Sharpening tantos, recurves, etc. on the Work Sharp?

[bitfiend]

I just ordered one of these. They look like they work really well, and people seem to love them.
However, they kind of scare me. They also look like you could eat a blade up quickly. I have some (expensive) knives I'd love to be able to put a crazy sharp factory edge back on, but I'm afraid of messing up the blades.

Any cheap knives you can recommend to practice putting edges on that have fairly thick blades and tantos, spear, very pointy drop-points, recurves, etc? I am not a talented sharpener with other methods, I have always used crock-sticks.


Also general tips & tricks from regular users of these?

 

[Rasco]

I have the Ken Onion version, but I really only use it on my larger fixed blades. And I almost always only use the finer grit belts on a medium speed, so I wouldn't worry too much about removing too much steel.

Head to Wal-Mart or Home Depot and pick up a couple crappy folders (Snap-On, Gerber, etc) to practice on until you get the hang of it.

As a novice on this device, your biggest concern is probably going to be learning how to avoid rounding off the tip of your knife.
For tantos, I'm not sure, I haven't really tried sharpening one on my WorkSharp, but I would imagine you'd wanna do the primary straight and the tip separately...? (as opposed to trying to do both in one stroke and rounding it off where the two angles meet?)

My honest suggestion for putting amazing edges on expensive knives would be something like an Edge Pro Apex or Wicked Edge with some high quality (expensive ) stones. That's probably going to yield you the best results with the smallest chance of doing any serious damage to an expensive blade.

 

[bitfiend]

Yeah, I looked at the Wicked Edge, but at $700+ for what looks like a guided Lansky & some meh reviews of quality, I decided against it. Plus it looks like it'll take up quite a bit of space with the granite base & not be something I just pull out of a cabinet & use when I want.

I'd also like to keep my edges looking factory as well, and the bulk of my collection was donewith a belt sander at the factory. And unfortunately I have a lot of tantos. I can only find one vid done by a Work Sharp sales guy on a tanto, and he doesn't look like he's too concerned about keeping the transitions factory crisp & looking nice (which is understandable, but I have an OCD problem)

 

[scubasteve1942]

I had trouble doing the tips of my knives on the wsko. The guide was almost useless once you got to a certain part of the blade. I got the blade grinder attachment which made all the difference. Its nice being able to watch the burr form as you bring the knife across the belt.

 

[bitfiend]

So would only using 1500 & up help keep me out of trouble? None of them are actually dull & chipped. (except a few cheapies I carry all the time like my CRKT neck peck & all the kitchen knives my wife uses.)

I am concerned about tip rounding some have reported. My HALOs & HALO2s are especially, impressively pointy & I absolutely do not want to ruin them.

 

[scubasteve1942]

So would only using 1500 & up help keep me out of trouble? None of them are actually dull & chipped. (except a few cheapies I carry all the time like my CRKT neck peck & all the kitchen knives my wife uses.)

I am concerned about tip rounding some have reported. My HALOs & HALO2s are especially, impressively pointy & I absolutely do not want to ruin them.

The higher grits will take less material off but will also heat up the blade faster. Remember to go at the slowest speed at first and to practice on cheap knives. Practicing on kitchen knives is nice and all but you really need to practice on smaller folders because you can't use the blade roller (Forget what it's really called). Once you get to the tip you are left basically free handing it because the guides are no longer making contact with the blade. There is nothing wrong with free handing but it's just a weird angle to be doing it at.

 

[bitfiend]

Hmm. I guess I have some cheap Kershaws I can practice with, but nothing that approximates the stuff I really want to be careful with. I suppose I need to do some shopping.

How about recurves? Tips, tricks?

 

[Rasco]

I would not sharpen a Microtech Halo on a WorkSharp. Even with the blade grinding attachment, it's sketchy, but without it? No way.
But hey, that's just me.

If you can afford multiple Halos, you should seriously look into some kind of guided rod setup. Check Amazon for a knock-off of the Edge Pro Apex (although I suggest the real deal) and if you want factory-like edge, just use the lower grit stones. I really think that would provide the best results...

 

[Rasco]

Hmm. I guess I have some cheap Kershaws I can practice with, but nothing that approximates the stuff I really want to be careful with. I suppose I need to do some shopping.

