Work Sharp Ken Onion Edition Video Review

T

TWANGnBANG

Joined
Apr 22, 2013
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I first learned about the original Work Sharp from this forum, and I was impressed with what members where saying about it and who some of those members were. Before I ordered one, I saw the Ken Onion edition advertised as "coming in October" from Cabela's, and I thought I'd wait for that to come out.

It's taken me a bit to learn how to use this best, but I'm now putting great edges on knives and other tools, and I can do this anywhere I can get power to do it. I'm not stuck using guides that attach to the knife itself that can't do rounded tips. I'm also not stuck to a bench grinder.

There are a lot of great sharpening methods out there, and I find the Ken Onion edition to be a great fit for my needs.

[video=youtube;h8Yl_Z-oRkU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8Yl_Z-oRkU[/video]
 
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Glad you find a good solution for you. My concern always though - are you sure you don't alter the heat treatment of you knife? It seems that any kind of powered sharpening tool will heat up the very apex high enough to change temper. That's why many knife makers hand sharpen as the last step. I wonder if the will ever be a test of edge retention of two identical knives, one sharpened on power tool, one by hand.
 
Thanks for the feedback! I actually spent about twice the time on this video as is typical for me because I wanted to make sure a ham handed guy like me could make it work before decided whether or not I would recommend it. I've been very happy with it, and like most guys with new toys, I am constantly sharpening things that probably don't need it just so I can use this tool. :)
 
So far everything I've seen sharpened on the Work Sharp reviews has been blades 3" and up. How does it do on small blades like say the little pen blade on a traditional style knife like the GEC Conductor or the coping blade on a Eureka Jack something like that?
 
jkulysses said:
So far everything I've seen sharpened on the Work Sharp reviews has been blades 3" and up. How does it do on small blades like say the little pen blade on a traditional style knife like the GEC Conductor or the coping blade on a Eureka Jack something like that?
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You'd have to remove the guide to sharpen smaller blades like that by freehanding it against the belt. WS made the guide removable for just such situations, and for very large blades like axes and machetes, too..
 
The short answer is that the WS does fine with small blades. sinnyc is right that you need to freehand them.

I did the pen blades on the knives below with the original WS and they came out nice and sharp. The KO Edition is even better for small blades because of the variable speed---it lets you take it nice and slow so you don't take off too much steel too fast.

Andrew

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Thank you both for your replies. I think you have just sealed the deal for me. I have been kind of lurking and reading/watching all the reviews I can on this new KO version and this has been kind of my one last little hang up as the majority of my blades are going to be under 3" traditional clip, sheeps foot and pen blades. It seems like several of the reviews I have read they actually prefer to sharpen freehand on their WS system any way especially since you can then sharpen both sides with the belt going away from the edge. I really want the Edge Pro with Shapton Glass stones but not really sure I want to fork out that kind of money right now.
 
I think you'll like the KO edition. I have noticed the convex edges (Work Sharp) last longer than the V-grinds from the stone-based systems.
Good sharpening,
Dave
 
Cool. Think it could be used for beginner knife making stock removal instead of a full belt sander? Or is it just for edge work?
 
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