Work Sharp Knife Sharpener

Mine started making this irritating screeching noise whenever I use it, like some parts got rusted over or something. Doesn't seem to happen when I take off the belt and run the motor by itself, so I've let it soak in WD-40 overnight to see if that smoothes it out.
 
Are you running it continously? It said in the directions (yes I read directions) to not run it more than 20 minutes without letting it cool down.
 
20mins@#%$ holy crap.. why would you be running it that long in the first place.. unless you are doing a hand full of knives, the work sharp should do one knife in under 5mins unless you keep 'effing up...

Noctis3880 - have you had it long? do you use it a lot? if so metal shavings will build up in this tiny tool and either begin to burn or just get in the way and muck it up.. if its new and not abused, its faulty and return it.. gl :)
 
I saw it in a Northern Tool Ad and ordered it. FOR ( 4 ) ME! it appears to do the job I want done, with out spending a lot of time useing the other sharpening systems I have. I am not going to shave with it, I just want a sharp blade with out frustration. 2 EACH HIS OWN!.
 
Okay so my Work Sharp arrived this morning and since that time I have put through about 10 different blades. I started with a few kitchen knives and was immediately impressed with how easy it was. A few passes on the 20 deg guard with the 220 and then 5 or so on the 6000 got them shaving, and I mean shaving sharp. I moved on to a cheapo CS Finn Bear that had chips in the blade from cutting food on granite counters. I ran it through on the 800 grit at 25 degrees. After about 10 passes the chips were gone and proceeded to the finer grits. It now shaves. I also sharpened some Opinels, Swamp Rats and a Scrapyard Wiener Dog as well as an AG Russell framlelock.

This thing does a great job at getting the blades hair popping sharp. Cutting paper is not even a challenge anymore. So far the only negative I can find is that you really do need a light touch and you must follow the edge shape or it will round your tip. This happened to me on the Finn Bear at 20 deg and I had to re-grind it back. No biggie. I had been getting very frustrated with my Spyderco Sharpmaker recently especially on my bussikin steels and some of the other "super-steels" that I own. I could get them sharp but not shaving sharp which is my litmus test. The Work Sharp achieved this in a few minutes with very minimal effort on my part. I did not run it continuously and I don't see why you would need to but I can't imagine that would be good for it. I know a lot of people don't use the guards but I actually found them useful and 25 deg on my pocket knives is good enough for me.

I was really on the fence about ordering this but after reading through this thread I am very glad I did. It works very well. Would I sharpen my Sebenza or Umnum on it? Yes, after practicing some more. I will still use my sharpmaker on somethings but the Work Sharp is so easy and fast I may feel differently later.
If you are considering this product I say get and try it. In my opinion it does a very good job of sharpening evenly and very quickly. If you want to whittle hairs into Christmas trees then maybe it's not for you but for the average knife collector/user like me I think it is excellent and worth them money.
 
sloth357 said:
20mins@#%$ holy crap.. why would you be running it that long in the first place.. unless you are doing a hand full of knives, the work sharp should do one knife in under 5mins unless you keep 'effing up...

Noctis3880 - have you had it long? do you use it a lot? if so metal shavings will build up in this tiny tool and either begin to burn or just get in the way and muck it up.. if its new and not abused, its faulty and return it.. gl :)
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If you were doing an axe or something with a really thick edge you may have to run it that long. I had an old BSA hatchet that took almost an hour to do, not counting the time letting the machine cool down. A butter knife HANDLE was sharper than that hatchet was. It was a total re-profile of an edge. Now it has a perfect 25 degree convex edge (I used the 25 degree guide) that will shave hair and slice free hanging printer paper. I could have used the old 1x30 and a 80 grit belt to do the bulk of the work, but I wanted to see if the Work Sharp was up to heavy work. It took a while but it turned out perfect. :thumbup:

I wouldn't use it like that all the time though.

I take the cover off of mine and tap it on the bench every so often to clean out the debris and dust.

