Tell my I shouldn't buy a cheap guided sharpener

I just unboxed my new Xarilk GEN3 today! I haven't set it up or used it yet but I watched all the videos I could find, and just examining the construction it's shockingly well made for $85. It was kind of an impulse buy, bought it on a whim after reading a thread on Reddit. Strictly speaking I didn't have a huge need for it but it seems kind of neat. About a month ago I opened my new sharpening & laser engraving shop and while I do most of the knife sharpening on belts I do offer water stone sharpening for those that want it, mostly chefs with Japanese knives. It occurred to me that there was probably a market for doing super polished edges on safe queen and EDC folders so for a minimal outlay of cash I figured I'd give it a shot.
 
Rob Babcock said:
I just unboxed my new Xarilk GEN3 today! I haven't set it up or used it yet but I watched all the videos I could find, and just examining the construction it's shockingly well made for $85. It was kind of an impulse buy, bought it on a whim after reading a thread on Reddit. Strictly speaking I didn't have a huge need for it but it seems kind of neat. About a month ago I opened my new sharpening & laser engraving shop and while I do most of the knife sharpening on belts I do offer water stone sharpening for those that want it, mostly chefs with Japanese knives. It occurred to me that there was probably a market for doing super polished edges on safe queen and EDC folders so for a minimal outlay of cash I figured I'd give it a shot.
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Like to hear your thoughts when you get it set up.
 
One thing about all of these types of systems, is the backspace required for the rod/stone holder. I had just about finished up a Buck 119 last night when I knocked over a glass of water with the rod. Then I went to catch the glass and ran my forearm into the blade of the 119, got a little souvenir from that goof up.
 
cudgee said:
Like to hear your thoughts when you get it set up.
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I haven't used it yet but after setting it up I'm impressed! Before ordering it I watched many hours of videos and reviews. I was under the impression that I would have to go through every part and screw and adjust everything and make sure it's correct but it was pretty close to perfectly assembled out of the box. There is zero, zilch, NO play at all in the clamp arm! 😲😎🙌 Everything is amazingly smooth and precise especially considering this thing was $85. It's [apparently] a fairly close clone/copy of the TSProf Kadet. There's some element of...I dunno, IP is being perhaps abused here a bit but since Russia is an international pariah I don't suppose anyone will complain much. And China has a long tradition of copying Russian hardware. ;)

The 'stones' are diamond, and I was pleased that my machine shipped with the newer style on aluminum blanks instead of the older plastic ones. The plastic ones were bad about flexing but the aluminum ones are rigid and pretty comparable to those sold for Edge Pro. I was going through my stones and I have 60 of the 1x6 stones and at least a dozen 1x6 strops in leather, kangaroo, balsa wood and Nanocloth, so I'll have plenty of stuff to test out.

Tomorrow if I'm not too busy in the shop I'll do a mirror polish one on of my Spyderco knives with the Xarilk Gen3.
 
Rob Babcock said:
I haven't used it yet but after setting it up I'm impressed! Before ordering it I watched many hours of videos and reviews. I was under the impression that I would have to go through every part and screw and adjust everything and make sure it's correct but it was pretty close to perfectly assembled out of the box. There is zero, zilch, NO play at all in the clamp arm! 😲😎🙌 Everything is amazingly smooth and precise especially considering this thing was $85. It's [apparently] a fairly close clone/copy of the TSProf Kadet. There's some element of...I dunno, IP is being perhaps abused here a bit but since Russia is an international pariah I don't suppose anyone will complain much. And China has a long tradition of copying Russian hardware. ;)

The 'stones' are diamond, and I was pleased that my machine shipped with the newer style on aluminum blanks instead of the older plastic ones. The plastic ones were bad about flexing but the aluminum ones are rigid and pretty comparable to those sold for Edge Pro. I was going through my stones and I have 60 of the 1x6 stones and at least a dozen 1x6 strops in leather, kangaroo, balsa wood and Nanocloth, so I'll have plenty of stuff to test out.

Tomorrow if I'm not too busy in the shop I'll do a mirror polish one on of my Spyderco knives with the Xarilk Gen3.
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Thanks. For $85 sounds like great value.
 
donnord said:
I ended up going with the Xarilk GEN2. As I liked the clamp better. I got it today and a couple of things were messed up that some folks would be put off by. I was initially. The clamp for the jaw could not be operated because the threads were in the jaw for the tightening screw were full of powder coat. I was able to run the bolt from both sides and clean up the threads. The other issue was, angle adjustment would not work at all, as one of the arms was not connected at the bottom and it jammed the unit. I was able to take that arm off and put it back the way it should have been. But Heck I only paid 80 bucks for it.

