nice bonus. On the other knives I've run through, I've been able to keep the bevels even from heel-to-tip. On this little Gerber, that wasn't much of a priority, nor would it be noticed or appreciated, so it's lacking a little there.
In summary I like this machine, and see a lot of uses for it.
and I'm very fond of sharpening but as with the OP, you're known for always having sharp knives and EVERYONE wants to bring in their knife blocks chock full of knives to sharpen for them for a song, and I'm not a very good singer, so with a recent request to take another knife block full of knives to sharpen I decided to get this to help with the work. And for the 'good' knives, I may still use it if just to get the initial bevels down or to help knock down the shoulders of an edge bevel making the blade a little better cutting through material with a rounded shoulder or somewhat of a convexed edge bevel.