Sharpener recommendation for a picky sharpener

[erudite cricket]

I'm trying to find a sharpener that suits my needs but I can't find any so far that I like. I don't want to spend a lot of time sharpening, so I tried one of the work sharp motor sharpeners but it was too aggressive for me. I also have a set of cheap amazon waterstones, but they don't have very high grit and it takes a frustrating amount of time to sharpen even a Mora. I was wondering what sharpener that's preferably sub $100 I should get that is less aggressive than the work sharp and not as slow and skill based as the waterstones?

 

[stonemedusa6264]

A lot of people on here like the spyderco sharpmaker. I don't know much about them. Not sure the cost but I have a lansky diamond n ceramic rod turn box sharpener that I think was well under 100.

 

[toker]

The Worksharp Precision Adjust is an inexpensive guided system.

If you're of the buy once, cry once philosophy, take a look at the Wicked Edge systems.

 

[erudite cricket]

The Worksharp Precision Adjust is an inexpensive guided system.

If you're of the buy once, cry once philosophy, take a look at the Wicked Edge systems.

I guess I sort of said the wrong thing in my original post, I don't necessarily need a guided system, I like sharpening with whetstones but wanted something a little coarser that removed more material faster because the whetstones I have barely do anything. Would DMT stones be a good option?

 

[Ourorboros]

Would DMT stones be a good option?

Yes, diamond whetstones like Atoma or DMT are fast, but not on the level of machines.
Of course quality water stones likely have a lot more abbrasives than cheap no-name stones.
Another option are SiC stones like Norton Crystolon or AlOx like India stones.

 

[Guy McVer]

I don't want to spend a lot of time sharpening

The way I see it you have two choices: sharpen long, or sharpen often.

If you sharpen infrequently then you'll need to spend a long time sharpening when you finally get around to doing it.

If you always sharpen after you use your knife then it's only ever going to be a quick touch-up.

A lot of people prefer the second option. It's easier to stay on top of an edge than it is to let it go dull before you resharpen it.

 

[old4570]

Any guided knife sharpener ! ( What you might like )
Diamond stones / inserts .

A properly formed / made bevel , should strop back relatively easily !
Once the stropping becomes more difficult , then resharpen !

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

For me, possibly the simplest sharpening combo EVER is just:

(1) a Coarse or Fine diamond hone like DMT to set and repair edges, and...

(2) a Medium or Fine ceramic (like Spyderco), used very minimally, for refinement and deburring. And in use, a coarse & toothy edge set with a Fine, Coarse or even an XC diamond hone and then topped with a barely-there microbevel applied with the ceramic (either medium or fine, by preference) will leave an aggressive-slicing, great working edge.

That^ combination can be used with literally any steel. Most of the 'bite' in slicing will come from the tooth set by the diamond. And just 1-3 passes at the lightest touch with the ceramic will narrow the apex and clean up any significant remnants of burrs, with little or no need for stropping afterward.

 

[Guy McVer]

Medium or Fine ceramic (like Spyderco), used very minimally, for refinement and deburring.

Spyderco makes pocket versions of the ceramic stones that you get with the Sharpmaker. Specifically, you can get either a brown medium 1.5"x3"x0.25" pocket stone or a brown medium 1"x5"x0.125" pocket stone with a sleeve. They are exactly the same coarseness as the brown medium stones from the Spyderco Sharpmaker. If you carry a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife, the brown stone is all you need. It brings your SAK back to crisp clean magazine paper slicing sharpness.

The one thing that bothers me about these stones is that they round off the edges. They probably do this to make the stones gentler in the pocket, since 90 degree edges and sharp corners could cause significant wear and tear in the pocket. It's frustrating to not have any edges on the stone.

You can also get a 1"x5"x0.125" white fine stone, and there's also the widely known Spyderco Doublestuff, which I believe is just the 5" white fine and 5" brown medium stones glued together.

 

[777 Edge]

I'm trying to find a sharpener that suits my needs but I can't find any so far that I like. I don't want to spend a lot of time sharpening, so I tried one of the work sharp motor sharpeners but it was too aggressive for me. I also have a set of cheap amazon waterstones, but they don't have very high grit and it takes a frustrating amount of time to sharpen even a Mora. I was wondering what sharpener that's preferably sub $100 I should get that is less aggressive than the work sharp and not as slow and skill based as the waterstones?

