Work Sharp Ken Onion edition is FREAKIN' AWESOME! Long Post

I like having variable speed, wider belts, and more grit options. Who doesn't want the latest and greatest tool. BUT already having the original WS that was purchased for around $70, I cannot justify spending double. I have a wide assortment of MX belts from Micro surface (bought a lot to justify shipping charges), and even though the 1/2 inch belts work on the new Onion I just can't let my self upgrade any time soon.
I have been free handing on the WS almost since it was new as I didn't like how it scratched my blades. Almost every knife I own has about as 35 degree angle. Just keep the blade straight vertical and pull slowly.
The Worksharp Is an awesome tool for sharpening and I have even used it to polish scratches out of an old case pocket knife. I'm sure that the new Ken Onion is even better that the original and easier to use, SO until I kill my original, it stays on the bench with a 1200 Micro Mesh MX loaded up.

One question I did have for anybody using the KO edition. The Edge Guide, Is it useful for large knives. Some times with long blades I get "off" near the tip due to over leveraging the blade. Does the guide help. It looks like it will...

Thanks Medic for the great review, and Ken for stopping in.
As a final note, I just noticed that their will be a "Blade grinding attachment" coming soon! Now the temptation is getting serious.
 
cschol said:
I have even used it to polish scratches out of an old case pocket knife.

One question I did have for anybody using the KO edition. The Edge Guide, Is it useful for large knives. Some times with long blades I get "off" near the tip due to over leveraging the blade. Does the guide help. It looks like it will...
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cschol, I did a mini-review of the KO and mentioned that I have found the Edge Guide useful for long kitchen knives: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...rp-Knife-amp-Tool-Sharpener-Ken-Onion-Edition

I was interested to read that you had used your original WSKTS for polishing out blade scratches. I'd like to know your technique as that is something I have thought about but haven't really done much.

Andrew
 
I have been on the fence since the original WS came out. When I saw the KO edition I added it to my wish list. I still have not gotten one, but was really pleased to get on here and read the favorable reviews.

I suck at sharpening knives JTBH! I purchased a sharpmaker a few years ago and have had good results at keeping my edc knives sharp with it. I still cannot make a dull knife into a sharp one! I even bought the diamond rods, still no help. I can keep an edge fresh, but cannot make a dull one sharp. Maybe it is a patience issue. If I spend an hour trying to sharpen something with no luck I usually throw in the towel. I have knives that I have made many return trips, sometimes 8 hours total, and still not sharp, though.

I cant wait to lay hands on one of these, after reading all of the comments!
 
AFAustin said:
I was interested to read that you had used your original WSKTS for polishing out blade scratches. I'd like to know your technique as that is something I have thought about but haven't really done much.

Andrew
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It was by mistake really.
I have been freehand sharpening with my WS for a little while. Was working on an old case carbon steel blade that looked like it had been "sharpened" on a cinder block to about 10 degrees. I started with the 220 belt and progressed up to the 6000. You can imagine how long the bevel was. almost like a convexed scandi kind of thing. I had loaded an old 6000 belt with some white rouge as a power strop (worked pretty well too) so I just kept laying the blade against the belt and increased pressure. There was a little rounding of the spine that a sanding block took care of quickly. I had to play with where on the belt I held the blade and used the different tensions to cover the majority of the blade side. I got carried away though. Once it was all polished and scotchbrite'd back to satin, I felt bad for removing years of patina.
 
I got it today and worked over some Junkers to get the feel of it then graduated to some of my good ones. I'm impressed beyond words. A few minutes each and they were all shaving easily, except the Outdoor Edge Kodi Skinner, which I finally got to just barely shaving after half an hour. I've got some of their other AUS 8 blades that are easy to sharpen so I'll chalk that up to brittle steel or my lack ok skill, not the Work Sharp
 
cschol, thanks for the reply on blade polishing. I need to get a scratched up cheapo and experiment more with that.

Andrew
 
AFAustin said:
That is great news. The Micro-Surface folks are always nice and helpful and have top notch products. I just wish they would offer a cheaper shipping option than the $12.50 minimum. A few lightweight belts in a padded envelope sent USPS 1st Class for $3 or $4 would be just the ticket.

Andrew
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Yup, that's a heavy shipping hit for a few dollars worth of belts. I've been trying to figure out which belts are equivalent to the stock belts and I'm not having much luck. Does anyone know?
 
I think you want to look at the "MX" belts for knife work. Shipping is a way of life.:grumpy: Some companies use their shipping departments as a separate profit center. The end user just has to deal with it, or do without.
(said by a retired over the road trucker.)

Blessings,

Omar
 
OHALLUM said:
I think you want to look at the "MX" belts for knife work. Shipping is a way of life.:grumpy: Some companies use their shipping departments as a separate profit center. The end user just has to deal with it, or do without.
(said by a retired over the road trucker.)

Blessings,

Omar
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I hear you, Omar. It might be worthwhile to get a group buy together for this if there's strong enough interest.
 
Looks like she followed through with my request. She said she could possibly add 12 x 3/4 in a week or so. As for the shipping, yeah it's not great if you're only wanting a couple belts. I had already planned on buying at least ten of each grit, so the shipping isn't as bad when factored over each individual belt.