Denniskelley, no worries, you have the right tool on the way. You will get a sharp blade without frustration, AND you'll definitely be able to shave with it, if you wanted. ;)
 
cramsey3006 said:
Are you running it continously? It said in the directions (yes I read directions) to not run it more than 20 minutes without letting it cool down.
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I read them too:thumbup:.

I generally give the tool time to cool down, though I might have run it a bit longer when I was sharpening my katana:eek:. Or it might have been when I was grinding out the massive chips in my coworker's machete. Though to be honest, it doesn't even take 20 minutes of continuous use to reprofile an S110V blade and mirror polish it as well.
sloth357 said:
20mins@#%$ holy crap.. why would you be running it that long in the first place.. unless you are doing a hand full of knives, the work sharp should do one knife in under 5mins unless you keep 'effing up...

Noctis3880 - have you had it long? do you use it a lot? if so metal shavings will build up in this tiny tool and either begin to burn or just get in the way and muck it up.. if its new and not abused, its faulty and return it.. gl :)
Click to expand...
I've had it for quite a while. It replaced my Edge Pro, DMT benchstones, and my Paper Wheels as my sharpener of choice:thumbup:.

Those metal shavings in particular are bothering me. I've noticed some brown/black patches on my belts after grinding the machete, and I suspect the shavings rust just as easily as the blade itself(which will turn brown before your very eyes if you get it wet). So I'm guessing those shavings could have gotten inside and got clogged up with rust.

In any case, the annoying screeching(probably drove my neighbor nuts:thumbup:) stopped after I sprayed the driving wheel directly with WD-40(unplugged of course). The other two wheels weren't the issue, though the WD-40 made the spring smoother to depress. I let it sit for a little bit, blasted it with a can of air, and wiped it down. Runs a lot quieter now:thumbup:.

I think WD-40 deserves its reputation as a cure-all for all things mechanical. Just need to be careful of the fire hazard.
 
If it needs to move and doesn't, use WD40.

If it moves and isn't supposed to, use duct tape.

These two things can cure 95% of the mechanical problems in the world. LOL.
 
Just ordered a Work Sharp and some extra belts, now finally all those Cold Steel Machetes will have a nice edge, I am thinking about getting an Estwing Ax now that I can sharpen it
 
I'm probably going to order one, but what are the disadvantages to a convex edge?

I know a few guys have sharpened high end knives with theirs, but how many of you are comfortable sharpening $300-400 knives with this system?
 
espnazi said:
I'm probably going to order one, but what are the disadvantages to a convex edge?

I know a few guys have sharpened high end knives with theirs, but how many of you are comfortable sharpening $300-400 knives with this system?
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I suppose one disadvantage to a convex edge is because the belt curves, the actual angle of the very edge may be more obtuse than what you're aiming for.

As for comfort, I had no hesitation in sharpening my Sebenza, XM-18, Lionsteel SR-1, Galyean Pro Turbulence, Umnumzaan, Phil Wilson South Fork, and R.J. Martin Overkill with it. All of them are around or above $400 each.
 
Thanks, I'll probably order one tonight and order some MX belts.

It's also reassuring that you sharpened such high end knives with it. I just didn't want to purchase it and be afraid to use it on some of my customs or higher end production knives.
 
Well, I'd recommend practicing on a few cheap knives first(folders and fixed) to get the gist of it down. It wouldn't be too hard to forget about them thumb studs and end up grinding them down. But personally, I always keep in mind the possibility of messing up a high dollar folder. But that risk is there with virtually any system you choose. Still, I use my expensive knives:thumbup:. If I didn't, I might as well buy gold with my money.
 
Yup I will certainly work my way up.

Do you angle the blade(as recommended by WS) to not grind the thumb studs?
 
I bought one of these about two months ago and have been really happy with it....however, I have just been keeping it in the box it came in.....has anyone come across a container to store the unit in?
 
I'm late to this party, but just bought a Work Sharp and am beginning to play with it. So far, so good.