Contact Gritomatic on their "contact us" link and ask about the Leading Edge sharpening system that will be released soon.

That should be around about $100 or so for the base model with magnetic mount. Pair it up with a set of diamond plated stones and you'll have everything you need and a guided system that can sharpen most knives and scissors.

Contact Us

Please use the contact form below to contact us. We will reply to you as soon as possible! You can contact us on Facebook, you'll hear back from one of us.

www.gritomatic.com

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Spyderco makes pocket versions of the ceramic stones that you get with the Sharpmaker. Specifically, you can get either a brown medium 1.5"x3"x0.25" pocket stone or a brown medium 1"x5"x0.125" pocket stone with a sleeve. They are exactly the same coarseness as the brown medium stones from the Spyderco Sharpmaker. If you carry a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife, the brown stone is all you need. It brings your SAK back to crisp clean magazine paper slicing sharpness.

The one thing that bothers me about these stones is that they round off the edges. They probably do this to make the stones gentler in the pocket, since 90 degree edges and sharp corners could cause significant wear and tear in the pocket. It's frustrating to not have any edges on the stone.

You can also get a 1"x5"x0.125" white fine stone, and there's also the widely known Spyderco Doublestuff, which I believe is just the 5" white fine and 5" brown medium stones glued together.

I use the triangular rods for the Sharpmaker for this purpose, usually in the SM's base. And the corners of those rods, being radiused already, actually work well for use as I described earlier - I do use the corners for the purpose I described (deburring & microbevelling).

I wouldn't mind at all if Spyderco's pocket stones were also somewhat radiused at the edges in a similar manner. If using the corner of any stone for sharpening, I'd prefer a slight radius or easing of the edge there anyway, which reduces the point pressure exerted against the blade's edge and therefore reduces chances of heavy burring or rolling of the edge if the touch is a little heavy. I've deliberately eased the corners of some of my other stones that otherwise came with very crisp edges, simply to reduce the chances of heavy burring or rolling of the blade's edge at the corners, even if done by incidental contact.

I've also posted recently about using a small triangular ceramic rod from Lansky - I use it in a similar fashion. It's their 'Fine' ceramic, which seems to compare to something in-between Spyderco's Medium and Fine finish, which I like. It's seen in the pic below, alongside the longer 'Fine' rod from the SM.

 

[Guy McVer]

I use the triangular rods for the Sharpmaker for this purpose, usually in the SM's base. And the corners of those rods, being radiused already, actually work well for use as I described earlier - I do use the corners for the purpose I described (deburring & microbevelling).

I wouldn't mind at all if Spyderco's pocket stones were also somewhat radiused at the edges in a similar manner.

Sadly, they're not.

Corner of the 1.5"x3"x0.25" medium stone

Corner of the 1.5"x3"x0.25" medium stone next to the longer and thinner 1"x5"x0.125" medium stone


Sorry for the low quality images. The pictures are zoomed in and they make the stones look extremely coarse when in reality they don't actually look like that. You can still get an idea of how they trimmed off the edges. You still get a somewhat usable edge at the corners even though it is slightly rounded, but it's very thin and more difficult to use on the 5" long stone.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

^That's an odd-looking edge on a stone. Almost looks more chamfered than rounded/radiused.

 

[Guy McVer]

^That's an odd-looking edge on a stone. Almost looks more chamfered than rounded/radiused.

Yes my apologies for initially describing it that way. It's very much like what you'd get by going around a flat plank of wood with a router.

I agree that it's very odd. I don't like it at all.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Yes my apologies for initially describing it that way. It's very much like what you'd get by going around a flat plank of wood with a router.

I agree that it's very odd. I don't like it at all.

That's exactly what I pictured, in looking at the edge of that stone. I have some hobby woodworking projects with edges just like that, with the chamfer (or radius) and the little 'ledge' below it, done with a router. Looks OK on wood - but it's just odd on a sharpening stone.