Work Sharp Knife Sharpener

cziv said:
You guys must be nuts or I'm missing something. Cost of motor, knife attachment and a full set of belts:

WORK SHARP 2000 $129.90 Remove $129.90
NEW! KNIFE SHARPENER REPLACEMENT BELT KIT $24.95 Remove $24.95
NEW! KNIFE SHARPENING SYSTEM - Attachment for WS2000 $42.95 Remove $42.95


Sub-Total: $197.80

Plus shipping. I'd get an Edge Pro Apex myself.
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I ordered mine starting with Sears.com They had a link to it. Mine cost 69.95 with free shipping. I paid for 2nd day air for an extra $14.
 
cziv said:
That's a lot better, still pricey though. :)
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Really? I was thinking that it seems to be quite well priced.

In this thread: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=772413 the system being discussed is 2 stones and 2 clamps costing $135.95. For the same money you could buy an awful lot of belts for the Work Sharp tool, especially if you only pay $0.52 per belt:
Ben B said:
There are a lot of 1/2 x 12" belts sold by Micro Mesh

http://micro-surface.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=272_7_228_262&products_id=91
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This is very tempting - I don't really have a lot of room to set up a 1" x 30" belt sander, but the Work Sharp sharpener looks small enough to use wherever. With the Micro Mesh belts available it shouldn't be too hard to convex some blades.

Question:
What are the power requirements?
In NZ we use 240V 50Hz, what does the Work Sharp need? 110V? How many Watts? A 150W inverter would not cost a fortune - would that cope easily enough?
 
Yeah, that razor's edge looks really - REALLY overpriced. This Work Sharp looks gadety to me because I've made the "break through" in learning to free hand and do a great job - so why spend whatever - on something I don't need?

It's like some TV infomercial thingamabob. I hope you guys that seem excited about it have great luck and mirror-like, razor sharp blades. :)

If I went from free hand sharpening, I'd go back to the SharpMaker. That's just my opinion and that's why they sell a lot of sharpenening gizmos, because we all think different equipment is cool I suppose.

Looking forward to knifenut10113's review on this, he doesn't pull many punches and I expect he'll give us the straight dope on this sharpener.
 
I'm thinking that my current touch up tool - a strop loaded with green compound - is fine for touch ups. This tool could be good for convexing the edge initially and for occasional repairs & re-convexing the edge. I'm thinking about light usage which would hopefully mean the tool would last for years.

I think I'll wait for the knifenut review before deciding though, I'm not in a huge hurry.

I have found a 110V inverter rated to 300W for $32 shipped - I would assume that would comfortably handle the power requirements of this tool.

The next trick is to find a seller that ships overseas for the WS Sharpener.
 
It might be neat for recurve users, like the poster in the other thread who mentioned using a belt sander to sharpen. If I had one of these, I might start buying up a bunch of that one company's designs. :D
 
I think we have to keep in mind from Work Sharp -The Dealer post # 17 said.
"This tool was intended for the sharpening challenged, not you guys who have mastered the skill already. There are countless ways to put an edge on a blade, this is ours."

For those who would like to get the convex edge started, this is a way to start the edge you want to achieve and then you can go to a higher degree of perfection by other methods. There are many members here who don't need a sharpener like this but there are also those who can benefit from it.
Will the sharpener stand up to years of use? I guess that depends on how often you use it. It's not a commercial sharpener.
I am glad that I was able to try it and have others who don't know where to begin to sharpen a knife use it. They don't have a clue to sharpening angles, grits, micron's or stropping pastes. For these folks it's just a way to get their knives and scissors sharp again. For those more talented in sharpening it's another method to sharpen your knives.
I also look forward to Knifenut's review since he is up their, in my opinion with a few others, who have many years in perfecting a edge.
 
rpttrsn said:
Will the sharpener stand up to years of use?
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The more I think about it the more I think that anyone that wears one out is probably ready to start freehanding on a 1x30 or 1x42 belt sander. Once you have worn out the smaller hobby tool it is time to move on up. Of course if it is 10+ years before you wear it out and you still want something small then OK you might decide to just buy a new one.

For those currently using belt sanders or paper wheels and getting great results - this probably isn't a tool you need. It probably wouldn't be my choice for sharpening scandi grind knives either. But to convex my Izula and BK-7 & BK-9 and a few others - this WS Sharpener might be just the ticket! I'm pretty sure that after finishing on a strop I will have a good end result.
 
Just an FYI... my local Woodcraft store had them in stock, so you might check there if you live by one and are interested.

I snagged one, and ran a couple of kitchen knives thru just based on the video I saw (didn't read the directions). It left a decent enough edge... it would shave arm hair and cleanly slice notebook paper. The fine belt appeared to deburr it pretty well. But I'd have to use it a bit more before having any meaningful review. Just thought I'd pass on where I found it.

cbw
 
Haven't had much time to use it since my last update, trying to finish up projects before vacation. When I get back though the reviewing will start.
 
I received mine in the mail today. Well-built.

A couple of tips as new people are checking these out. Try it with the angle guide to start with. But try it without the guide as well. Most people following a thread like this have experience holding angles. In the standard sharpening configuration, the belt is at about a 21 degree angle from vertical so if you hold a knife vertical (like you would on a Sharpmaker) and run it along the belt, you should be good. I used my iPhone to measure the angle. You can also prop up the rear feet where you hold onto it with something a little taller than a CD case and you'll be at 15 degrees.

