Sharpening Systems- What is best.

3D Anvil said:
No, I didn't clamp it wrong. If you maintain a *fixed* angle, and the blade thickness behind the edge changes, the width of the bevel must change in order to apex the full edge. In the case of my particular Sebenza, the blade is about .017" bte about 1/3 of the way up from the heel, and about .030" bte towards the tip, so it's impossible to maintain an even bevel on a fixed angle system.

Maybe this will help visualize the issue: imagine you're sharpening a square chisel at 20°, and the chisel is .25" high on one side and .025" the other side. You can't possibly grind an even 20° bevel on such a chisel. The bevel will be much wider on the .25" side than it will on the .025" thick side. If you wanted to maintain the appearance of an even bevel, you would have to gradually raise the sharpening angle as you moved from the thin side to the fat side. Well ... that's what you can't do on a *fixed* angle system, because ... fixed angle.
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Then it's not the fault of the Wicked Edge vise, just dumb blade geometry. But I would bet that I could get the bevel to track right.
 
000Robert said:
Then it's not the fault of the Wicked Edge vise, just dumb blade geometry. But I would bet that I could get the bevel to track right.
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Yep, I never claimed it was a Wicked Edge problem. It's a limitation of every fixed angle sharpening system.
 
Personally I have the KME, and almost all of its accessories plus some aftermarket stones, and I’ve gotta say, I absolutely love it. I haven’t found too many limiting factors for it, at least for the stuff I sharpen.

It can sharpen serrated knives, knives up to 10 inches,unless you start repositioning the knife then I guess you could do however long of a knife you want.

There are attachments that allow you to sharpen scissors/shears broadheads, axes, pretty much anything. The best thing about them though in my opinion is the customer service.
 
the system i use most is the Ken Onion Worksharp .
hasent failed me yet ,,4 years still going strong
 
Is it worth getting the extra fine sticks for the Spyderco Sharpmaker? I'm about to pull the trigger on one.
 
Guy McVer said:
Is it worth getting the extra fine sticks for the Spyderco Sharpmaker? I'm about to pull the trigger on one.
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IMO; no. The fine ceramics are already pretty fine first off. Second off, you are better getting a strop and some 1 micron diamond emulsion or spray (I like Gunny Juice). Third, if i were to get aftermarket stones for the Sharpmaker, I would go coarser not finer. The biggest limitation with the system as it comes is that it really can't do any profiling work out of the box. Unless your edge is exactly one of the two preset angles OR is more acute than either of those angles, you are going to be hitting the shoulder the whole time with medium or fine ceramic and not doing all that much.
If you are going to go aftermarket, take a look at some of the diamond rods for the sharpmaker OR go the cheapo route and simply rubber band a set of diamond 1X6 stones from amazon to the existing ceramic rods and use it that way.
 
Boattale said:
I've had mine for about three months now. Still on the first set of belts, which actually means the medium belt has stayed on it for at least the last two months. When new, I thought coarse and medium were too much. Fine was pretty good and I couldn't tell much of anything from the flexi purple ultra fine. The medium belt is way less aggressive now and produces a really nice working edge in about five passes on knives from the kitchen. Others are already sharp and stay that way.
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Have the K.O.WS and Blade grinding attachment. The blue belt is for polishing the edge and creating burr/strop.
 
I sharpened my machetes freehand for many years. The nice thing about sharpening a machete or other large knife was that I could see the bevel angle clearly, and it was simple enough to hold the stone at the same angle.

But my eyes are not as good as they used to be, and I have quite a few smaller knives now. I tried the marker on the bevel method, which works pretty well for larger folders. But with folders having a thin blade or with a typical paring knife, I cannot see the marker on the bevel well enough to tell what I am doing.

