Ready to Purchase a Quality Knife Sharpener; Which One?

Great update! Really like how you detailed the step-by-step process instead of just posted something like: Received the kit, impressed, tried the stones, and now have a nice sharp edge. This is great info on the oil vs. water/soap too. Do you plan to try both or just stick with the oil? Were you able to achieve a semi-mirror edge with the 1500? How stable was the base supplied or using the handheld method?
I wonder if this kit would work putting convex grinds on knives and if it is simply a matter of switching angles progressively once you achieve the desired sharpness with the first angle.
 
From memory, KME offers a curved convex diamond sharpening rod. With alot of use, sometimes base unscrews a bit, requiring us to turn it back tight. 1500 grit gets hazy edge, thought plenty sharp. Kid chasing mirror have several choices after 1500 KME diamond: Venev 1st gen bonded diamonds, CUT TO FIT DMT eXTRA EXTRA FINE-~3MICRON, Gritomatic 2500 SIC stone after appropriate SIC progression. Never used oil just watery sponge with drop a dawn dish soap or generic window cleaner.
 
scottc3 said:
From memory, KME offers a curved convex diamond sharpening rod. With alot of use, sometimes base unscrews a bit, requiring us to turn it back tight. 1500 grit gets hazy edge, thought plenty sharp. Kid chasing mirror have several choices after 1500 KME diamond: Venev 1st gen bonded diamonds, CUT TO FIT DMT eXTRA EXTRA FINE-~3MICRON, Gritomatic 2500 SIC stone after appropriate SIC progression. Never used oil just watery sponge with drop a dawn dish soap or generic window cleaner.
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So I tried the water first without the soap, not in anyway doubting you, just to try each technique and wow! I like the water method and with the dab of soap it may be my imagination but it seemed easier to clean-up stones. Just keeps getting better, extra fine stones just shipped so I'm exited to try them. Thank you again for all your valuable info you have shared!
Cheers!
Jeff
 
Gilbert G said:
Great update! Really like how you detailed the step-by-step process instead of just posted something like: Received the kit, impressed, tried the stones, and now have a nice sharp edge. This is great info on the oil vs. water/soap too. Do you plan to try both or just stick with the oil? Were you able to achieve a semi-mirror edge with the 1500? How stable was the base supplied or using the handheld method?
I wonder if this kit would work putting convex grinds on knives and if it is simply a matter of switching angles progressively once you achieve the desired sharpness with the first angle.
Click to expand...
I have tried all three techniques of oil/water/soap. I must say I am going forward with water/soap techniques, it works smoothly and easy clean-up. I got a hazy finish but for the low end knives I was learning own they were very happy to get an upgrade ...lol; I have some finer stones coming to take me up to the mirror finish. The base is fairly stable but I want more stability when working with higher end blades so I have made a template to lock base too but still allows me to swivel with ease. The key to KME Tool to me is remembering to let the stone do the work and not apply pressure downward on blade, just let it glide back and forth in the pattern you choose for both sides of blade and it will do all the work. There is a curved rod for the KME as Scott mentioned, I have it coming as well, KF-CVX $18.95.
Hope this helps and thank you for stopping by my thread, cheers my friend!
 
I had to answer this question recently. I bought a new sharpening system for a nephew so he could sharpen his Griptillan. I went with a Spyderco Sharpmaker for its ease of use. He is not a knife guy and he simply needs something easy to use, not make a mess and will put a good edge on his blade. The Sharpmaker checks off all of the right boxes.
 
I use a Sharpmaker for maintenance and a WE130 Pro Pack III for reprofiling blades. I own a lot of old and abused knives. Both systems are very repeatable and I’m very pleased with my results. I haven’t picked up a serrated blade to slice bread or soft foods since becoming proficient with each system.
 
BladeOwner72 said:
So I need input on which Sharpener should I invest in to always get the best edge every time.
My collection and trading consist of mainly Folding Pocket Knives, Small Fixed Blades and our on use of Kitchen Knives. Case, Benchmade, Spiderco, etc...
1) I have my eye on the Wicked Edge WE120 but is that the right choice for what I have?
2) What would you recommend and what makes you want what you have?

