Work Sharp Ken Onion Edition Vs. Edge Pro Apex Vs. Wicked Edge

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xdiehardx

Joined
Feb 3, 2014
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I'm looking for a good knife sharpener and saw a few that caught my eye. Does anyone have any experience with the following and do you have a recommendation?

> Work Sharp Ken Onion Edition
> Edge Pro Apex
> Wicked Edge Precision Knife Sharpener

Thanks in advance!
 
I have owned them all but to determine which one is best for you depends on what your objectives are. How many knives to you intend to sharpen in a month or year? Do you want a mirror edge or just a sharp knife? Toothy edge or not? Willing to invest later on in the expensive super fine grits (5K, 10K, etc)? Do you want a very acute bevel (i.e. 10 degrees per side).

For me, Wicked edge will produce the best results with the least amount of talent and practice and unless you are a mirror chaser, the base model plus the 800/1000 diamonds are more than you will ever need. Keep in mind that you are getting two diamond stones (no mess) for each grit. You clamp the knife, record the way you placed it with measuring ruler, adjust angle and sharpen. No need to flip knife over (EP) to do each side using left hand to hold knife and then right hand to hold knife, etc. You will not have buyers remorse.

If you are looking at a more economical solution, you might want to consider a Harbor Freight 1X30 belt sander and add a surgi sharp angle attachment. There are lots of grit belts (and leather belt) available that are a lot less expensive than WS belts.
 
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What end result in knife sharpening are you looking for?

Do you want quick results? KO

Do you want perfect mirrored bevels? EP or WE

Both EP and WE are going to ask you to come to the party with ambidextrous hands, to some degree.

If you install a powerful magnet under the base of an EP, (or EP clone) you can pretty much do all tasks with a dominate hand.
 
I have to side with NRA on this one Work Sharp will be the one that gives you quick results but has heavy metal removal if your not careful. WE and EP will give you more precise results, which one between those two is down to what you want as it's not as easy of a decision as between them and the work sharp.

Truth be told the work sharp is the odd ball out of the 3 listed. Between the WE and EP it's down to personal preference and you can probably hear people go back and forth all day on which one is better and neither will be wrong in what their saying nor the results they get. It comes down to which will work for you and the one you prefer.
 
I would recommend watching every vid possible on youtube and see which one interests you. Nothing better than seeing them in action. Once you determine which one you prefer, then you have to decide which package to get (stones, accesories etc)
 
I've used them all in the last year. All have their downsides. It depends on what you want. If you just need a working edge and don't want to spend hours sharpening, which for most people's average use is a 400-600 grit edge the Apex and Wicked edge are overkill. a Lanksy/KME etc. and a sharpmaker will give pretty good results under $150. I think the Apex/Wicked Edge is like Canon/Nikon, users just naturally gravitate toward one or the other after they've tried them. If you want mirror polished razor sharp edges the Apex/Wicked edge are the way to go, but for me that high of a polish on a blade isn't ideal for my everyday cutting needs.

The Worksharp is fast, but I could never get super consistent results with folding knives especially with thicker blades, I could get a knife sharp, even shaving sharp, but never as sharp and as even an angle as with the Apex or Wicked edge. I like to use a sharpmaker for maintenance and even after a lot of test knives and tweaking my technique I could not get the same angles on both sides of the blade consistently (Ex. I'd set it at 18 degrees and end up with 16/20). However not much is faster for getting a knife to the point that a few strokes on a sharpmaker to a working edge that will be ideal for most use. Honestly I'd buy one just for kitchen knife use, you can do a whole herd of them in 30 minutes scary sharp. Have to be careful though even the mid grit belts take off a lot of metal, if you sharpened with one regularly you could probably chew through a blade pretty quick unless you stick to only the finest belts.

