What to get, KME or KOWS?

[Ulf Krogstad]

Well sick of free hand sharpening. Too hard to do with these super steels for me. Everytime I sharpen an edge it differs from day to day, knife to knife, and sick of it. Looking to get a sharpening system and the KME or Ken Onion Work sharp are what I'm looking at the most. Both are about the same price. If you have used one or preferably both would like to hear your opinions on them please. I'm thinking the KME would probably be more precise but the KOWS would probably make sharpening quicker but maybe not as in control of the edge your putting on. The stones for the KME I'm sure cost more to replace and the belts on the KOWS are cheaper but the stones on the KME will probably last longer. Also if theres a sharpening system under $150 that I've over looked would really like to hear about it. If you have knives that you have sharpened with either machine would like to see the edges you have on them.Thanks

 

[Spameater12003]

I have a KOWS with the Blade Grinder Attachment. I use both depending on need but could get by without the BGA. It is fast and once you set the edge touch ups are a breeze (I tend to strop so don't go back to KOWS until really dull). I love it. As with anything practice matters but now I can nail the tip every time and the sharpness is far beyond anything I could get with my Lansky guided stones.

My brother just got the KME and it is nice. Can't see it working well on large blades (no guided does great on these) and I have a lot of big knives so I like the KOWS for that reason also.

Maybe consider the edge you like. The KOWS will put a convex edge on all knives you sharpen with it. The KME, of course, will not.

 

[fvdk]

I think there is no simple answer to the question as there is no one size fits all sharpener but maybe a couple of questions and my experience from owning both will help.

What kind of sharpener are you, do you enjoy taking your time to get perfect edges or do you want fast results and is a working edge good enough?
What kind of knives do you sharpen most or do you want to use with the sharpener?
What kind of edges do you prefer?

I very much enjoy the sharpening process and like to have the best possible edges on all my knives from the smallest Victorinox classic to my biggest kitchen knives and therefor I have different sharpeners so for each knife I can use the one that gives the best result.

The Work Sharp can give good and fast results but it certainly has a lot of limitations as well and it is very easy to make a mistake and ruin your knife, get scratches on it or round the tip so if you choose this one than make sure to read the manual and practice on cheap knives first.
I use it mostly for larger work and kitchen knives for which I just require a good working edge and don't care a lot about cosmetics. Although with practice and care you can also achieve very nice looking edges, I will never use it for my better knives.

The KME is a very nice system and although it of course also has it's limitations, I use it for most of my pocket knives and also for my 6" Global kitchen knives. What I love about the system is that it is very flexible and that you can buy lots of accessories so you can adopt it to almost every type of need. Perhaps not important for everyone but something I valuate just as much is that KME is a small family owned business and their customer service is second to none even for foreign customers like me.

If you like the sharpening process and enjoy the satisfaction you get from achieving such perfect results than I would absolutely and without hesitation advise the KME.
Here is a picture of a knife I re-profiled this morning. I used the 300, 600 and 1500 grid diamond stones followed by the black Arkansas and the Kangaroo strop. It push cuts cigarette paper with ease and has a beautiful mirror finish.

[/url]RR228_KME_01 by Frans van de Kamp, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[Ulf Krogstad]

I sharpen folders more since use them more often but sharpen fixed plenty also. I would prefer a "perfect edge" but not completely nessessary for me. Like both convex and V on different knives. I have a Edge Pro Apex clone and the stones that came with it are terrible. Tried it again last night and the material falls of the stones when sharpening. Much better off just free handing then using them. I think I'll probably buy some genuine Edge Pro stones and use them for the cloned system and also buy the KOWS and see which works best. Thanks for your responses.