Knife Sharpening?

[dbHunterNY]

So for a while now i've used the camp/hunting knife sharpening "stones" and gadgets.  also i've used the carbide/ceramic "V" pull through stuff a lot. any counter top plug in unit has been junk or inconsistent. my hunting knives don't see as much use as my kitchen and butchering knives.  i get ok results but nothing seemed to get as sharp as i know it could be. Looked all over to put my hands on some "Japanese water stones". No place seemed to stock any. Also they take some skill that i really don't have.  I've contemplated the Ken Onion Edition Worksharp electric sharpener with various belts. it grinds to a convex edge versus flat bevel but so be it. I've heard those edges hold up to more abuse anyway. Got it home last night. Had a set of cheap "forever sharp" JA Henkels knives that i'd butchered the junk micro serrations off of with my shop sander.  I sharpened some of those with this worksharp last night, using it for the first time. It's not as good as whetstones but damn sharp enough. arm hair shaving sharp and enough to take long slivers off the a magazine page in held out in front of you.  I was contemplating getting the 12,000 grit belts but i think i'll just wait for the 6,000 or 4,000 grit belts wear out and then use them with jewelry buffing compound.

Pros: fast to get an edge from re-profiled to razor sharp. can change angles of guides to fit the need. can be used to sharpen pretty much anything with a very minimal learning curve. you can see the blade the whole time on the belt to know where it's at and what it's doing vs the pull through a blind slot design.

Cons: still think it's not completely sharp as it could be. guides help you but at the same time make you retarded as you start to rely on them and get inconsistency. metal dust especially when hitting the burr for the first time makes me think i should be using a mask keeping me from breathing any of that crap in. no spot on it wide enough without changing around it's configuration and removing guide to polish the spine and secondary bevel on my bigger/wider kitchen knives.

Ken Onion Edition Worksharp Tool and Knife Sharpener

it's pretty straight foward but any questions i'll try to answer.

[ny hunter]

I got this years ago and love it!!!! I have the first one that came out.. I use it on all my hunting and fishing knives also do the kitchen knives about every 3 months...

[dbHunterNY]

21 minutes ago, ny hunter said:

I got this years ago and love it!!!! I have the first one that came out.. I use it on all my hunting and fishing knives also do the kitchen knives about every 3 months...

i don't know if your version has finer grit belts but they helped a lot.

[Nomad]

It gets great reviews , and I thought about adding one to my collection of sharpeners , I’m not sure about reprofiling all my knives to convex though .

Some of my flat blades I like 30 degree inclusive, not sure how reprofiling   to convex would work out .

[ny hunter]

20 minutes ago, dbHunterNY said:

i don't know if your version has finer grit belts but they helped a lot.

I just use the 3 it came with.....I find if I take my time I get a nice edge...I bought a few boxes of belts....,

[moog5050]

Sounds good. I use the spyerdco sharpmaker and it will keep a sharp blade scary sharp but not for reprofiling.   

[Elmo]

I have the original version.  Nice and quick.  It gets the knives sharp enough.  If I want it to be sharper though, I finish it off on a traditional stone.  I find the if you over use it, these things will eat through cheaper steel.

[Nomad]

Mouse pad and wet/dry fine grit .

http://brkca.com/convex.htm

[chas0218]

I have the lansky knife sharpener it isn't automatic but once it has a nice edge I hit it with the ceramic V sharpener a couple times before use and I rarely have to use the lansky. The only time I have to touch it up with the lansky is when the blade gets a nick. I highly recommend using a wooden or thermoplastic cutting board. My wife likes her glass boards and it dulls the crap out of the knife after cutting 1 thing on it. The problem with the electrics is they take off more material than needed, it isn't a big deal with cheap knives but the more expensive knives won't last as long. I have some de-boning knives that are 2 generations old and are thin from all the sharpening they have had over the years.

