Should I return my Sharpmaker for a Ken Onion Worksharp?

Yikes! This is getting complicated, as much in BF often does. I’m feeling better about diddling around with my Sharpmaker and sending knives back to the manufacturers if/when they truly need professional resharpening. An old friend of mine once said “Simplify, simplify, simplify” and the older I get, the more I see the wisdom of what he said.
 
Stumpy72 said:
An old friend of mine once said “Simplify, simplify, simplify” and the older I get, the more I see the wisdom of what he said.
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Sounds boring . . . but the postal service is going to love you.
An old friend of mine said . . . and I've verified the wisdom of it . . . or at least the awful truth of it over and over and over:
If you want something done right you have to do it yourself. Especially these days of dilettantes hanging out a shingle or talking a good line of BS when they get a job but not ACTUALLY having the skills when it comes down to doing the work.
 
Wowbagger said:
Sounds boring . . . but the postal service is going to love you.
An old friend of mine said . . . and I've verified the wisdom of it . . . or at least the awful truth of it over and over and over:
If you want something done right you have to do it yourself. Especially these days of dilettantes hanging out a shingle or talking a good line of BS when they get a job but not ACTUALLY having the skills when it comes down to doing the work.
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I'm truly and immensely relieved to know that your sharpening skills exceed those of my unworthy self as well as those of BM, Spyderco and CRK. If and when I find myself in need of your skills (in recognition of my own inadequate skills and the similarly inadequate abilities of BM, Spyderco and CRK), I’ll be sure to track you down and engage you to sharpen my dulled blades. Thanks ever so for your helpful input.

EDIT: FYI and FWIW, the USPS already loves me. I don’t have any so-called “knife stores” near me, so everything I buy comes to me from online vendors or BF people via the Exchange.
 
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Send them to Josh @razor-edge-knives , and you can keep them sharp with Sharpmaker standard rod. Better than sending them to manufacurer.

Manufacturers sharpeners are dealing with volumes and will usually put a ‘generic sharp’ enough for common use. With Josh, you’ll get the customized edge if your use case is unique.

PS: I sharpen myself freehand on various stones but usually DMT and Spyderco triangle UF, and never used his service. This opinion is based on reading his work & his customers’ comments, including his reblade work.:thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
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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:
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So this is newer and more expensive than the original blade grinder?
If so, i am glad i waited.
Russ
 
I dont think I have enough coffee on board, someone awake can staighten me out.
It looks like the link is the powerhead and the blade grinder together, but the wheels are clear.
Russ
 
mycough said:
I dont think I have enough coffee on board, someone awake can staighten me out.
It looks like the link is the powerhead and the blade grinder together, but the wheels are clear.
Russ
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The link is the power unit and BGA sold together at a lower price than buying them separately. (What you don’t get is the “pull thru” angle guide that comes with the WSKO basic setup).

Edit: And I should add a more complete set of belts that fit the BGA.
 
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I have both the Ken onion worksharp and sharp maker. The OP said that he wants to sharpen Bowies and Kukris and I wouldn't want to sharpen those on a sharp maker due to the length of those blades.

I remove the worksharp guides and rotate the cassette so that the belts are horizontal instead of vertical. Then I dremel a notch so that the cassette locks in place. That way I use it like the blade grind attachment. I then put a 14 degree edge on my edc, get it as sharp as possible and then use the sharp maker 30 degree back bevel with ceramic rods to touch up. It works for me...

Also very interesting thread regarding pro sharpening vs diy vs sending it back to the manufacturer. I think it all depends on where you are in the hobby. To me, having the manufacturer sharpen my knives in the sharpening hobby is analogous to buying an Ontario rat 1 or 2 in the knife hobby.

Great blade for the money and you get need in an edc blade. But as you progress you want the titanium and super steel, etc. Manufacturer edges are fine, you can slice paper, but you won't be able to control the edge angle or toothiness of the blade. I was reading about a guy that had hundreds of dollars in strops and diamond pastes. He really likes strops. And I get it. If I was into strops as much as he was, I would probably want the kangaroo leather with 1,.75,.5,.25 micron sprays, etc...
 
Well said guys... do you see the pulley wheels are clear?
Different? Better? Worse?...


Russ
 
One thing people never mention is that the sharp maker will sharpen v grinds and the worksharp a convex grind. Both useful for different tasks. If you got a blade with one or the other your gonna have to remove some steel to reprofile that grind to the other type.
 
Good to know, I saw the blade grinder for 69$ earlier, think i will pounce.
The bulk of my usage is for abused friends and relatives kitchen knives.

Russ
 
cbwx34 said:
;)
The WorkSharp doesn't damage blades... operator error does. :eek:
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How true this is!
So far, I've only used mine for kitchen knives, but it does a great job and the knives will push-cut newsprint.
There is one YT fella that compares knife-steels in cutting tests, similar to Ankerson but much lower key. He starts each test by sharpening the knives on the KO Worksharp. His blade-edges look VERY professional and EVEN.
I'm a believer. And the additional grinding attachment will let you reprofile your blades or shape your grips or just use the leather "strop" on the machine to get tree-trimming sharpness on your blades.
I use my Edge Pro Apex on my own blades...as I enjoy it. But I have no objection to using the Ken Onion if I were in a hurry. But I'm too old to rush, anyway.
don
p.s. I sold my Sharpmaker several yrs ago...happily. But many folks love it.
 
Sonnydaze said:
How true this is!
So far, I've only used mine for kitchen knives, but it does a great job and the knives will push-cut newsprint.
There is one YT fella that compares knife-steels in cutting tests, similar to Ankerson but much lower key. He starts each test by sharpening the knives on the KO Worksharp. His blade-edges look VERY professional and EVEN.
I'm a believer. And the additional grinding attachment will let you reprofile your blades or shape your grips or just use the leather "strop" on the machine to get tree-trimming sharpness on your blades.
I use my Edge Pro Apex on my own blades...as I enjoy it. But I have no objection to using the Ken Onion if I were in a hurry. But I'm too old to rush, anyway.
don
p.s. I sold my Sharpmaker several yrs ago...happily. But many folks love it.
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You *must* be referring to Cedric, of Cedric and Ada Outdoors. I love that guy; he is very nice and bases what he says strictly on personal experience and data, which I really respect.
 
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