The work sharp Ken onion edition

[Bobby3326]

I've been searching for an easy way to maintain my knives having never mastered free hand sharpening. I could get them "working"sharp but never hair popping sharp. After buying the Smith guided diamond sharpener I was able to make them arm hair shaving sharp, but the edge retention sucked. My bk2 would be dull and chipped after some light chopping and batoning.

Well those days are over, I picked up the work sharp Ken onion edition and I can't get over how easy it is to get a knife super sharp on this thing. I started on a few cheap knives and followed the directions and the results were outstanding. Once I felt comfortable I put my bk2 thru it, reprofiling the horrible uneven edge the Smith guided sharpener put on it and taking it to 25°. Again the results were outstanding and after taking it out and putting it thru hard use I still had a remarkably sharp edge.

Tonight I did my new Gerber strongarm, and fixed the horrible factory grind and reprofiled it to 25°. this knife took an incredibly sharp edge. It'll cleanly slice phone book paper, shave the hair on my arms and legs, but being bored I just really tested it's shaving edge. It's legitimately shaving sharp and cleanly shaved the hair on my face.

This is by far the fastest and easiest sharpening system I've ever used. Now I just need to get a leather strop and some compound to really take the edge over the top, and maintain it after a hard day's use.

 

[EyeDog]

Very nice. I use the Worksharp with the belt grinding attachment...does a lot things for me including some handle work.

 

[Czechmate]

The KO Worksharp is a sweet machine. I used mine last night to mod my tanto into a spanto; all done on the stock machine using the p120 belt:

 

[Bobby3326]

I've seen that attachment for it, was thinking about trying it once I start trying to free hand on the wskt-ko.

 

[Bobby3326]

The KO Worksharp is a sweet machine. I used mine last night to mod my tanto into a spanto; all done on the stock machine using the p120 belt:

Yea it definitely is, I would definitely recommend it to anyone who can't sharpen by hand well, or just wants a quick ridiculously sharp blade. Only thing I don't like is how the front edge guide you rest the blade on as you pull thru can get in the way at times with certain blade designs, when that happens you can easily mess up until you get use to it.
Also the main edge guides aren't stiff on the Ken onion and have some spring to em. That prevents you from holding pressure against the guide to keep a consistent angle, but I found if you set your angle them tighten those 2 screws like a quarter turn it keeps them from moving as much and you can apply light pressure to keep your angle right . Just loosen em back before changing the angle again.

Can't deny thou it puts a beautifully polished convex edge on a blade thou. My knives also cut way better and last much longer now that the work sharp put a convex on them. My only regret is not buying one sooner.

My bk2

 

[woodysone]

Nice edge on that BK Bobby. How much life do you get out of belts and where do you get replacements? Looks great, but if you don't get any life out of them.

 

[codycash]

Been using mine for a year know, even got a warranty replacement due to a loose connection. I've sharpened hundreds of knives now and am still using the first set of belts. Customer service was fabulous and I'm very impressed with its performance. I also use it for grinding projects and odd jobs and it does wonders!

 

[r8shell]

My freehand sharpening has improved quite a bit, but the WorkSharp is really handy when doing repairs and modifications.
Handy little belt sharpener turns this:

Into this:

 

[Bobby3326]

Nice edge on that BK Bobby. How much life do you get out of belts and where do you get replacements? Looks great, but if you don't get any life out of them.

I've only had it since last Friday, but I've been playing with it allot. So far I've reprofiled the 2 I've shown, and I started out with 4 cheap knives to practise on, then I've also done my lmf2, a buddies schf9 and 14, and his machete which took allot of time. After all that the belts are good as new still, and you can get replacements online or any retailer that sells the work sharp.

 

[vilePossum]

hmmm, i was recently contemplating on what to move on to from my lansky and sharpmaker... stones, diamond stones, paper wheel or this... as i don't have a place to set up a bench grinder i think you have me sold on the work sharp. thank you for your posts and pictures.

 

[Bobby3326]

hmmm, i was recently contemplating on what to move on to from my lansky and sharpmaker... stones, diamond stones, paper wheel or this... as i don't have a place to set up a bench grinder i think you have me sold on the work sharp. thank you for your posts and pictures.

You know I was on the fence about it to, I looked at it in the store, then went home watched tons of videos read many reviews. I was nervous about how people talked about being careful and rounding tips. After sharpening 4 cheapo pocket knives I was shocked at how easy it was. Very happy I bought it...

That being said gander mountain had it on sale as of Friday 129.99 which cabelas price matched.

 

[vilePossum]

Thank you for your feedback and answers. Well, the issue (as so often) is country of origin... It's hard to find it for that price in Germany. But I am eyeing a nice bay offer right now.

 

[Bobby3326]

Thank you for your feedback and answers. Well, the issue (as so often) is country of origin... It's hard to find it for that price in Germany. But I am eyeing a nice bay offer right now.

Can you order from Amazon in Germany? They also have it for $129.99.

 

[IUKE12]

I bought the KO edition primarily to maintain the kitchen knives, of which there are many. Breaking out and setting up the Edge Pro was time consuming. I have to say this thing is amazing. The adjustable belt speed sold me.

 

[Bobby3326]

I bought the KO edition primarily to maintain the kitchen knives, of which there are many. Breaking out and setting up the Edge Pro was time consuming. I have to say this thing is amazing. The adjustable belt speed sold me.

I haven't tried it out on any kitchen knives yet, thou I will eventually. I've only used it on my outdoor/hunting/edc. knives so far, but if it'll turn a 1/4" thick knife set to 25° into a razor I can only imagine how sharp it'll make the kitchen knives set to 15-17°.

 

[vilePossum]

i'm still looking to get that auction,as ordering from amazon in the states would drive the cost up and in germany it is expensive as ever-

 

[Bobby3326]

i'm still looking to get that auction,as ordering from amazon in the states would drive the cost up and in germany it is expensive as ever- [emoji14]

Damn...I never realised how difficult it is for people outside the US to order things from here at normal prices..here we find it, click it, buy it....regardless of country of origin.

 

[IUKE12]

I haven't tried it out on any kitchen knives yet, thou I will eventually. I've only used it on my outdoor/hunting/edc. knives so far, but if it'll turn a 1/4" thick knife set to 25° into a razor I can only imagine how sharp it'll make the kitchen knives set to 15-17°.

kitchen knives at 15-17, you're in for a treat

 

[edler9]

I've had one since Christmas. My knives have never been sharper with less work on my part.

kitchen knives at 15-17, you're in for a treat

Now if I could just get the wife to stop putting them in the dishwasher and then throwing them all together in a drawer. Fat chance on that...

 

[bgentry]

A couple of quick words on belt longevity:

I've used the original set of belts, plus my own mix of stiff precision belts and occasionally a 60 grit ceramic to sharpen a pretty sad collection of beaten and abused knives that were brought to me by various people. The majority of these blades had never been maintained in all their years of use and required major metal removal. By my rough count I've done around 180 to 190 blades like this so far, using these two sets of belts.

Both sets of belts are still going strong with the P120 having one little tiny spot missing grit. All belts *seem* to cut at original (or very close) speeds. I use a belt cleaning stick (looks like a giant eraser) every few blades on all the belts that need it. This only takes maybe 20 to 40 seconds per belt and keeps them nice and clean. I attribute the long life I'm getting from the belts, in part, to this cleaning process.

Brian.