[dbHunterNY]

5 hours ago, chas0218 said:

I have the lansky knife sharpener it isn't automatic but once it has a nice edge I hit it with the ceramic V sharpener a couple times before use and I rarely have to use the lansky. The only time I have to touch it up with the lansky is when the blade gets a nick. I highly recommend using a wooden or thermoplastic cutting board. My wife likes her glass boards and it dulls the crap out of the knife after cutting 1 thing on it. The problem with the electrics is they take off more material than needed, it isn't a big deal with cheap knives but the more expensive knives won't last as long. I have some de-boning knives that are 2 generations old and are thin from all the sharpening they have had over the years.

yea had wood but mostly use plastic cutting boards for deer and then smaller thin sheets of it for in the kitchen.  glass just sounds like a bad idea for a knife.

[dbHunterNY]

On 5/31/2018 at 4:24 PM, Stay at home Nomad said:

It gets great reviews , and I thought about adding one to my collection of sharpeners , I’m not sure about reprofiling all my knives to convex though .

Some of my flat blades I like 30 degree inclusive, not sure how reprofiling   to convex would work out .

will still probably keep most of my hunting knives traditional flat beveled. that way i can touch them up without trying to recreate a convex edge by hand without a belt or good wide and flat stone. this will just be for the kitchen knives and butchering knives i think. it does adjust from 15-30 degrees for angle on a side. once a i get them sharp i really don't need it often. just can straighten the edge to touch it up without really taking more material off.

[Uncle Nicky]

The trick I learned when I cut meat in a store was use a belt sander to get an edge on the blade first, then use an oil stone &  steel to get a fine edge. Granted, you eventually grind the blade down to a pig sticker, but it takes a couple years. Hated working with a knife that wasn't razor sharp.

Edited June 1, 2018 by Uncle Nicky

[tommyc50]

I really have a fetish for sharp knives so I seen the Bavarian edge in bj's and was tempted to buy it but all you have is 2 small strips that sharpen plus  im always weary of as seen on t.v. it didn't look like it would last [as with most stuff they sell on t.v.].I had  a chef choice knife sharpener [note the word had]that was my dads ,well it was horrible it literally dulled all my knifes. I like the works sharp but it looks like I would be changing the belts a lot[ but that's what keeps them in business].

[dbHunterNY]

I really have a fetish for sharp knives so I seen the Bavarian edge in bj's and was tempted to buy it but all you have is 2 small strips that sharpen plus  im always weary of as seen on t.v. it didn't look like it would last [as with most stuff they sell on t.v.].I had  a chef choice knife sharpener [note the word had]that was my dads ,well it was horrible it literally dulled all my knifes. I like the works sharp but it looks like I would be changing the belts a lot[ but that's what keeps them in business].

I totally ground off the micro serrated edges and reprofiled half dozen large chef knives and the belts are still plenty fine. Start coarse and work til you get a burr then move to next. Not bad.

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[loworange88]

I bought a worksharp recently myself.  Love it.  I suck at sharpening with a stone, and I also tried the Smith's sharpener with the angle guides, and still suck at it.  The Worksharp is the way to go for me.  Arm hair shaving sharp is plenty for me.

[dbHunterNY]

17 hours ago, loworange88 said:

I bought a worksharp recently myself.  Love it.  I suck at sharpening with a stone, and I also tried the Smith's sharpener with the angle guides, and still suck at it.  The Worksharp is the way to go for me.  Arm hair shaving sharp is plenty for me.

the problem with the carbide and ceramic angled Smith sharpeners is there's too much range is coarseness. takes a long time with the ceramic to get rid of imperfections left from the carbide or whatever coarse material it uses. also you have to keep those slots clean and dry which is difficult. i haven't had one with carbide that hasn't started rusting at least a little. they're very user friendly though and serve the purpose of getting a blade functionally sharp. not polished like using the worksharp, wetstone, or something else. 

[chas0218]

1 hour ago, dbHunterNY said:

the problem with the carbide and ceramic angled Smith sharpeners is there's too much range is coarseness. takes a long time with the ceramic to get rid of imperfections left from the carbide or whatever coarse material it uses. also you have to keep those slots clean and dry which is difficult. i haven't had one with carbide that hasn't started rusting at least a little. they're very user friendly though and serve the purpose of getting a blade functionally sharp. not polished like using the worksharp, wetstone, or something else. 

I use the ceramic stick side every time before I cut something so it is just a few passes and it is like a razor. 