Well I just checked the site, and it seems the price is still $.90 per belt, which is the price she quoted me as a custom size. I'm pretty sure she said the price would be less if it was a standard size. Oh well, at least this way they'll have that size in stock and ready to ship. For a custom size, you'd have to wait at least ten days for the belts to be cut and glued, and would be required to order a minimum number of 8 belts per size.
 
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wvriverats said:
I have been on the fence since the original WS came out. When I saw the KO edition I added it to my wish list. I still have not gotten one, but was really pleased to get on here and read the favorable reviews.

I suck at sharpening knives JTBH! I purchased a sharpmaker a few years ago and have had good results at keeping my edc knives sharp with it. I still cannot make a dull knife into a sharp one! I even bought the diamond rods, still no help. I can keep an edge fresh, but cannot make a dull one sharp. Maybe it is a patience issue. If I spend an hour trying to sharpen something with no luck I usually throw in the towel. I have knives that I have made many return trips, sometimes 8 hours total, and still not sharp, though.
Click to expand...

This has been my experience exactly with the Sharpmaker. I've gotten much better at it but still can not take a super dull knife and make it sharp. I've been reading as much as I can about this new Worksharp and I'm just about sold on it. I've been looking at the Edge Pro as well and just kind of torn. I think this new Worksharp and a couple strops might be the way to go though.
 
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Medic1210 said:
Here's their conversion chart. The MX are the ones you would want for knife sharpening. http://micro-surface.com/images/products/inst_91CONVERSION CHART.pdf
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EDIT: See Medic1210's post #38 for more accurate info

I was just looking at that. Does this look about right to you?

WorkSharp X65 (P220) counterpart to Micro-Mesh 60MX
WorkSharp X22 (P1000) counterpart to Micro-Mesh 240MX
WorkSharp X4 (P3000) counterpart falls between the Micro-Mesh 400MX (coarser) and the 600MX (finer)

It doesn't appear that Micro-Mesh has direct or even close counterparts to the WorkSharp P120 and 6000.

Edited to add: I took the WS grit info from the manual: "• For reference, belts are equivalent to: X65 (P220) | X22 (P1000) | X4 (P3000)"
 
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jkulysses said:
This has been my experience exactly with the sharpmaker. I've gotten much better at it but still can not take a super dull knife and make it sharp. I've been reading as much as I can about this new Sharpmaker and I'm just about sold on it. I've been looking at the Edge Pro as well and just kind of torn. I think this new sharpmaker and a couple strops might be the way to go though.
Click to expand...

Just for the sake of clarity, are you referring to this new Work Sharp or is there a new Sharpmaker out as well?
 
They may have decided that it is no longer a custom size. I put in an order today and only ordered more than 8 in two grits. The order went through and received confirmation email. Check the web site, the 3/4X12 are right in there with other sizes and not denoted as custom.

Got my KO edition late Sep and have not done any heavy duty sharpening, mostly using the finer grits to touch up pocket and kitchen knives. I am still waiting for that big river in Brazil to ship my 3/4X12" belts. The sharpener has worked very well, only hit the strops and steel a couple of licks each knife.

OT
 
sinnyc said:
I was just looking at that. Does this look about right to you?

WorkSharp X65 (P220) counterpart to Micro-Mesh 60MX
WorkSharp X22 (P1000) counterpart to Micro-Mesh 240MX
WorkSharp X4 (P3000) counterpart falls between the Micro-Mesh 400MX (coarser) and the 600MX (finer)

It doesn't appear that Micro-Mesh has direct or even close counterparts to the WorkSharp P120 and 6000.

Edited to add: I took the WS grit info from the manual: "• For reference, belts are equivalent to: X65 (P220) | X22 (P1000) | X4 (P3000)"
Click to expand...

The firs two are right, but the X4 is a 4 micron belt, which is what the 800MX belt is. The 6000 grit is a 2 micron belt, which is finer than any MX belt. The closest they have is the 1200MX which is 3 micron.

Really, the main benefit with the MX belts is they have more "in-between" grits. With the standard belts, you go from 120 to 200, to 475 grit, which isn't too bad, but then you jump from the 475 grit all the way to 3000 grit. To me, that is putting too much work on the 3000 grit by making it remove a 475 grit scratch pattern. This is where the 320MX and 600MX belts would help. They would take you from 475 grit to about 900 grit and then to 1500 grit before moving down to the 3000 and 6000. Best I can figure, from roughest to finest, the belts are as follows.

WS belt Extra Coarse is 80-100 grit, P120, 125 micron

WS belt x65 is 200 grit, P220, 65 micron

MS belt 240MX is about 450 grit, P800, 25 micron

WS belt x22 is 475 grit, P900, 22 micron

MS belt 320 MX is 850-900 grit, around P1750, and 11 or 12 micron

MS belt 360 MX is 950-975 grit, P2000, 10 micron

MS belt 400 MX is 1100 grit, P2500, 9 micron

MS belt 600 MX is 1500 grit, P2750, 5 micron

MS belt 800 MX and WS belt x4 are both 3000 grit, 4 micron

MS belt 1200 MX is maybe 4500 grit, 3 micron

WS purple tape is 6000 grit, 2 micron
 
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