New Belts Available for Work Sharp Ken Onion Ed.

AFAustin

AFAustin

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For all you fellow Work Sharp Ken Onion Edition fans and users, the good folks at Darex tell me they now have a wide assortment of additional belts available. They are not on the website yet but are available by calling their customer service dept. at 1-800-418-1439.

Here are some charts showing what they have. The large middle chart has the 3/4 x 12 belts for the KO (the diamond are 1/2 x 12). (The very small top chart is for the tool grinder accessory. The bottom chart has the 1 x 18 size for the blade grinder accessory.)

Andrew

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Thanks for the info. I can't wait to get some of these.

So I called customer service and they said those part numbers don't come up in their system. Then after checking with someone else I was told they should have part numbers some time next week.

She didn't seem very happy about talking to me about this, but did offer to call me next week.

I guess I'm going to wait until they are on the Web site.

Brian.
 
Sorry for the confusion and frustration while we get this belt assortment loaded into our inventory system.
We are working on it now and expect availability soon. First by phone and then via our website.
 
@Ben: Yes, from Ken Schwartz directly.

I posted my review of some of the new belts in my thread on the worksharp. I was surprised no one responded, so I'm linking to it here in case anyone who cares missed it.

The summary is, I LOVE the new belts I got!

Brian.
 
It's been quite a wait, but the new belts are on the web site now. Click to see them.

In the mean time I've done around 25 blades with my new belts. Mostly the stiff X200, X100, X22, and X5. But I've used the 60 grit ceramic and 80 grit ceramic some too. Initially I thought the X200 and 60 grit were similar in abrasiveness. They both really take metal off fast. I'd say the 60 grit takes slightly more metal off in the same amount of time, but the X200 leaves a much more refined finish and seems less rough on the blades. With 60 grit, I seem to always leave the shoulder of the blade roughed up a bit with 60 grit scratches. The X200 on the other hand leaves a finer finish when I'm done, and less marks on the shoulder.

Today I fixed a broken tip on a filet knife with the 60 grit in a shockingly short amount of time. Following it with the X100 and X22 resulted in a nice medium grit finish with the aforementioned marks on the shoulder. A very sharp point and a nice slicing edge were the results I got that made me happy. On a few other blades I used the X200 and it really chews up the metal with a little more finesse.

I'm expecting the X200 (and X100 for that matter) to wear out much faster than the 60 grit, due to the bonding method. But I'll almost certainly be ordering several X200 and X100 belts to replace them. They are excellent workhorse belts that leave a decent finish. I even stopped one of the filet knives I was working on at the X100 belt as a test of a very coarse edge for fileting fish. It clean slices phonebook paper and should be pretty aggressive on fish skin.

Brian.
 
Cool. I've been able to call and order based on the chart AFAustin posted, nice to see them on the website.

I've been using the Blade Grinding Attachment (BGA), and have been testing belts from various manufacturers: Econaway, Micro-Surface (MicroMesh), and Klingspor, in addition to the belts from WorkSharp. Here's a little chart giving a bit of a cost and grit comparison...

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Probably a bit too early to give a meaningful review. I have noted that I can't seem to get a knife as sharp with the Econaway belts as I can with any of the others, not sure why. They're decent enough, and if I didn't have anything to compare them to, I may not have noticed, but for whatever reason, in comparing to others, they don't quite do as well. Either set of MicroMesh belts are great, as well as the WorkSharp belts, although their 120g belt didn't seem to last very long for major work, so I recommend getting some coarser belts... I tried a couple of 80g belts from them with good results. It's also hard to give a true cost comparison without including "belt longevity", so while the WorkSharp belts may cost the most, they're great belts and hold up well (with the noted exception), so can't go wrong with them. Even though the 120g seemed to lose its effectiveness for reprofiling, it would still work well as a general sharpening belt.

I stumbled on the Klingspor belts a little late in the initial testing, but have been pretty impressed with them. They don't have 1x18 on the website, but a quick call, and they said "no problem", and while they said it would take a couple of weeks since it was a special order, I had them within a week. They also will do linen belts (which with Flexcut gold, is a great finish belt).

Thanks for the website update and belt review!

Edit: I emailed Klingspor, they can make the belts in 3/4"x12" if desired.
 
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Thanks, gents, for posting the updates. Coincidentally, I had also contacted Klingspor recently about getting the linen belts in 3/4" x 12" and they will indeed make them at the very reasonable price of $1.95 each. Shipping is $7.99 minimum, though. I am tempted to try a few out with the Flexcut Gold.

Andrew
 
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