The Apex I could never use the way it's designed. I could never get consistent results using one hand to hold/move the knife on the table and the other to sharpen it, and then having to switch for the other side. Especially as you get near the tip on folding knives, there's just not enough flat to keep the blade at the same angle. I ended up using it with magnets and wedges to keep the knife in one place. Again it's great for big knives with large flats on the blade, but a lot of folders these days don't have any big flats. It's time consuming and messy, most folders I do if you keep the stones wet expect to tear the knife down and clean it, and you have to true the stones after awhile. If it had an option to clamp blades, and had diamond stone options it would be a more universal unit I think.

The Wicked edge is a very expensive lansky on steroids (that's not a bad thing), again the clamp has issues with some blades, and there are various fixes, the diamond stones are great, but it's frankly really expensive, if you want the extra stones and upgraded hardware it's $700, you can buy a Lanksy, Sharpmaker, Work Sharp KO, and loaded Apex and still not spend $700.

Both the wicked edge and apex work best on large blades with flats on them, if you watch the product videos they usually work with a nice big kitchen knife with little belly, or a full flat grind, or a knife with large flats to clamp/rest on.

In the end they all will get great results, and they all have issues. There's still no perfect setup for every knife out there, the smaller the blade and the less flat surface the harder time most sharpeners have.
 
Having had both the EP and WE and falling into the category mentioned above with having a low amount of talent, I find the WE to most easily line up the edges of a blade for touch ups and general sharpening. The progression to 1000 grit stones isall you need for extraordinary edges. Expensive, but worth it. If you get the WE first, you save yourself the expense of buying the others first and finally getting the WE later.:D
 
I own a wicked edge and a WSKO. They are both good, but very different. With the wicked edge I have to spend lots of time, sometimes a couple of hours, but can get amazing polished and perfectly even edges. As mentioned, it was quite an expensive set up as well. Worth every penny to me, but not for everyone.
On the other hand, the KOWS is very quick and quite a bit cheaper. You can find one for 140 shipped and get aftermarket belts from at least two companies that I know of. I can get sharp edges, but not quite even all the time. It is great for my "yard" knives and my wife's kitchen knives. It will also easily sharpen scissors and odd blades (lawn mower, ect) quickly and easily.
I own both and will keep both because they serve different purposes to me. It would be hard for me to choose one, but if you don't have any tools to sharpen and have the money then go for the wicked edge. You can always get the other one later and end up like me:)

Edit to add: where do you live? There is a chance that a member here is near you and willing to let you try out one or more of the systems. If you live near Houston you are welcome to send me an email!
 
You do not have to limit your choices to the three you mentioned. There are more choices.

KME

JET Wet Sharpener

SharpMaker



In asking the question, you asked, I found there was not one system that stood out a clear winner. So I purchased several, and also tinkered with making sharpeners by combining virtues and parts, from several of them.
 
I just got a worksharp KO last week, and have been using a sharpmaker and stones for a few years. I can't vouch for the WE, edge pro, KMW etc.. I can only speak to the worksharp KO. I would recommend it if you want fast and easy edges. As you know the edge is different from a WE, convex I understand, but I can say it works very well. If you do choose it, I will say two things: first the coarse belt takes off a lot of metal so stick to very low speeds and be patient. Also, as you sharpen, the belts leave dust on the guide. If you use the guide this can put small scuffs on the blade, even if you wipe it off, so I taped up my BM710 and got a great edge in about 15 minutes. I want a WE, but it wasn't in my budget. I also sharpened a hatchet and some kitchen knives very easily. Good luck in your search. I know for me, the worksharp is one tool, but there will be more..
 
I have to support the Worksharp. While it isn't capable of the same level of sharpness as the others, it give a realistically better edge (with a little tooth) and is much cheaper. With my standard Worksharp I can get an edge sharp enough to shave with after stropping, and there is no way a knife will need to he sharper. The Worksharp can also be used to do things like kitchen knives, pruning shears, and lawnmower blades... Clamp setups are know for being less precise for larger blades, and no bloody way I would clip a pruner or lawnmower blade into a WE or EP.
 
