So, I sold my Wicked Edge...

I was sitting with a knife enthusiast and he had the WorkSharp Onion. I gave him 3 of my knives as we chit chat. It took about 10~15 min per knife at the end I had 3 very sharp knives. I was impressed, that is until I sent some knives over to Razorsharpedge.com/Josh on this forum to sharpen another 3 with bigger and thicker blades on his razoredge gig. Holly crap this level of sharpeness is at a whole other level. No comparison


Last, I purchased the Lansky Diamond kit with the Tomek small knife gig. I get a level of sharpeness that the worksharp onion just couldn't replicate or come close to it.
Heck, of those 3 knives I had done on worksharp onion I redid them on my Lansky and again its a whole other level of sharpness.


If anybody has had a new Spyderco Sage with its full flat grind and comparing that against a big fat hunting knife from wallmart...that's the disparity I noticed in sharpeness from WorkSharp Onion vs. Lansky Diamond kit.

bigC
 
Micromesh sells belts for the work sharp, but I haven't tried them yet. When you buy the work sharp, it comes with a set of belts and you can contact the company for one free set of belts sent to you! I am still on those same sets of belts after about 40 sharpenings, they last a long time.
I sharpen on the slowest setting, it's quiet and still way quicker than freehanding. Also, it reduces taking off metal too fast and prevents heat build up:thumbup:
 
Worksharp Ken onion.
Just put a new edge on my Rucki last night in about 30 minutes.

After that I resharpened my vintage double bit axe.

I'll upload some pics later today if I can of the edges.

As far as setup and tear down, I electrical taped the entire unit to a couple of bricks wrapped in shelf liner.

It's sturdy enough to put my full strength on if I'm sharpening a big item like the Rucki or axe, and stays still enough to get precise enough angles for a ZT 0562 or Magnum Bear Cub.

Cant recommend it highly enough.
Once I get the blade grinder attachment I'm sure it will be even better.

BTW I use the machine freehand similarly to how a custom knife maker uses their 2x72.
Just slower and more carefully.
 
Comeuppance said:
... Because it took so damned long to do anything. Too finicky. Too tedious. Yeah, I could get a knife to a degree of sharpness where I didn't want to move it too quickly in case I split an atom, but I didn't even want to -use- the knives because of how freaking long it took to set up. Where exactly did I clamp it? What angle was that again? Whoops! Scratched the finish in the clamp. Oh well, I'll just spend forty-five minutes to an hour sharpening this knife, looking like I'm pedaling a tiny bike with my hands, or doing an impression of the world's least enthusiastic rock'm-sock'm robot.

So, what should I be looking at? I've been looking at the Work Sharp. I know it's just a belt grinder with an angle guide, but that's okay! I don't have a workshop, as I live in an apartment and will for the forseeable future. I need something that isn't incredibly time-consuming and tedious, but gives me more control than one of those god-forsaken pull-through sharpeners that I abandoned years ago.
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Complaining about scratches on a USER knife... Bah. Tell us what you're really looking for.
 
Skimo said:
Complaining about scratches on a USER knife... Bah. Tell us what you're really looking for.
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I mean, I did tell you, and everyone else that has responded to the thread has managed to glean what I was asking for and have provided fitting and helpful input.

Your lack of reading comprehension is not my fault. Also, yeah, I'll gripe about unnecessary scratches. If someone keys your car, even if it had pre-existing cosmetic damage, you would be justifiably annoyed.
 
What I read was that the WE worked, but took too long. Now you want something faster.

Do you still want even bevels?

Do you still want a high finish?

How fast of a setup do you want?

How fast do you want your next rig to sharpen?

I don't see knives like I do cars, and keyed is different than me unloading the bed of my truck from the side and scratching a panel.

My reading comprehension is excellent, so again, tell us what you're really looking for.
 
Skimo said:
What I read was that the WE worked, but took too long. Now you want something faster.

Do you still want even bevels?

Do you still want a high finish?

How fast of a setup do you want?

How fast do you want your next rig to sharpen?

I don't see knives like I do cars, and keyed is different than me unloading the bed of my truck from the side and scratching a panel.

