Thinking about a guided sharpenig system

[Hickory n steel]

I've been fine freehand sharpening my traditional knives, but I found this Smith's system on clearance at the local hardware recently.

It has opened my eyes to the advantages of a guided system, but now I'd like something that's not so terrible.
To be able to correct the often uneven edge on Case knives or vintage Ebay finds would be great.

I don't know much about guided sharpening systems, but I have a few simple criteria that I hope can be met.

Under $100
Works with small slipjoint blades
Manual operation
User adjustable, no preset angles.

I would greatly appreciate any recommendations.

 

[Ajack60]

Lansky

 

[Hickory n steel]

Lansky

I looked on their website and all I'm seeing are models with a selection of preset angles to choose from.
I'm looking for something adjustable.

I don't wanna be taking off tons of steel when I get an uneven hand ground edge that doesn't match any of the preset angles on my sharpener.

 

[Old Biker]

You can get something like this, on the big river site. Search for fix angle knife sharpener. They start around $25 and go up. Throw the included stones away. They are junk. Buy some edge pro stones, or stones made to fit the edge pro. I use 140, 400, and 1000 grit diamond plates from CKTG. $20 each. I bought the edge pro small knife adapter. It didn't fit perfect, but was easy enough to make work. If I was doing it again I would make my own. I would like it to be a little thicker, and a little narrower. Here is a picture of it with the small knife adapter, set for one of your favorites, the Buck 305.

I prefer my Hapstone V8, But I can get a knife just as sharp with the cheap one. They both use the same stones.

O.B.

 

[Hickory n steel]

You can get something like this, on the big river site. Search for fix angle knife sharpener. They start around $25 and go up. Throw the included stones away. They are junk. Buy some edge pro stones, or stones made to fit the edge pro. I use 140, 400, and 1000 grit diamond plates from CKTG. $20 each. I bought the edge pro small knife adapter. It didn't fit perfect, but was easy enough to make work. If I was doing it again I would make my own. I would like it to be a little thicker, and a little narrower. Here is a picture of it with the small knife adapter, set for one of your favorites, the Buck 305.

I prefer my Hapstone V8, But I can get a knife just as sharp with the cheap one. They both use the same stones.

O.B.

That may be just the ticket, but I would like to find something that's not so close of an edge pro copy if possible.
And yes the 305 was exactly what I had in mind, as well the 703, and 33 pattern case.

I see another one that uses the same general idea of operation but doesn't seem to look like a direct copy of anything and it clamps to a table or counter , the only problem is that it clamps the blade in place which may not work for the 305 or others in the size range.

 

[Old Biker]

That may be just the ticket, but I would like to find something that's not so close of an edge pro copy if possible.
And yes the 305 was exactly what I had in mind, as well the 703, and 33 pattern case.

I see another one that uses the same general idea of operation but doesn't seem to look like a direct copy of anything and it clamps to a table or counter , the only problem is that it clamps the blade in place which may not work for the 305 or others in the size range.

Really small blades are a problem with clamps. I don't think the 305 blades could be clamped. You would end up grinding the clamp not the blade. The other problem with clamps is if everything isn't just perfect, you end up with different angles on each side of the blade.

Maybe you would like this one better.

O.B.

 

[kreisler]

my terrible one was the Exduct system 10yrs ago . it came with 4 diamond rods (which i still use for freehanding tools). terrible stuff .

lansky should be good for 100$ total.

ruixin pro III reminds you of edge pro copy for the extreme budgeteer who doht want to fork over 25$. i like it, decent quality. all metal construction. someone leviewed it on the forum, use board search. that someone also used Exduct before. and by now he does freehanding only. he's a good guy imho.

 

[cudgee]

The other problem with clamps is if everything isn't just perfect, you end up with different angles on each side of the blade.

You are correct. These are not precision made sharpeners engineered to enth degree. The clamps are a nightmare, even just fixing them to a different table with the table clamp can throw the angles out, or even just tightening the table clamp. These are not TSPROF or Hapstone, but things churned out at a rate of who knows how many per day.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Really small blades are a problem with clamps. I don't think the 305 blades could be clamped. You would end up grinding the clamp not the blade. The other problem with clamps is if everything isn't just perfect, you end up with different angles on each side of the blade.

Maybe you would like this one better.

O.B.

It looks kind theres a clamo but you can also leave that off and use it edge pro style.
That one would probably work.
I saw them on Ebay for $25 or so, for that price I should probably just try one out.

 

[kreisler]

It looks kind theres a clamo but you can also leave that off and use it edge pro style.

there are 2 clamos. the other one can be used to support the knife edge, if the blade is small and would otherwise wobble on the rounded (radiused) platform edge.

K kreisler , good point man! — yeah thanks i know!

 

[scottc3]

I recommend you save the extra 65 bucks so you can get an Edgepro, or KME with Pen knife clamp. Or keep an eye out for either used. Member 777 Edge is producing 3D printable optional clamp for Worksharp Precision Adjust, reporting = post here

This will likely allow sharpening angles down to about 13 degrees per side for a blade the size of a Victorinox main blade.

You could also get a Spyderco SharpMaker and a plastic protractor to raise and lower angles by shimming base.

 

[Alberta Ed]

I like a simple angle guide that clamps on the spine of the blade. I use an ancient Buck Honemaster when I need to re-profile an edge but there are others available. I believe Razor Edge Systems has a couple in large/small sizes but I haven't tried them.

 

[cudgee]

This is a combination of freehand and angle guided system. No clamps though, just an angle guide running on rods. I don't know if the photo will come through any good, but you will get the idea.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Anyone tried the work sharp precision adjust sharpener ?
I see its pretty affordable, and is not a knockoff of something else at least.

It looks like it could be okay if it will or could easily be hacked to work with my little slipjoints.
I'm betting it's mostly plastic, but I'm not sure if thats necessarily a problem.
I could see it being precise enough for me if it's not too cheaply made.

 

[scottc3]

factory reports in Q and A on big river, work sharp precision adjust sharpener does not work with very small knives, like OP's buck 301.

 

[scottc3]

Sorry Hickory, doing 3 things at once. I searched big river q and a for string "small", factory said "large blade on victorinox" is smallest they recommend, hoping 777 Edge's report works out.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Alright well that's a bummer, thanks for looking into it.