So last year I got a Work Sharp Precision Adjust sharpener after a rave review by Nick Shabazz. It is remarkably easy to use and works fine with most of my knives except the largest and smallest. With large knives, it is a bit wobbly, but that can be fixed by providing some extra support under the clamp. The big problem is that when I want to put a narrow angle on a narrow blade, the clamp gets in the way, so I end up sharpening the clamp instead of the blade. For example, I cannot get 15 degrees per side on a typical paring knife, and my wife has a large number of very dull paring knives. And the stones are smallish and not very coarse, so reprofiling a blade takes a long time. Also, I injured my shoulder in January, and it is awkward and somewhat painful for me to hold the handle on top of the triangular stones with my stronger hand.

So next I got a Work Sharp Ken Onion. As other people have pointed out, it is a really dandy sharpener that will quickly sharpen most knives down to 15 degrees convex without any trouble. And it is very easy on my shoulder. I use it on low speed and have had no trouble with overheating. I have also used the Ken Onion for fixing chips, broken tips, and severe corrosion.

But sometimes I want a V-shaped bevel that is highly accurate and repeatable, mainly when I am comparing the performance of different blades. More importantly, I simply lusted after a fancier sharpener. I finally gave into temptation and bought a TSPROF Kadet Pro with 5 diamond plates. It is a thing of beauty. It is expensive. For very narrow knives, you need to buy the Kadet Fillet Clamps. It is more complicated to use than the Work Sharps. It takes much longer to assemble or take down than the Work Sharp Precision Adjust. But it is accurate and fast. I changed the angle on a fairly dull Spyderco Lil Native in S90V from the factory set 18 degrees down to 15 degrees in about 15 minutes, including taping the knife and clamps and setting the angle with an Angle Cube. After using all 5 plates and doing a little stropping on plain leather, the average BESS score was about 100 grams, and a laser goniometer read the angle as 15 degrees +/- about a half a degree. Best of all, it did not hurt my shoulder.

I do not need the TSPROF, but I am enjoying it a lot.
 
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I would recommend the KME system. It’s my preferred system. With your price range you can get everything you need with the system. Base, different jaws, extra stones (on top of the diamond stones) and even some lapping films of strop compound. At the end of the day each systems does the same thing a little different. On every system you’ll be using a rod to draw across the stone. It’s finding the stones you like, the size you like, and the method of drawing that stone across the edge.
 
I'm trying to decide between the worksharp precision adjust elite and the KME?
 
stipe82 said:
I'm trying to decide between the worksharp precision adjust elite and the KME?
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stipe82, Between these two, I chose both for two different kinds of users, the more mature experienced use KME Diamond Kit, and Sharpmaker to maintain edges, the younger less experienced the Precision Adjust.
Price wise they do not compare with the least expensive KME being the KME “R.P.S.H. Combo kit” - R.P.S.H.: Repair-Profile-Sharpen-Hone for $160 US, and least expensive WS Precision Adjust model at ~$60 US.
The Precision Adjust is current king of guided sharpeners in my opinion, so I put a big river customer return in the hands of the grand kids. Rational was stones will be toast suffering their learning curve and lack of stone quality, and I will replace with after market stone holder, extra stones I already own (KME, Congress MoldmakerSiC, Sharpmaker form factors, etc), and after market parts to expand what can be sharpened. I'm building a Sharpmaker kit for grand kids for Christmas that adds Idahone coarse and medium ceramic trianglar 7 inch rods (150-ish grit and 500-ish grit).
Value wise, as you might expect, the KME's extra C note accounts for overall materials quality plus stone logevity, kit completness, and OEM PLUS after market upgrades, KME has an excellent long term reputation alongside similarly priced Hapstone, EdgePro, etc. The diamond KME kit "(200-ish -recommend if you can swing another 40 bucks or find used) was our first guided sharpener, and an excellent aid for one son who did not have motor skill yet to hold vertical on Sharpmaker, and a place to park the free hand. Next step is moving older sons n grand kids to free hand, as I consider free hand tool sharpening, one of a set of skills every child of freemen free people should possess.
 
