Smith's Sharpeners, any good?

G

G-Force

Joined
Nov 22, 2001
Messages
8
My local Wal-Mart carries a Smith's sharpening kit for about $20.00. It comes with a clamp, honing oil and 3 stones, one of which can be used on serrations according to the box. Are these any good?
 
I don't know anything about that Smith's "3 stone clamp-kit", but I have a Smith's Tri-Hone bench sharpener that I totally LOVE. The quality is very good, and the price is also very good. (In fact, I now use it more than I use my Spyderco Sharpmaker 204, with excellent results.).
 
they work alright,i was never able to get a hair popping edge with it,but i did get a decent working edge going.

keep your eyes peeled,last year SAMs had the sharpening kit with a buck odysey fer 30 bucks!
 
The serration stone is a triangle stone. I hated it. Too big for serrations and it rounded of the tip of my knife. The triangle's sides slid down the tip, blunting it. The course stone hollowed out pretty fast, rather than buy a new set to replaced it, I got a Ravor Edge kit. The Smith's fine stone is quite good and is the only part of the kit I still have. Cleaning it before sharpening with soap and hot water and using it dry seems better than using oil.
 
I have the same Smiths kit you are talking about, and it works well as a basic sharpening system. I think it's certainly worth the reasonable price. I agree with Clint that the coarse stone gets rounded out pretty fast, and that the triangular serrations stone is only marginally useful. You can get a very sharp edge with the fine stone, but it takes some diligence on your part.

On a more general note, I originally bought the kit to do all my "maintenance sharpening", but found that it is really better suited to reprofiling edges and serious metal removal. I ended up buying a Sharpmaker-type ceramic crock stick sharpener that works much better for the occasional light edge "touch-ups". Between the two of them, I have all my current sharpening needs met.

- Mark

BTW, welcome to the forums -- you'll love it here at your new "home away from home" ;)
 
Welcome to the Forums :) Wear your Smith's Sharpening stuff out, and buy a Sharpmaker if you like that type sharpening system.., twice the price and quadruple the quality.


"Hunters seek what they [WANT].., Seekers hunt what they [NEED]"
 
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