My reading comprehension is excellent, so again, tell us what you're really looking for.
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Haha, don't be a dork :P

Comeuppance

The KO will be great for what you want. Love mine. Sharpening a pile of knives has never been so quick.The guiids can be taken off. Freehand is not as hard as some make it to be.

Have fun.
 
I think the KME is the best compromise between compact and precision. No need to be clamped to a table, you can clip in the knife, then sit and watch tv with the pistol grip handle. If fits easily in the included single pistol size case, and there's really no set-up required.

But it's always a good idea to have a Sharpmaker handy too for edge touch ups. Both are very compact and apartment friendly.
 
No manual sharpening system -- guided or freehand -- is going to be faster than the Wicked Edge and its bevy of diamond stones. The new Gen III clamp (which has a number of problems) is about as fast as you can get to set up your edge for quick sharpening. You apparently didn't use the positioning guide on your WE or keep notes so that you could position any of your knives exactly as they were before. So it sounds like you want a power system that can be used in an apartment and that doesn't require any setup time.

The WorkSharp will work just fine, but your edges won't be as good as you get off the Wicked Edge. It will be fast.

My sense (and this is not an insult) is that you're not really into sharpening. I'm not either, but I like sharp knives. You could send your knives off to one of the pros on the forum and have a perfect 15 dps edge set on them. After that, use something like the Sharpmaker to maintain the edge with a 20 dps micro-bevel, as Sodak explains in his sticky. The micro-bevel is fast and easy.
 
Comeuppance said:
... Because it took so damned long to do anything. Too finicky. Too tedious. Yeah, I could get a knife to a degree of sharpness where I didn't want to move it too quickly in case I split an atom, but I didn't even want to -use- the knives because of how freaking long it took to set up. Where exactly did I clamp it? What angle was that again? Whoops! Scratched the finish in the clamp. Oh well, I'll just spend forty-five minutes to an hour sharpening this knife, looking like I'm pedaling a tiny bike with my hands, or doing an impression of the world's least enthusiastic rock'm-sock'm robot.

So, what should I be looking at? I've been looking at the Work Sharp. I know it's just a belt grinder with an angle guide, but that's okay! I don't have a workshop, as I live in an apartment and will for the forseeable future. I need something that isn't incredibly time-consuming and tedious, but gives me more control than one of those god-forsaken pull-through sharpeners that I abandoned years ago.
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bucketstove said:
Why not freehand on a stone? Its pretty quick .... how to sharpen a knife - Joe Calton
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I second the freehand recommendation. If speed is an issue, you can work toward speed after you've acquired a good grasp of the fundamentals. Its quiet, gives complete control over the process, you own the results. What you learn can be taken and used under improvised conditions if needed.
 
Twindog said:
No manual sharpening system -- guided or freehand -- is going to be faster than the Wicked Edge and its bevy of diamond stones. The new Gen III clamp (which has a number of problems) is about as fast as you can get to set up your edge for quick sharpening. You apparently didn't use the positioning guide on your WE or keep notes so that you could position any of your knives exactly as they were before. So it sounds like you want a power system that can be used in an apartment and that doesn't require any setup time.

The WorkSharp will work just fine, but your edges won't be as good as you get off the Wicked Edge. It will be fast.

My sense (and this is not an insult) is that you're not really into sharpening. I'm not either, but I like sharp knives. You could send your knives off to one of the pros on the forum and have a perfect 15 dps edge set on them. After that, use something like the Sharpmaker to maintain the edge with a 20 dps micro-bevel, as Sodak explains in his sticky. The micro-bevel is fast and easy.
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Nah, no matter how fast the clamp, the knife is still being physically clamped into a system and stones attached to arms.

By the time the knife is clamped an stones attached.

The WSKO has already set a bevel on the coarse belt.

Or on a xx DMT stone. A burr is formed on a dull knife.

Not even close.



The WE will never be as fast.

It's a precision sharpener. Its not made to be a speed demon its made to limit the variables to getting a sharp edge as well as produce the perfect apex.
 
DeadboxHero said:
Nah, no matter how fast the clamp, the knife is still being physically clamped into a system and stones attached to arms.

By the time the knife is clamped an stones attached.

The WSKO has already set a bevel on the coarse belt.

Or on a xx DMT stone. A burr is formed on a dull knife.