How about recurves? Tips, tricks?

Just gotta make sure you have enough room to raise and lower the handle as needed to follow the grind line. If it's a serious recurve, maybe consider putting the WorkSharp up on a block or something to give you more height.
Recurves are actually easier on the WorkSharp than they are on a guided rod system, imo

 

[scubasteve1942]

Hmm. I guess I have some cheap Kershaws I can practice with, but nothing that approximates the stuff I really want to be careful with. I suppose I need to do some shopping.

How about recurves? Tips, tricks?

I don't own any recurves or tanto blades and have never sharpened any on the wsko. To me it seems like the tanto wouldn't be to hard as long as you stop with the tip on the belt and know where to stop where the two edges meet. My concern would be rounding the area where the two edges come together.

 

[cold one]

Start with a variety of cheap knives that are similar to what you want to sharpen, I started with some gerber folders, small gerber fixed blades and then glock knives which are on the thicker side.

I've since stripped all the guides and rests off it and just free hand across the belt. I can get knives shaving sharp in a matter of minutes, I happy with that.

 

[ElectrikHellfire]

I never had much luck with the Work Sharp on my smaller folding knives. I could get them plenty sharp but I could never avoid rounding the tips. I still use it on larger beater blades but I moved on to a Wicked Edge for my smaller stuff. YMMV.

 

[SOFileworks]

I've been using my original worksharp for several years now, and my opinion would be recurves yes, tantos no. You will almost certainly lose the transition point between the edges, and honestly if you want the edges to look like factory, the workshop is not the tool for the task. Unless the grinder attachment can guarantee a flat grind as opposed to the normal convex grind achieved by the work sharp, the results definitely won't give a factory appearance. For edges and tips that I'm really concerned about, I use my KMI diamond sharpening system. If I remember correctly, it cost about $150 before I got the extra stones for it, as well as the strops I purchased. It leaves a very professional looking edge, and with the strops, you can also obtain the polished edges so many forumites rave about.

I'm not knocking the worksharp at all, and I'm sure the Ken Onion model is a great improvement over the original, I use it regularly for sharpening my fillet knives and all of my kitchen knives, but for expensive knives where appearance is as important as sharpness, I'll take a guided sharpener any day.

Again, this is just my opinion...your results may vary to some degree one way or the other.

 

[RevDevil]

Off to MTE
Sharpening questions belong in the Maintenance, Tinkering, and Embellishment section.

 

[bgentry]

I've done a lot of blades on the WSKO. No one has given me a tanto to sharpen on it yet though. I have done some mild recurved blades that I didn't do much differently. Just lowered the handle as I went through the recurve in order to keep the blade perpendicular to the travel of the belt.

I've sharpened one very pronounced hawkbill. It was a custom blade patterned after a carpet knife. So we're talking about a blade with something like 120 degrees of recurve. That one was a challenge, as I had to really lower the handle going through the curve; so much so that the handle kept touching the table. I was able to put a decent edge on it, but I would like to have spent more time to get it just right.

BTW, I do all of my work on the WSKO freehand. I'm not sure how the guides would play into doing unusual blade shapes like you are describing. I know how I'd do a tanto:

1. Sharpen the straight part, pretending that the tip of the blade is the point at the transition. Stop the blade travel when that secondary point is part way across the belt and lift off.
2. Sharpen the second shorter portion of the blade completely separately. Start with the secondary "tip" and flat second section of the blade touching the belt. Draw across until the real tip is part way across the belt, then lift off.

I'm pretty sure you can get very good results on a tanto with the WSKO freehand. In fact, that's probably how they do it at the factory.

Brian.

 

[toker]

Yeah, I looked at the Wicked Edge, but at $700+ for what looks like a guided Lansky & some meh reviews of quality, I decided against it. Plus it looks like it'll take up quite a bit of space with the granite base & not be something I just pull out of a cabinet & use when I want.

- The WE is a Lansky on steroids. It allows a lot more options when it comes to blade angles and speed of sharpening. I've sharpened multiple tanto blades (Emerson, ZT, etc.) on the WE and have not had any issue keeping a crisp transition.

That being said, the basic WE setup is more expensive than other sharpening systems and starts at $300. You don't need to buy a granite base. You can use a wood block a cheaper base.