I've been a knife nut since I was a kid, but was never able to get a decent edge on anything with my 2-sided oilstone.
At the end of 2010, I decided to get serious. I picked up 4 japanese waterstones, followed all directions, and spent hour upon hour practicing my sharpening technique. I got a decent (shaving) edge on two pocket knives and a pairing blade. Most of the rest were anywhere from slightly better to slightly worse than when I began.
Then I learned about convex edges, and the sandpaper-on-mousepad method.
I had better luck - with enough time and effort, I could get any "standard" steel blade under ~ 6" to split hair, on at least part of the edge. But it took so long, I only put that kind of effort into a couple. Also, I know I still have trouble measuring and maintaining a proper, and consistent, edge angle. My chef's knives, and D2 and S30V blades, still were not satisfactory - with enough work, I could slice paper, but that's about as far as I could get them. And I spent over 3 hours, over the course of 3 months, on my BM940.
I was trying to decide between an Apex (too complicated), WickedEdge (too expensive), and Spyderco (too long to re-profile), and figuring how to get it past the wife, and where to store it.
About a month ago, I walked into a local sporting good store, and their knife salesman was showing one of these to a customer, saying how it uses a "new" technique to put a "special" edge on "any blade." I asked if there was anything tighter than 50 deg inclusive, and he said "no, but you don't need it." I thought it was a bunch of hooey, and walked away.
Still, something was stirring in the back of my mind.
I decided to do some online searching, and found mostly positive reviews, with a few caveats about the wide spread of grits, the limited angles, and wearing down tips. I also discovered that it comes with the 20 deg (40 inclusive) "kitchen" guide.
So, I sauntered back in there with my 940. The guy made to passes on the 220, when I asked if I could do it. I did one more on 220, and 4 (per side) on the 6000. Using the 25 degree outdoor guide. When I was done, the thing shaved my arm hair easily!
A week later, I bought the Work Sharp.
Since then, I've sharpened all of my cheap knives, and most of my EDC blades. Understand, most of these have previously been worked pretty hard on the sandpaper (220, 400, 800, 1500, 2500) over mousepad, and stropped on leather - but none were satisfactory cutters. I tested them on paper first. If they would tear it, I only used the 6000. If the bent and folded it, I profiled them with 2-5 passes on 220 first.
My two pairing knives and one folder with slightly bent tips know have REALLY honked up tips. The rest came out just fine.
Every single one of them will shave arm hair, and slice through newsprint and copier paper with ease. Some will push-cut the newsprint. My tomato slices have never been thinner. My dad and my wife have both commented on how sharp the knives are, and how easy it is to cut everything.
I still haven't done my Henckels chef's knives, my Bussekin, or my fancy-steel Spyderco. I'm awaiting some Micro-Mesh MX belts so I can get those just perfect. I'm hopeful that these, along with black, green, and no compound on some leather strops, will provide the gorgeous, push-cutting, print-reading polished convex edges I've seen people post on this site, but never created myself or seen in person.
Some observations:
I agree with what I saw above - like any sharpening, a light touch gives the best results.
I keep a tall bottle full of water for cooling between passes, especially during reprofiling.
Replacement WorkSharp belts are available at the store where I purchased the sharpener. Plus, the send an additional set when you send in the warranty card. So far, I managed to tear one 6000 (I think on one of those bent tips.) I'm still on my first 220, and the other 6000 is going strong.
I intend to maintain and improve my freehand skills, and still finish everything with a good stropping.
The questions I've posed to WorkSharp customer service have been answered promptly.
It runs very quietly for a belt grinder. Each time I turn it on, I'm still surprised it isn't louder. I had no problem carrying on a conversation with my 5 year old while it was running, and she did not plug her ears like she does for my router, skill saw, lawn mover, and vacuum.
I can't speak to the long-term durability of the unit, but it seems at least as well made as any of my other under $100 corded power tools.
Bearing in mind that I am a conscientious novice, and by no means an expert free-hand sharpener, and I have no experience with a table-sized belt sander, I could not be happier with the product or the service delivered by this Work Sharp Knife and Tool Sharpener. Highly recommended.
To give you an idea of the noise level this (doesn't) generate, I ran a quick, very loosely controlled, unscientific comparison in my 1-car garage / man-cave.
I placed my Radio Shack analog SPL meter, set to A-Weighting, roughly a meter from each device, and took a reading on the "slow" setting:
Craftsman 2 1/3hp 6.5" circular saw: 104dB,
Makita 5A 2800rpm 1/2" power drill: 94dB,
Makita 12V 1150rpm cordless drill: 86dB,
Ridgid 4.25hp 12gal shop-vac: 85dB (sounded louder),
Work Sharp Knife and Tool Sharpener: 79dB.
All were placed on my workbench in roughly the same location, except for the shop-vac. I also moved the meter to a different location for the vacuum, which may explain the discrepancy in perceived and measured values.
UnknownVT, sorry to hijack your very useful thread and review. I wanted to offer my own insights on the WSTKS, but thought they'd be rather useless without a little background.
Regards,
- Tom
ps - the Micro-Mesh belts just showed up! Hopefully I'll have something to add to this thread at the end of the weekend.
@UNIT - the ones I got were under a dollar each (plus highish shipping, of course.) They're 80MX, 150MX, 180MX, 360MX, 800MX, and 1200MX. Sadly, the numbers do not indicate an actual grit or abrasive size - but Micro-Mesh does have a conversion chart available online. I located it once through a Google search.
?
) because we have it as a power belt and although intermediate grits would be necessary for any hand honing - the power belt would - with enough passes be adequate even with just the ultra fine 6000 grit. Of course there is nothing wrong with getting some intermediate grits - but I am quite happy with just those three supplied belts and for knives that are not completely obtuse I can just use the P220 and 6000.
