What sharpener to buy

[The Burgh]

Seeing alot of good comments here and learning quite a bit along the way.

The perspectives of each of the sharpeners so far seem to be: Hand-crafter, good enough, on a budget, found what's right for me, want a mirror finish, learning one step at a time, only the finest equipment, etc..

Three I haven't seen so far: 1.) I have a large collection, so I......................, 2.) I use allof my knives hard, so I ..................., and 3.) I only have a few knives, so I ..........................

I am not mocking any of the above - in fact, I am thrilled with the diversity. As I wrote, I am learning (and, hopefullt, always will).

Just seems to me that this forum, this hobby, is a tremendous way to not only look at knives, but also to look at perspectives on knives.

I love this place!!!

 

[seedman]

Just wanted to say that getting a mirror edge is not that difficult. You just need some extra/ultra fine stones and a decent strop.

 

[Panotaker]

I use a KME with the diamond stones and it puts a scary sharp edge on my knives. I finish them off by hand stropping to get that mirror edge. The KME is super easy to use, it's about half the price of the other system, and works fantastic.

 

[Rich S]

Take a look at the Smith's Ceramic (1000 grit) stone. Great inexpensive stone ( circa $5) for general work. I bought two of them - work great.
LLAP
Rich

 

[HeavyHanded]

Seeing alot of good comments here and learning quite a bit along the way.

The perspectives of each of the sharpeners so far seem to be: Hand-crafter, good enough, on a budget, found what's right for me, want a mirror finish, learning one step at a time, only the finest equipment, etc..

Three I haven't seen so far: 1.) I have a large collection, so I......................, 2.) I use allof my knives hard, so I ..................., and 3.) I only have a few knives, so I ..........................

I am not mocking any of the above - in fact, I am thrilled with the diversity. As I wrote, I am learning (and, hopefullt, always will).

Just seems to me that this forum, this hobby, is a tremendous way to not only look at knives, but also to look at perspectives on knives.

I love this place!!!

If the OPs initial question were more open ended, those three perspectives would have been answered by now too

Personally I can see the draw of the guided systems, the speed of the grinding belt systems. I far prefer freehand only because I do have a lot of edge tools I use and don't want to fuss with a variety of gear to accommodate each one, or whatever edge type I need for a given tool/job - all can be done on a stone or facsimile of one. I also refuse to believe I cannot rival what my predecessors could do in terms of tool edges - though admittedly they were probably taught at an early age and most of us have to learn the hard way. Cutlery is also a lot cheaper to buy for practice these days, and most won't go hungry or have to carve their dinner with a sharp rock while they learn.

I use waterstones and jointer stones often, mostly because they tend to be quick, don't load up in ways that are cumbersome, and make an edge with qualities I appreciate. All time favorite stone is the humble Norton Crystalon and a hard strop. Frequently I find myself just using my very own Washboard because its simple, effective, and consistent, and always on hand as I finish off pretty much every edge on a plain paper strop with it anyway.

For the OP, I really cannot comment between the EP and the WE, both seem to produce really strong results an I cannot imagine going wrong with either. Am not sure about the Work Sharp, there are a lot of belt grinders out there so would come down to price and how portable one needs their set-up to be.

 

[bflying]

I use a KME with the diamond stones and it puts a scary sharp edge on my knives. I finish them off by hand stropping to get that mirror edge. The KME is super easy to use, it's about half the price of the other system, and works fantastic.

Yup, this one. Have EP, but always seem to reach for the KME first now. Never used WE.

 

[wmzerby]