Have a wicked edge and use it for my spyderco pocket knives and my becker bk16. I think this is where it excels - rigid blades less than 6" in length with enough clamping surfaces for it to hold onto. Edges are perfectly consistent and scary sharp. I don't ever regret paying the price.

Got the KOWS this month for my fillet knives and machetes. Haven't played with it that much but it puts a working edge on quick. Fillet knives were especially annoying to use with regular stones or the WE simply because of their length and flexibility. So far the KOWS puts a decent edge on them very quickly and without hassle. I don't need a mirror finish on them for cleaning fish. What I do need is something to quickly sharpen all 6 fillet knives each and every weekend for 6-8 months out of the year. After re-profilling a 12" ontario machete I'm actually wanting a box of coarse grit belts for the rest of the machetes in the garage. Haven't been able to get a scary sharp edge yet with the KOWS but that could be my inexperience.

Moras, kitchen knives and keychain SAK's get sharpened on spyderco ceramic bench stones. I mainly sharpen the kitchen knives to keep practice with using a regular stone. It just seems wrong to use anything but bench stones on a scandi grind.

I haven't touched my spyderco sharp maker in a while. It'll maintain an already sharp edge but you can forget about anything else. It'll just take too long. Every once in a while I'll break it out to touch up a serrated knife.
 
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I had the EP but sold it off a long time ago, since I am not great with my left hand, I was never able to get "consistent enough" strokes... it was REALLY annoying... and the whole idea of picking the knife up and flipping it to do the other side never appealed to me..

Then i bought the WE and never looked back... it's everything i wanted and then some... you simply clamp the knife in.. measure with the ruler they provide... and choose ur angle... (i record these things along with what knife it is in a small book of mine, so the next time I'm touching the edge up I can easily look back and see what settings I need for that particular knife)... to touch up a knife a quick 5 minutes and from start to finish im done... for a mirror polished edge, i used wet-dry sandpaper and cut strips of them ... all the way up to 2500 grit.... then I tape them onto the paddles 1 by 1... and keep going up and up in grit until finally I have reached the 2500 mark... by then the edge has a mirror polish finish... and for a ton of that sandpaper it costs about $4 or so... I just ran out ... after maybe 1-2 years of using sandpaper from 1 purchase made a long time ago.. for $4!...

You don't "need" the more expensive paddles.. as one said earlier you can be out up to $6-700 on the whole set..

Get the wet/dry sandpaper .. cut them into strips and tapes them to ur paddles.. it works like a charm and u get about 2-3 knives done per strip of it...

however if you just dont care about mirror edge, then you could get the 800-1000 paddles from WE and you won't need anything more then that...

Hell, you only needa take ur kitchen knives up to 600... and you can take ur edc's up to 1000 ... and once u get a nice edge on ur knives you can easily touch them up in 5 minutes with it.... best of all the WE requires no mess.. not like the EP where you need to wet the stones.. the WE stones are used dry... much nicer IMO...
 
I never could sharpen a knife until I bought a sharpmaker. The trick to it is, never let it get shamefully dull. Wonderful sharpener! But, I still had a few high end knives that I actually thought I dulled on it using the same technique that I used to sharrpen many others. Then I purchased the WSKO, it is awesome! I was finally able to put a shaving sharp edge on my "problem" knives. You have to be careful with it until you figure it out though. I'm sure that there are better sharpeners out there, but none in my price range. I guess a lot of it depends on your definition of sharp. If it shaves with no effort it is good enough for what I intend to use my knives for. I also agree with a previous poster about watching some you-tube videos and seeing the process of these systems in action. It could limit your options, if you found something awkward about any of them in use. Good luck!
 
Dread said:
Thanks. The Work Sharp website doesn't mention this type grind
Click to expand...

It uses a belt that puts a convex grind on... the others listed in the thread create a flat grind. (You can use techniques to create or simulate a convex grind, but the WorkSharp is designed to convex sharpen).
 
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