Not even close.



The WE will never be as fast.

It's a precision sharpener. Its not made to be a speed demon its made to limit the variables to getting a sharp edge as well as produce the perfect apex.
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You misread my quote. No manual system will be faster.
 
Twindog said:
No manual system will be faster.
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What's your definition of a manual system?

Is not a Sharpmaker or a stone a manual system?

Takes about 15 seconds to open my SM, insert the rods, and make the first pass.

Takes even less time to pull out a DMT stone and make the first stroke.

Probably takes longer than that to just consult your WE notes. ;)
 
TravisH said:
What's your definition of a manual system?

Is not a Sharpmaker or a stone a manual system?

Takes about 15 seconds to open my SM, insert the rods, and make the first pass.

Takes even less time to pull out a DMT stone and make the first stroke.

Probably takes longer than that to just consult your WE notes. ;)
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Sure, you can also flip over your coffee cup and make a quick pass. But you're over-lawyering the issue.

For a system to fully sharpen, including reprofiling, to create a high-quality edge, no manual system is going to be faster than a WE. It takes only a minute or so to clamp the blade in place. The stones slip over the rods in a few seconds. I reprofile my edges with a 50-grit diamond stone, followed by the full progression of diamond stones, on to ceramics and strops. What manual system reprofiles faster than a 50-grit diamond stone, especially when you can sharpen both sides of the edge without repositioning the blade through a full progression of stones?

I use the SharpMaker for micro-bevels, but not for reprofiling or full sharpening. If I need to take a dull edge to full sharpness, my SM is not going to even come close to the WE, either in terms of speed or the quality of the final edge. It will put a micro-bevel on a nearly sharp edge faster than a WE, but that's a specific case for one aspect of sharpening.

My point wasn't that you couldn't come up with some slap-dash way to create something approximating an edge faster than the WE, but if time is the reason that you're selling the Wicked Edge, you're not likely to find a faster manual system for the full spectrum of sharpening to create a high-quality edge.

For that reason, I'd suggest the OP look to a powered system. The WorkSharp will be faster and suitable for an apartment, but it won't give as high a quality edge that the WE can produce. But I gathered from the OP that he doesn't need a super sharp edge, just a good, sharp working edge.
 
I can freehand just fine, but the results are inconsistent (hand tremors) and not nearly as "crisp" as a flat machined edge.

The WEPS and other manual systems may provide better control and/or results, but the setup time makes them just annoying to use... Which makes me not want to use my knives, which means I never sharpen them. I just am not willing to spend 45min to touch up a knife because it's gone past the "stroppable" stage of edge wear.
 
Comeuppance said:
I can freehand just fine, but the results are inconsistent (hand tremors) and not nearly as "crisp" as a flat machined edge.

The WEPS and other manual systems may provide better control and/or results, but the setup time makes them just annoying to use... Which makes me not want to use my knives, which means I never sharpen them. I just am not willing to spend 45min to touch up a knife because it's gone past the "stroppable" stage of edge wear.
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I don't like the WE for quick touch-ups, either. Where it really shines is when you need to sharpen a dull knife or reprofile an edge and when you want a very high-quality, consistent edge.

Can you use the Sharpmaker for maintaining a micro-bevel? It usually only takes a few light passes, but you do have to make sure you remove the burr. Then you can strop for a more refined edge, if you want. You would still need a full sharpening system for major resharpenings and reprofiles. But for those situations, you can send you knife off to a pro and have it done right. Or use a power system like the WorkSharp.

You can maintain a very sharp micro-bevel on a Sharpmaker stone a lot longer than you can maintain a sharp edge with a strop.
 
The belt machine results in convex edges, if thats what your looking for. The ERU package is simpler, faster, flatter and cheaper. Takes no time to set up and the edges are precise as well as flat. There is no reason to spend hundreds on sharpening blades.

Fred
 
Really, 45 minutes to go from strop not working to a full clean edge. That IS painfully long.
 
Skimo said:
Really, 45 minutes to go from strop not working to a full clean edge. That IS painfully long.
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It doesn't take anywhere near that long. If the edge is only slightly dull, the WE diamond stones will raise a burr in just a minute or two.
 
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