Thank you in advance; look forward to learning what's out there.....
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I have a Wicked Edge pro pack 2 and I am very happy with it, very easy to use and I can get hair splitting edges with it
 
Something to consider; future use. I don’t have any of the super steels so I can get by with my Spyderco benchstones very nicely. If I had a knife with SV110v blade steel, as an example, I am not sure I would still be happy with my benchstones.
If you intend to get knives with these new super steels then you may want to look at something that either handle those steels or can be easily upgraded.
 
josiahg52 said:
I used to sharpen my knives on DMT diamond stones. I was pretty good at it and sharpened a lot of others' knives on my boat. Then I stopped for a long time and when I tried again, I was not any good. Probably just getting in my own head and need to to spend more time.

I got a Spyderco Sharpmaker first. Pretty good with it. Even brought back totally abused blades back to shaving sharp for a few friends. It is a good system.

I next purchased a Work Sharp guided system. I think it was the WSGSS. I don't remember because I didn't really like it and haven't used it in a long time. It's still in its box somewhere in another box somewhere in the garage or basement. It definitely has a learning curve and I didn't spend a lot of time learning with it, unfortunately.

I then purchased an Edge Pro Apex. I bought the full kit with the water stones and polish tapes and everything. I don't really like the stones and I never felt like it was very stable. The suction cup just didn't cut it and I never got proficient enough to achieve repeatable or consistent results. I still got a few knives sharpened satisfactorily and I do think it's a good design.

Most recently, I've purchased the KME Precision Knife Sharpening System. I have all of the diamond stones and a couple of the strops and CBN emulsions. I bought some various attachments: pen knife jaws, Hewlett JewelStik, and convexing guide rod.

I found the KME sharpener very easy to use after practicing on a few Chinese CRKT and Kershaws. Once I was comfortable with my results, I sharpened some much more expensive knives and have continued to be very pleased. I haven't tried a larger fixed or recurved blades yet but everything from the Keating Hornet to the XM-24 in size has sharpened up nicely. I expect to only get better with it.

From my experience, I would recommend the KME sharpening system. I did not find that it had a steep learning curve and I love the results. I look forward to sharpening some of my fixed blades and other knives.

Good luck!
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Thanks for sharing your experience. This is helpful
 
I have experience using freehand stones, Sharpmaker, Worksharp Ken Onion (w and w/o blade grinder), KME, Hapstone R1, and Tormek. Freehand is certainly the most versatile "system," insofar as it allows you to sharpen most any blade length or shape. I've gotten to the point where I'm decent at it, but I get better results with fixed angle systems.

I never got along very well with the Sharpmaker. It's too slow and for whatever reason I just never felt comfortable using it.

The Ken Onion without the blade grinder attachment also didn't suit me. It's not good for smaller knives and the guide is generally fussy. On the other hand, I very much like the KO with the blade grinder attachment, which makes the machine quite versatile. I don't use it much for sharpening these days, but I use it all the time for honing/stropping. It's superb in that application (leather belts and various compounds).

The KME is a good system for the price, and at the end of the day you can get the same results with it as you would get with units costing three or four times as much. However, it takes longer to get those results because you need more strokes with a 4" stone than you do with 6" stones, and the stones load up faster. It's also a bit of a challenge to set a precise angle on the KME, if that's what you want to do. That's because there's no good place to put an angle cube, and because the clamp unit wobbles on the base.

The Hapstone R1 is an excellent machine. It accommodates knives up to 19", the clamps work well, and it's quite easy to set precise angles. The one downside is that there's a slight variation in angle from one side of the blade to the other. Not a big deal.

The Tormek T-8 is a tremendous machine, but it's expensive, and especially so when you add CBN or diamond wheels, which you'll need for sharpening super steels. I think it's the fastest way to sharpen a knife without any risk of de-tempering the blade. As configured, I can essentially reprofile any knife, in any steel, from, e.g., 24° to 15°, and have it hair whittling sharp in under 10 minutes. In a steel like Maxamet or K390 that would take the better part of an hour with the Hapstone, and multiple hours on a KME.
 
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