So how does it work? Very well for the most part especially on my medium to large folders. When sharpening a smaller japanese paring knife that had a less than 15DPS edge I could not get the arm level as the post was as low as it could go. After some messing around I got it as close as I could and it came out fine. About the change in angle when changing sides, I did notice that and just compensated by releveling, not really a big deal. Also it was more pronounced on thicker blades. The effect was barely noticeable on a thin chefs knife and more pronounced on the Gerber Parabellum which has a thick blade. Not sure why that would be. The diamond stones that were supplied seem to cut well, although the provided 2000 seems coarser than an aftermarket 1500 that I bought, by quite a bit.

Overall:
QC needs help, but it was the last one in stock at $80.00 and deeply discounted.
Works well enough for me. Small knives are probably an issue, however I have not tried yet. On a 10" Chefs knife it is hard to keep a consistent angle from tip to ricasso, due to blade flex at the tip, I think. On the other knives not quite as long it definitely produces a keen edge, as it did on the chefs knife after supporting the tip with my fingers. Both me and the Wife are wearing band aids.
The unit was much smoother to operate once I cleaned the shaft and applied wax to it.
Price is good for what you get, but if you are not mechanically inclined the QC issues would be quite frustrating, I almost returned it until I took a breath and re-evaluated the situation.
6X1" stones are plentiful.
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I just ordered the Xarilk GEN2, found it for $66 on that Amazing Days sale. I don't expect it to work for everything I have but I want to give it a try on a few of them.
 
Boss1911 said:
I just ordered the Xarilk GEN2, found it for $66 on that Amazing Days sale. I don't expect it to work for everything I have but I want to give it a try on a few of them.
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The more I use it the better my edges get. You want a angle cube for sure to have consistency, and don't spend too much time on one side when reprofiling, alternate sides until you get a burr start to form on one side.
 
I have the WorkSharp KO Blade grind setup that I use on most of my larger knives. I also have the Spiderco Sharpmaker, several Norton India Stones a assortment of DMT bench Stones, etc...
For me they all have their place and work very well. What I'm missing is a somewhat precise system for a micro bevel or specific angle test. I have a cube already, that's how I figured out the lanskey was so out of spec.
If the system works I'm ok with spending some money on better stones but I'm not in a position or in need to buy of a $800+ guided system. I can always get better freehanding it on my Norton India Stones, it works for Mr. Fisk...
 
I think the Xarilk works fine once I figured it out. Here is the trick, do not try to match the factory edge angle; just pick one and start with a 180 grit diamond stone and work your way up. It takes less time and you get better results. 20 DPS works for alot of knives, I think 18 DPS works better.
 
The time you fiddle around with all the set up could be better spent learning how to free hand.
It will save you both time and money in the long run and you will probably never really develop as a freehand sharpener as long as you have a guided system.

Free yourself.
 
I have freehand sharpened since I was about 10 years old, my case slipjoint could easily slash a car tire in the 1970s. The guided systems have improved my sharpening now that I am elderly and my hands shake and it is harder to keep the wrist locked for that long.
 
Because then you’ll just want the next expensive one. You’ll end up buying at least 3+ more models before you finally buy your first nice sharpener. This is exactly what I did and it is a lot more expensive to go that route.

Just buy a TS Prof (what I settled with) or one of the several others in that price range first and be done with it.
 
adluginb said:
Because then you’ll just want the next expensive one. You’ll end up buying at least 3+ more models before you finally buy your first nice sharpener. This is exactly what I did and it is a lot more expensive to go that route.

Just buy a TS Prof (what I settled with) or one of the several others in that price range first and be done with it.
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Believe what he says…. It is true for most of us. It is a progression. I have a few different systems that adorn my shelves. Just wait, save for the one you want.
Then you only have quality systems setting on your shelves after you settle on your favorites… ;-)
 
"Buy once, cry once"
I normally agree with this but in this case I don't know if a guided sharpener is for me.
For most of my knives I run a convex grind or freehand the edge on a bench stone. Some of my favorite knives have complexed grinds that I have know idea how I would clamp them in to a guided sharpener.
I bought this one just to see what it could work on and see if I liked them for a few blades.
So for I find it has it's used but I'm glad I didn't spend $400+ on one.
 
adluginb said:
Because then you’ll just want the next expensive one. You’ll end up buying at least 3+ more models before you finally buy your first nice sharpener. This is exactly what I did and it is a lot more expensive to go that route.

Just buy a TS Prof (what I settled with) or one of the several others in that price range first and be done with it.
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yeah this is the truth. I spent nearly $200 on adding things to a $50 Lansky sharpener just to end up with selling the whole thing for like $70; replaced it with a KME sharpening system.
 
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