I know that a group buy of a pretty large variety of Micro-Mesh belts was done some time back in this thread. I am going to buy a few, and am hoping someone can give me some "based on experience" updates on the additional belts:

1) Which 2-3-4 additional belts do you use most?

2) What is the equivalency between all the grit grading systems for the various 1/2 x 12" belts? The two coarser stock belts (P80 & P220) are "P"s, awhile the finer (6000) has no letter. The Micro-Mesh belts are either "regular", "AO", or "MX". I am royally confused on how these compare for purposes of getting a decent grit progression.

Thanks for any help.

Andrew
 
AFAustin said:
I'm late to this party, but just bought a Work Sharp and am beginning to play with it. So far, so good.

I know that a group buy of a pretty large variety of Micro-Mesh belts was done some time back in this thread. I am going to buy a few, and am hoping someone can give me some "based on experience" updates on the additional belts:

1) Which 2-3-4 additional belts do you use most?

2) What is the equivalency between all the grit grading systems for the various 1/2 x 12" belts? The two coarser stock belts (P80 & P220) are "P"s, awhile the finer (6000) has no letter. The Micro-Mesh belts are either "regular", "AO", or "MX". I am royally confused on how these compare for purposes of getting a decent grit progression.

Thanks for any help.

Andrew
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1) I bought almost every belt in between 60MX and 1200MX, and the regular 12000 AO belt on top of that. However, if you're only after a sharp edge and not a mirror polished edge, I believe you can make do with just the 60MX, 240MX, 320MX, and 12000 AO belts. That grit progression should leave you with a hair popping edge with no problem. I would recommend a minimum of 5 each due to the fact that some might come botched and separate within a week or so. Thus far I'm using my current set for 2 months with no issues.

2) Look at this chart for reference:
http://micro-surface.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=16

If you look at the P220 belt and its equivalent grit size and compare it to the 60MX, you'll notice that the included Work Sharp belts are more coarse than the coarsest grit micro-mesh belts. Thus why I recommend aftermarket belts to avoid eating up your blade whenever you want to raise a burr.

I'd also recommend a wood or felt block to remove the burr after the 320MX belt. For 600MX/6000AO and up the belts should no longer raise a burr, though they can still push the burr from side to side rather than taking it off.
 
Noctis3880 said:
1) I bought almost every belt in between 60MX and 1200MX, and the regular 12000 AO belt on top of that. However, if you're only after a sharp edge and not a mirror polished edge, I believe you can make do with just the 60MX, 240MX, 320MX, and 12000 AO belts. That grit progression should leave you with a hair popping edge with no problem. I would recommend a minimum of 5 each due to the fact that some might come botched and separate within a week or so. Thus far I'm using my current set for 2 months with no issues.

2) Look at this chart for reference:
http://micro-surface.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=16

If you look at the P220 belt and its equivalent grit size and compare it to the 60MX, you'll notice that the included Work Sharp belts are more coarse than the coarsest grit micro-mesh belts. Thus why I recommend aftermarket belts to avoid eating up your blade whenever you want to raise a burr.

I'd also recommend a wood or felt block to remove the burr after the 320MX belt. For 600MX/6000AO and up the belts should no longer raise a burr, though they can still push the burr from side to side rather than taking it off.
Click to expand...

Thank you, Noctis3880. That is very helpful.

The chart indicates that 60MX is equivalent to P240. Wouldn't that be very close to the included P220 belt?

Also, how does the 12000AO belt compare to the included 6000 belt?

Finally, I exchanged e-mails with the Micro-Mesh folks and asked if there was any way around the $12.50 shipping (cheapskate here). A nice lady replied that I would have better luck on shipping with one of their distributors. I cruised the websites of several of the distributors listed on the Micro-Mesh website, but had problems even locating the 1/2 x 12 belts. Has anyone found a better/cheaper vendor for these belts?

Thanks again.

Andrew
 
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