Should I return my Sharpmaker for a Ken Onion Worksharp?

V

Viper2

Joined
Mar 15, 2012
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I bought a Sharpmaker but haven’t opened it yet. I heard that the Ken Onion Worksharp does a great job and is just easier to use. So should I return my Sharpmaker for the Ken Onion Worksharp? I need to sharpen my EDCs, Bowies, and Kukris.

Thanks
 
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I use my sharp maker more than my worksharp Ken onion. So many cons it's just not worth it to me. If you get the blade grind attachment that will help some of the cons. But your going way up in costs now, where imho it's not worth it still.
 
I believe for larger blades you will appreciate the Work Sharp and it’s ability to sharpen large blades.

The Sharpmaster (I think) uses a carbide draw-through and will remove a lot of metal fast, and may make a jagged edge.
 
Depends on your sharpening needs or sharpening skill. Work sharp will not make that super keen edge that most people are after. Sharp? Yes. Makes great working edges but also grinds off more steel than necessary.

If you have time or patience, bench stones would be the best. Guided systems like the KME or wicked edge are fantastic for people without great hand dexterity or the patience to learn free hand.
 
Just a personal opinion, but... I’d keep the Sharpmaker unless I was in life-affecting need of getting my ~$60 back out of it (which I obviously wouldn’t be if I was considering buying another sharpening device that was going to cost $80-$200). If I was you I’d keep the one, buy the other, use both, figure out which was the better one and consider myself the wiser for the exercise.

EDIT...... I just realized that you were comparing a Sharpmaster to the KO device. It looks like those two are close to the same thing and the Spyderco Sharpmaker is something entirely different. Based on that, I don’t know what to tell you. Good luck with your quandary.
 
I prefer non-powered sharpening. It's slower but you can be more precise and take your time to get a pristine polished finish if that's what your after.
I use bench stones and a homemade wicked edge. If I was on a budget I'd get a harbor freight 1x30 sander and pick up some fine polishing belts rather than the Worksharp.
 
Look at the KME Gen II Diamond Sharpener. No motors to burn out and no belts to stretch or tear. It will make you feel like a pro especially if you suck at free hand sharpaning like me
 
Stumpy72 said:
Just a personal opinion, but... I’d keep the Sharpmaker unless I was in life-affecting need of getting my ~$60 back out of it (which I obviously wouldn’t be if I was considering buying another sharpening device that was going to cost $80-$200). If I was you I’d keep the one, buy the other, use both, figure out which was the better one and consider myself the wiser for the exercise.

EDIT...... I just realized that you were comparing a Sharpmaster to the KO device. It looks like those two are close to the same thing and the Spyderco Sharpmaker is something entirely different. Based on that, I don’t know what to tell you. Good luck with your quandary.
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I was wondering that too. OP, are we talking about a Sharpmaster or Spyderco SharpMaker?
 
If it’s the Spyderco vs Ken onion I’d say keep both. They both have their uses and both have advantages over the other. The sharpmaker is great for quick touch ups and small blades, the Ken onion great for reprofiling and large blades.

I don’t know the sharpmaster.
 
If I had a choice between getting a Sharpmaker for free, or paying for a WorkSharp, I'd take the Sharpmaker, sell it, and put it toward this. ;)

p.s. The WorkSharp doesn't damage blades... operator error does. :eek:
 
Hi everyone,

I was referring to the Spyderco Sharpmaker versus the Ken Onion Worksharp. Not a Sharpmaster.

Sorry for the confusion.
 
cbwx34 said:
If I had a choice between getting a Sharpmaker for free, or paying for a WorkSharp, I'd take the Sharpmaker, sell it, and put it toward this. ;) p.s. The WorkSharp doesn't damage blades... operator error does. :eek:
Click to expand...
You’re correct about the operator error thing, but (for me) getting over the learning curve hump would involve trashing a couple (or few?) blades along the way before arriving at a “beyond/above operator error” skill level. That wouldn’t be a cost-free self-improvement evolution. I’ll send my BM’s, Spydercos and CRK’s back to where they came from if/when they need a professional quality sharpening. As for the others, I’ll do my best with my Sharpmaker and use local sharpening services when I have to. One of my worst nightmares is ruining a good but dulled blade with a power sharpener, and I think I could do that with amazing speed. (insert “horrified” smiley face here)
 
I have both. They are very different systems with somewhat different uses.

Sharpmaker: A fantastic touchup tool, or tool for keeping blades sharp that are already sharp. Can bring back moderately dull blades to sharpness and keep them there. Two grades of abrasive: medium and fine with fine being very fine and will produce hair flinging edges. Medium stone is great, but will take absolutely forever to reprofile a blade or bring a butter dull knife to sharpness. CBN and diamond stones available, but I'm not sure if they are worth the money and time as I have not used them.

WSKO: Powered system that will take off metal fairly quickly. With the stock P120 belt, can bring a knife from butter dull to sharpness pretty quickly (single to double digit minutes). Can take off a lot of metal if you are not careful. It's a power tool!
Lots of abrasive grades available; comes with 5 if I'm remembering right. The edge from the 2nd highest grade will pop arm hairs, but isn't as fine as the finest sharpmaker stone. The highest grade belt it comes with doesn't seem all that useful to me, but I think it can polish blades quite a bit if you are careful (meaning a very sharp polished edge).

I think you want both if you are a knife enthusiast that wants all blades to be sharp all the time. I don't use the guides on my WSKO at all. I freehand with it. I think the guides are strange for a couple of reasons: They are spring loaded and don't "hard stop" the blade. So you have to play a balancing act with the pressure against the guides. The motion to me is weird too, as it doesn't seem to give you much control, especially at the tip. Finally, I don't like that the grinding does "up" into the blade on one side, but "down" away from the blade on the other. This might not matter in practice, but it bugs me. So I take the guide off and freehand.

Brian.
 
MolokaiRider said:
I believe for larger blades you will appreciate the Work Sharp and it’s ability to sharpen large blades.

The Sharpmaster (I think) uses a carbide draw-through and will remove a lot of metal fast, and may make a jagged edge.
Click to expand...

The sharpmaker does not use a pull through sharpening style or a carbide edge. It uses aluminum oxide stones in the shape of triangular rods. The Worksharp removes metal way faster than the Sharpmaker.

V Viper2 you should get both. They both do different jobs when it comes to sharpening. The Worksharp is better for reprofiling an edge to a certain degreee setting. Then once the knife has been reprofiled the Sharpmaker can be used to quickly and easily retouch up that edge. Also the Sharpmaker is needed for knives with recurves in the blade.

Here is a good example. Use the WS to set the edge angle of a knife to 17 (34 degrees inclusive total) degrees per side. Then use the 40 degree setting on the sharpmaker to touch up that edge easily when it starts to need a touch up.
 
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Lapedog said:
The sharpmaker does not use a pull through sharpening style or a carbide edge. It uses aluminum oxide stones in the shape of triangular rods. The Worksharp removes metal way faster than the Sharpmaker.
Click to expand...

Understood. When reading his initial post he stated Sharpmaster rather than Sharpmaker. Two different models. The OP has since clarified and edited his post.
 
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