scottc3 said:
stipe82, Between these two, I chose both for two different kinds of users, the more mature experienced use KME Diamond Kit, and Sharpmaker to maintain edges, the younger less experienced the Precision Adjust.
Price wise they do not compare with the least expensive KME being the KME “R.P.S.H. Combo kit” - R.P.S.H.: Repair-Profile-Sharpen-Hone for $160 US, and least expensive WS Precision Adjust model at ~$60 US.
The Precision Adjust is current king of guided sharpeners in my opinion, so I put a big river customer return in the hands of the grand kids. Rational was stones will be toast suffering their learning curve and lack of stone quality, and I will replace with after market stone holder, extra stones I already own (KME, Congress MoldmakerSiC, Sharpmaker form factors, etc), and after market parts to expand what can be sharpened. I'm building a Sharpmaker kit for grand kids for Christmas that adds Idahone coarse and medium ceramic trianglar 7 inch rods (150-ish grit and 500-ish grit).
Value wise, as you might expect, the KME's extra C note accounts for overall materials quality plus stone logevity, kit completness, and OEM PLUS after market upgrades, KME has an excellent long term reputation alongside similarly priced Hapstone, EdgePro, etc. The diamond KME kit "(200-ish -recommend if you can swing another 40 bucks or find used) was our first guided sharpener, and an excellent aid for one son who did not have motor skill yet to hold vertical on Sharpmaker, and a place to park the free hand. Next step is moving older sons n grand kids to free hand, as I consider free hand tool sharpening, one of a set of skills every child of freemen free people should p
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I was wondering if the price between the two was really worth it. I've read other information where people use the KME stones on the work sharp. I guess the only draw back I've seen with the worksharp is sharpening small blades. The KME comes with different clamps to allow the sharpening of smaller blades. I like and collect small knives, but don't really use them. I carry and use a medium sized blade. Some that doesn't take up much room on the pocket and has a locking blade. My dad can really put a razor edge freehand with a stone,but that's I skill I need to sharpen up on 😁 Thanks for the feedback sir
 
stipe82 said:
I was wondering if the price between the two was really worth it.
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a question about income and savings ability in my mind, because the KME is a proven product, though I hope the Precision Adjust will get there as well. I say save up or find KME used. Clearly the Precision Adjust diamond stones are not up to KME stone quality, one is in the minors the other in the majors. Replacement Precision Adjust diamond stones direct from Worksharp run 10 bucks, from KME 25 bucks each. And your going to get way way more then 1 and a half times more uses from KME's if you treat them appropriatly.
stipe82 said:
the only draw back I've seen with the worksharp is sharpening small blades
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RE: Precision Adjust- I saw an after market magnetic table at Gritomatic, which would eliminate the clamp for smaller knives maybe?
777Edge what say you?
 
Gotta say, the Hapstone sharpeners (Ukraine) with magnetic small and large tables are next gen materials, function, and look. None at Gritomatic stateside at the moment. The M8, M3, and V7 ARE VERY NICE to my eyes, and deserving industrial awards. Shipping is 30 bucks from factory to usa for M8 ($168) with large table....
 
scottc3 said:
Gotta say, the Hapstone sharpeners (Ukraine) with magnetic small and large tables are next gen materials, function, and look. None at Gritomatic stateside at the moment. The M8, M3, and V7 ARE VERY NICE to my eyes, and deserving industrial awards. Shipping is 30 bucks from factory to usa for M8 ($168) with large table....
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I'll check those out. Thank you sir
 
talk to dad about hapstone if you wanna risk ordering, a buyer protected method of payment would be smart. A call to Gritomatic to see when stock will be in would be worth a minute.
 
scottc3 said:
talk to dad about hapstone if you wanna risk ordering, a buyer protected method of payment would be smart. A call to Gritomatic to see when stock will be in would be worth a minute.
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I bought my Hapstone off eBay directly from Hapstone. So I had the eBay protection. My price was $50 over the list price. I presumed that was shipping.

I was shocked when i got it 10 days later! I ordered late August. They had estimated 3-6 weeks.

I had been waiting for Gritomatic to get more units but after a few weeks of waiting, I went directly to Hapstone.
 
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