So basically you have a mini-belt sander. The 220 grit belt removes material pretty quickly. With one pass, you'll have a burr that you can see with the naked eye and in a couple of passes on each side the edge is reprofiled. The 6000 grit belt then does a pretty good job of knocking the burr off and polishing the edge. Not a mirror by any stretch but a good working edge for the kitchen. Another advantage of not using the guide is you have more control at the tip area. I can see where it would be easy to round off the tip of a knife if you're just ramming it through. Also, with the instructions you would run the knife with the direction of the belt on one side and against the direction of the belt on the other side. Guide or freehand, I only ran the knife through on the side of the belt that was going down over the edge. You just have to turn the knife around to do the other side, kind of like stropping.

Does it work well? Like with any new sharpener, time will tell. I got pretty good edges off the 6000 grit. After a number of blades from paring knives to 8" Chef's knife (yes, a custom Kramer), I didn't get one scratch on the blade and the belt left a very even and fairly small bevel. Looks good. I cooked dinner with the Chef's knife and it was good and sharp. I'd like to try regular stropping after the 6000 and maybe for fun try loading one of the worn 6000 belts with green compound. I won't use the 220 grit belt much except for reprofiling.

The unit is plenty small enough to store in the house and use on the kitchen table which makes a big difference in whether you will actually use it much, particularly compared to a belt sander in the garage or shed.

Just some random thoughts after a day...
 
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Ben B said:
I received mine in the mail today. Well-built.

A couple of tips as new people are checking these out. Try it with the angle guide to start with. But try it without the guide as well. Most people following a thread like this have experience holding angles. In the standard sharpening configuration, the belt is at about a 21 degree angle from vertical so if you hold a knife vertical (like you would on a Sharpmaker) and run it along the belt, you should be good. I used my iPhone to measure the angle. You can also prop up the rear feet where you hold onto it with something a little taller than a CD case and you'll be at 15 degrees.

So basically you have a mini-belt sander. The 220 grit belt removes material pretty quickly. With one pass, you'll have a burr that you can see with the naked eye and in a couple of passes on each side the edge is reprofiled. The 600 grit belt then does a pretty good job of knocking the burr off and polishing the edge. Not a mirror by any stretch but a good working edge for the kitchen. Another advantage of not using the guide is you have more control at the tip area. I can see where it would be easy to round off the tip of a knife if you're just ramming it through. Also, with the instructions you would run the knife with the direction of the belt on one side and against the direction of the belt on the other side. Guide or freehand, I only ran the knife through on the side of the belt that was going down over the edge. You just have to turn the knife around to do the other side, kind of like stropping.

Does it work well? Like with any new sharpener, time will tell. I got pretty good edges off the 6000 grit. After a number of blades from paring knives to 8" Chef's knife (yes, a custom Kramer), I didn't get one scratch on the blade and the belt left a very even and fairly small bevel. Looks good. I cooked dinner with the Chef's knife and it was good and sharp. I'd like to try regular stropping after the 6000 and maybe for fun try loading one of the worn 6000 belts with green compound. I won't use the 220 grit belt much except for reprofiling.

The unit is plenty small enough to store in the house and use on the kitchen table which makes a big difference in whether you will actually use it much, particularly compared to a belt sander in the garage or shed.

Just some random thoughts after a day...
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Some great thoughts, thanks for sharing!
 
Mine came about an hour ago. All I can say is Wow.... best bang for the buck in sharpening I've ever had.

BTW, the way to go, IMHO, is without the guide/guard in place.

Someone said this sharpener might put a dent in his sharpening business. No kidding.
 
Okay, we have a couple of satisfied customers it would seem. Now I wonder what maintenance fee will be? How oftn you have to change belts and that sort of thing. C'mon knifenut1013 ya can't be that busy. :D
 
I put together a 12" leather band, holding about an inch of 0.028" thick overlapped leather together with contact cement, reinforced with duct tape on the inside, to see how it might perform using the green compound.

While I don't have time right now to redo the strap, as it's making some noise, probably due to the duct tape, what I can report is that the setup is incredibly effective at producing a hair popping sharp edge.

I ran the machine and honed the blade of my Benchmade 755 MPR with the green compound. Just before, the blade wasn't really all that sharp, definitely not shaving sharp.

In about 30 seconds, honing both sides of the blade, the edge was literally hair popping sharp. I really hadn't seen what hair popping really was until a few moments ago. The hairs literally popped when the edge was pushed against them.

Sharpening with this machine might become addictive....:D
 
Hey guys, sorry to be off the grid so long.
I just got back from vacation and extended business travel.

Sorry for any confusion on the switch.
Yes, early pre-production models have a different switch.
Units now have the improved 3 position switch. If any of you have an early unit and prefer the 3 position swicth, please contact us directly at 800-597-6170.
We'll take care of you, you are an important customer to us.

Also apologetic for any confusion about which tool we are discussing. He have 3 Work Sharp power sharpeners: WS2000 Tool Grinder ($129), WS3000 Wood Tool Sharpener ($249) and the WSKTS Knife & Tool Sharpener ($79).

Please contact me / us directly with questions guys since I do not monitor this site daily. Thanks.
 
Got mine today and played with it for a couple of hours. I did 27 blades/tools in 2 hours. Can't hardly beat that! Look for a detailed review in a couple of days.
 
I've been on the verge of getting a 1"x42" for a while now, but it's hard to justify the price for how much use it will get. I decided on the 1"x42" for the lower belt speed.

This looks much more in line with my needs (I also have an EdgePro and freehand) but has an even higher belt speed- any comments on this? Does the fact it's only 1/2" mitigate the speed?

Also, isn't 220 to 6000 an awfully large jump?

It looks like the MicroMesh belts for metal finishing only go up to 1200- just sayin'.

Anybody know what else uses those belts?

Ricklee, the word you're looking for is "disconcerting"- you're right though ;)
 
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