I managed the Woodcraft store here in Albuquerque for a while and started a sharpening service for hand tools there. Mostly traditional carving tools, knives, plane irons, drawknives and things like that. I typically used power tooling (read standard 8" grinder here) to set primary bevels. Then hand stones (read DMT Diasharp stones and Spyderco ceramic stones here). A quick polish on a cotton or muslin buff with .5um chromium oxide compound or a leather strop depending on how finicky the customer was (read dead flat or slightly convex micro-bevel) to finish them up. I would then advise the carvers to strop their chisels, gouges and knives after every 20-30 minutes of carving time. If they did I wouldn't see a tool back for many months up to a year or more depending on their bench discipline. For years (my head hurts when I count that high) I stropped with the Chrome oxide compound on leather. I have recently been playing around with diamond lapidary abrasives in a "makeup" grade of beef tallow as a carrier. For these kinds of tools its pretty easy to to freehand them. The grinder creates a small hollow grind that you can feel if you rock the stone. A few strokes starting with the 600 then 1200grit Diasharp, moving up to the fine and x-fine Spyderco produces a mirror edge that will push cut through end grain basswood like a hot knife through warm butter! Using this method you can sharpen a tool in a minute or two on a bad day! DMT makes credit card sized diamond plates. I sent a 3 piece set with my daughter who is now overseas doing 11 countries in 11 months in a 70liter backpack. I used to share a little trick I learned somewhere back in the early years (read from Grandpa here!) to put a coin under the back of your pocket knife blade on the stone to get the correct 1/2 angle. You can use anything under the back of the blade that gets you to the 1/2 angle of your desired finish angle. The trick free-handing locking locking your wrist and controlling your elbow. You can also lock wrist and shoulder and rock forward on you feet, lifting your elbow to get the belly of the blade. Regressing just a bit, a single 20 degree bevel on a .250" thick tool produces a hollow grind only 0.0167" (a fat 1/64th) deep, which disappears during honing.

ps. if you think this is a little tedious, you are in agreement with my darling bride as she thinks I am the king of anal-retentiveness! LOL

 

[RBid]

Seeing alot of good comments here and learning quite a bit along the way.

The perspectives of each of the sharpeners so far seem to be: Hand-crafter, good enough, on a budget, found what's right for me, want a mirror finish, learning one step at a time, only the finest equipment, etc..

Three I haven't seen so far: 1.) I have a large collection, so I......................, 2.) I use allof my knives hard, so I ..................., and 3.) I only have a few knives, so I ..........................

I am not mocking any of the above - in fact, I am thrilled with the diversity. As I wrote, I am learning (and, hopefullt, always will).

Just seems to me that this forum, this hobby, is a tremendous way to not only look at knives, but also to look at perspectives on knives.

I love this place!!!

I'll touch on my specific experiences.

I own 6 knives at the moment. 4 have seen frequent use over a good block of time, and I use a folder regularly at work on cardboard and plastic packaging.

My edge plan:
- stay on the factory edge until it's time to touch up.
- when it's time to touch up, 15 degrees per side with 18 degree micro bevel on the Edge Pro (I have 220, 400, 600, 1000 grit stones), finishing on the KSF hone. This takes edges to a pretty good polish.
- after that, touch up as needed with the Sharpmaker and KSF hone.
- buy knives within a range of steels that I find solid in terms of edge retention and ease of maintenance-- Elmax, S35VN, S30V, etc.

I always have well maintained edges to roll out with when I head to work.

 

[scubasteve1942]

JFK I find that Worksharp (I use mine with ken onion blade grinder attachment) wants to overly convex 'super steels" such as S-110v, S90v etc. Even with very light pressure the abrasive doesn't cut the steel too well and wants to flex around and eat away at the edge = too convex.

With VG-10, 154 etc it does just fine. Anyone have a similar experience?

I haven't tried to sharpen and super steels on mine yet, but have you tried moving the wheels to the shorter position to help with belt flex? You could also try the stiffer belts to see if that helps.

 

[heefageLA]

Ok fellas, I just ordered an Edge Pro Apex 4 along with the 1/2'' 220,400, and 600 grit stones for sharpening recurve blades.
I went this route because you don't have to clamp the knife down and I believe it will let me learn the correct angle better so someday I may be able to hand sharpen instead of relying on a guided system.

The only thing im a little peeved about is just spending $300+ on this system and Edge Pro still charging me $25 for shipping!
That's just crazy

 

[edlex]

This thread has been a great help to me since I find myself looking for my first sharpener as well. I actually pulled the trigger on a KME system after a lot of research. Seems to me it has all the simplicity of the EP along with the precision of WE. i know all systems have their pro's and con's but at a third of the price of a WE and half of the EP I couldn't resist it for my first venture into sharpening.