Ken Onion Worksharp

[Scattergun2570]

I am curious about something. When you sharpen a knife,and you don`t know the angle the knife is currently sharpened to.. what do you do?

 

[SaintlyBrees]

I am curious about something. When you sharpen a knife,and you don`t know the angle the knife is currently sharpened to.. what do you do?

Research or...

 

[draperfish]

I usually reprofile it to 22.5 degrees or whatever angle I want depending on the knife, I don't try to maintain the factory angle.

 

[dalefuller]

As already mentioned, some use edge guides to determine it, some don't care because they're going to put their own edge on it anyway. A little research into the brand you're sharpening can sometimes give you an idea, but it'll be "a close guess" at best, since many companies do their sharpening by hand. If you're using a WS, I'd set it for the kind of edge you want and just put our own edge on the knife. That way there's no guess work. Once you get the edge established, you know what the angle is and you can easily maintain it from then on.

 

[vinnier6]

This is the best I can do with my camera

 

[bgentry]

Here's one way to do it with the WSKO:

1. Mark edge edge bevel with a black marker (sharpie) all the way along the length.
2. Guess at the edge angle and set your guide to that angle.
3. Set the machine to the lowest speed.
4. Install the highest grit belt you have (finest).
5. Take one pass on the side of the blade with the marker on it.
6. Inspect the bevel to see where the marker was removed.

If it's only removed at the shoulder of the bevel, you guessed too low. Increase the angle on the guide.
If the marker is only removed at the edge of the bevel, you guessed too high. Decrease the angle on the guide.
If the marker is cleanly removed from the entire bevel you have the correct edge angle.

Repeat 1 - 6 as many times as it takes to get very close to the factory angle.

Doing this freehand (without the guides) I can usually get very, very close in one or two adjustments. Takes maybe 20 seconds to do it by hand.

Good luck to you!

Brian.

 

[bassinhuntin]

I agree with Brian. That's how I do it.

 

[ToddM]

The marker trick is easy, fast and it works. I tend to just re-profile to the angle I want. Too many knives these days have angles that are not centered with the axis of the blade. So you might find that you set an angle of say 20 degrees and it will only sharpen one side down to the edge. I see a lot of that using the spyderco sharpmaker at 20 degrees, it will it one side of the edge and not the other.

 

[Terry M.]

I reprofile to the edge I want.