Anyone looking into the ceramic sticks make sure you get a quality set with the correct angle. I have a set for my filet knives and a set for my kitchen knives. If you try to sharpen a kitchen knife on the filet ceramic it won't do anything to the edge but if you were to sharpen the filet knife on the kitchen knife sharpener you would grind the edge flat dulling it severely. 

[dbHunterNY]

1 hour ago, chas0218 said:

I use the ceramic stick side every time before I cut something so it is just a few passes and it is like a razor. 

Anyone looking into the ceramic sticks make sure you get a quality set with the correct angle. I have a set for my filet knives and a set for my kitchen knives. If you try to sharpen a kitchen knife on the filet ceramic it won't do anything to the edge but if you were to sharpen the filet knife on the kitchen knife sharpener you would grind the edge flat dulling it severely. 

wife bought me a whetstone for early fathers day. she was worried i'd go out and just buy it before then. i've definitely been looking at local stores but seemed to be only available online. I'll leave the worksharp sharpened knives be but ones that i haven't i'll test out with that. it's J1000/J6000 grit. should work well for all my knives between the worksharp for some and whetstone for the others.

on the smith stuff they don't seem to list the angles. i'll be able to figure it out on the stone though. i don't think exact angles are as critical as maintaining them when resharpening or as your sharpening.

Edited June 4, 2018 by dbHunterNY

[Dinsdale]

36 minutes ago, dbHunterNY said:

wife bought me a whetstone for early fathers day. she was worried i'd go out and just buy it before then. i've definitely been looking at local stores but seemed to be only available online. I'll leave the worksharp sharpened knives be but ones that i haven't i'll test out with that. it's J1000/J6000 grit. should work well for all my knives between the worksharp for some and whetstone for the others.

 

Personally I like the simplicity of Japanese waterstones and use my 1000/6000 all the time in the shop. Use a piece of rubber EPDM roofing on the bench to give a non slip surface, and an old tupperware container to soak/ store them.

[dbHunterNY]

we'll see how it goes. i have wondered how sharp it'll get my broadheads too. just have to make sure not to mess up the stone in the process. i don't see the worksharp used for broadheads.

Edited June 5, 2018 by dbHunterNY

[loworange88]

On 6/4/2018 at 12:21 PM, dbHunterNY said:

on the smith stuff they don't seem to list the angles. i'll be able to figure it out on the stone though. i don't think exact angles are as critical as maintaining them when resharpening or as your sharpening.

I think the Smith's set I have the guides are 20, 25, and 30.

[Dinsdale]

41 minutes ago, dbHunterNY said:

we'll see how it goes. i have wondered how sharp it'll get my broadheads too. just have to make sure not to mess up the stone in the process. i don't see the worksharp used for broadheads.

Another upside to Japanese stones is they are artificial and easy to re flatten if you mess up or just from normal wear if you don't use the whole surface.

Traditional use is to rub a Nagura stone over the top of the stone before each use. It both raises a slurry that you want and will flatten the stone from use. You can find a Nagura for about $10 on line.

Another way to flatten is using a scrap of plate glass and a sheet of 2000 silicone carbide paper to flatten keeping wet. Glass can be had for free at any glass shop. This would be for a poor kept stone that needs some real help.

 

Edited June 5, 2018 by Dinsdale

[dbHunterNY]

2 hours ago, loworange88 said:

I think the Smith's set I have the guides are 20, 25, and 30.

it seems like it's 25. all my Smith stuff just have one pair of carbide and ceramic V's. they all seem to be the same angle.

[dbHunterNY]

2 hours ago, Dinsdale said:

Another upside to Japanese stones is they are artificial and easy to re flatten if you mess up or just from normal wear if you don't use the whole surface.

Traditional use is to rub a Nagura stone over the top of the stone before each use. It both raises a slurry that you want and will flatten the stone from use. You can find a Nagura for about $10 on line.

Another way to flatten is using a scrap of plate glass and a sheet of 2000 silicone carbide paper to flatten keeping wet. Glass can be had for free at any glass shop. This would be for a poor kept stone that needs some real help.

 

i'm trying to just use the whole stone. it's a combo stone so you don't have as much material for each side. everything i have is softer steel so it shouldn't wear as much if i do my part.