Which Should I Choose?

B

Bar99

Joined
Dec 20, 2015
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27
Looking at purchasing a sharpening system that will fit my needs. I have never had much success freehand. And there is much I do not know. I made a few knives in the past out of files that I would like to put a proper edge on. What do you call it? Re-profiling? Regrinding? So that is one use. Will want to sharpen kitchen knives, work knives, EDC, etc. Do have a couple blades of CPM-M4 steel... And maybe I will eventually be in a position to make a little extra money if I can become proficient in sharpening. Also, I should mention that I am retired on a fixed income so money is a consideration. Here is what I am looking at :

1. Ken Onion Worksharp System

2. KME Diamond Sharpening System

I am a novice at this so I would appreciate any and all feedbacks and comments. Thank you in advance.....
 
I would suggest a Lansky if you're really not great with freehand. They're cheap, but get the job done.

If you would like to get into freehand but don't want to spend a lot of money there is an option i don't see a lot of people here talk about but it is fairly common in the straight razor community - Lapping film (plastic coated abrasive sheets) on a marble or glass tile. When i first started, i just had a combo hone 4k8k norton and then i cut strips of paper to the size of the norton. A little water on the back and it "sticks" to the hone well enough. You really only need a piece of smooth tile. I essentially had a 1k,3k,8k,10k,16k for like $15? Each piece wears out after maybe 5 hone jobs. Then just cut another piece and go again. You can do the exact same thing with wet sandpapers.

Just a thought.
 
Bar99 said:
I made a few knives in the past out of files that I would like to put a proper edge on. What do you call it? Re-profiling? Regrinding?
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How did you grind the blades originally? Belt sander? Hand tools? How much grinding is left to be done? If we are just talking about taking a really dull edge and making it sharp, the WSKO can definitely do it. If this is an edge that's more like 1/16" wide (the actual cutting edge), then the WSKO can do that too, but it's going to take some time. I've reground edges on the WSKO from essentially "no edge" to a new one and it worked. Just took some extra time.

The WSKO can of course sharpen blades that are moderately dull much more quickly.

I have no experience with the KME, but I can say one thing for certain: Hand powered systems will be slower than a belt sander, even a rather small belt sander like the WSKO.

Brian.
 
bgentry said:
How did you grind the blades originally? Belt sander? Hand tools? How much grinding is left to be done? If we are just talking about taking a really dull edge and making it sharp, the WSKO can definitely do it. If this is an edge that's more like 1/16" wide (the actual cutting edge), then the WSKO can do that too, but it's going to take some time. I've reground edges on the WSKO from essentially "no edge" to a new one and it worked. Just took some extra time.

The WSKO can of course sharpen blades that are moderately dull much more quickly.

I have no experience with the KME, but I can say one thing for certain: Hand powered systems will be slower than a belt sander, even a rather small belt sander like the WSKO.

Brian.
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this was my question too. None of those systems you mentioned will grind a primary bevel. Sooo, to sharpen them youll either need a belt sander or a file and a lot of patience....and skill with a file of course.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I made several knives out of files using a belt sander. It was pretty crude but I did learn a little patience the first time I tried to drill a hole through a file. I knew NOTHING about steel and hardness at the time. I'm kind of leaning towards the Ken Onion Worksharp. Now I guess I need to learn the finer points about sharpening. Like bevels, andgles, etc....
 
People say Lansky's work and apparently some have success with them but it seems to me they have several problems:

1) The longer the knife the more the angle flattens at the tip. You can seriously screw up a long thick blade at the tip.

2) Some knives will rock in the clamps. It will be hard with these to clamp down the same way from one use to the next.

3) With many knives you won't be able to use the 17 degree hole because you'll hit the front thumb screw first. If you go buy a hardware screw with a flatter head, as Lanksy itself recommends, then you still will probably hit the aluminum clamp itself.

4) Finally there is repeatability from knife to knife. Which means you will have to take "knife notes", with the position written down for each knife: How far down the blade and how far into the clamp, and if there is movement, the angle you selected to place the blade.

I think there are lots of Lanskys collecting dust for these reasons.
 
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For the price of KME, better to get Edge Pro. You'll learn pretty quickly that hogging off metal with anything not attached to a motor will be slow going. Cheap belt grinder will probably do 90% of what you're looking for as far as price, ability to very quickly repair a damaged edge, and portability. You won't start with even bevels, but that can be said for anything.
 
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These are exactly the issues I ran into with the Lansky's sharpener.....

postoak said:
People say Lansky's work and apparently some have success with them but it seems to me they have several problems:

1) The longer the knife the more the angle flattens at the tip. You can seriously screw up a long thick blade at the tip.

2) Some knives will rock in the clamps. It will be hard with these to clamp down the same way from one use to the next.

3) With many knives you won't be able to use the 17 degree hole because you'll hit the front thumb screw first. If you go buy a hardware screw with a flatter head, as Lanksy itself recommends, then you still will probably hit the aluminum clamp itself.

4) Finally there is repeatability from knife to knife. Which means you will have to take "knife notes", with the position written down for each knife: How far down the blade and how far into the clamp, and if there is movement, the angle you selected to place the blade.

I think there are lots of Lanskys collecting dust for these reasons.
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That's why I went with the Ken Onion Worksharp. And it was cheaper than the KME as well. Thanks Skimo...

Skimo said:
For the price of KME, better to get Edge Pro. You'll learn pretty quickly that hogging off metal with anything not attached to a motor will be slow going. Cheap belt grinder will probably do 90% of what you're looking for as far as price, ability to very quickly repair a damaged edge, and portability. You won't start with even bevels, but that can be said for anything.
Click to expand...
 
The Edgepro addresses many of the problems that the Lansky system has because the blade isn't clamped, but some blades won't sit flat on the platform and Edgepro recommends making a custom shaped wooden platform for each one of these to make them sit flat and still (!). No way was I ever going to all that trouble.

But the biggest fault of the Edgepro is getting back to the exact same angle on repeat sharpenings of the same knife. It's easy to get somewhat close using a Sharpie, but exactly? -- no. The quick and easy way to use the Edgepro would be to have a separate one set up for each knife you sharpen! Of course, that is ridiculous.

The Sharpmaker combined with a powered system seems best to me at this stage in my sharpening "career".
 
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