The WSKTS really makes sense if you are in the USA, have lots of knives even budget knives and you do use them (eg flashpilot with > 100 of them), and if you get the additional grits from micro-surface.com since an additional 1-2k and 12k makes a lot of sense.
Can you imagine keeping all your folders hair whittling sharp all the time, because it just takes 30 seconds of maintainence on the WSKTS with a 12k belt? Consistently time after time. Or 2 mins for a high-end blade like M390/M4?
Of course like flashlights it’s a hobby and for some folks they go the extreme route and rely on a scanning electron microscope for visual evidence, so the stones and strop + compounds are here to stay. Besides, 2 good stones from Shapton/Natsumi + horsehide strop and high-end compounds are not really cheap.
No they’re not. I have a stone (oil) with two gradations and a can of oil. I’m sure I didn’t pay much for it. I also have a leather belt.
From looking at YouTube video it seems that a rather sharp knife (not hair shaving however) can be gotten just from using those tools even with no compound for the belt.
I get your point about trying to keep dozens (or hundreds) of knives razor sharp though. I’m not in that category however.
Well you are correct….again within that we can have another discussion regarding the differences between these 2.
The fine grits that work well and fast are what’s expensive, that said i have this coming in and hope that it does not agglomerate as much as the yellow coloured Badak brand ones (even those work great for folder use actually, just maybe not for straight razors). http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180928240958&ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:SG:3160
(remember that $2 of that is for the registration of the airmail packet)
I had a round two-sided sharpening stone already but today I went to the local Ace Hardware and bought a rectangular two-sided (course-fine) stone. It’s easier to use than the round stone.
I used it to sharpen all of my SRM/Enlan/Bee folders. I used the oil on the stone and wiped the blade off each time and cleaned the stone off after every few knives (I sharpened all of them). It didn’t take me long to get the technique freehand.
After the course and fine stone I used the back side of a leather belt (no additional honing compound). This was enough to easily slice paper with all of the knives and one (SRM 707) was able to shave hair off my leg as well.
That’s sharp enough for me and cost about $5 for the stone and the same for the honing oil. I already had the belt.
I think the same technique with a bigger stone would work for lawn mower blades or hatchet/ax blades.
I wash the stone off before putting it away. It’s just a personal thing I guess but I like the cheap simple nature of this set-up over a more involved system. How can you get sharper than shaving hair?
Just from reading this thread I get the impression that many of the SRM knives have steel that can’t be sharpened to that degree anyway.
8 or 9CR13mov can be sharpened….just like the high carbon blades in Jap blades….but can’t hold that crazy sharp edge for any reasonable period of time once you start to use it on anything hard like ropes or even say opening a USPS flat rate box.
I managed to sharpen the copy CRKT knifes to be able to shave as well….with that 12k slurry stone that Tally ho recommended.
Until last year, that is what I did for 40 years and I could have continued doing so until I died and I would have had “sharp enough” knives.
I also had a drawer full of small sharpening gadgets to see if it would make sharpening easier. I always went back to the two sided sharpening stone and steel. That is until I bought the Smith’s sharpening system. It worked quicker and gave me a lot prettier and defined bevel. I don’t think it got my knives any sharper than what I got free handed, but it got the entire edge, from tip to handle, sharp and pretty very quickly.
Fast foward to about two months ago when I started buying a variety of pocket knives and started reading up on making knives “hair popping sharp”. Out of curiosity I purchased the Spyderco Sharpmaker and sure enough every knife I own is now sharper than they have ever been.
I am not really sure that I need them this sharp. I justify the expense as it being a hobby.
As I lusted after the “Work Sharp” sitting on the shelf at the Bass Pro Shop a couple of days ago, I had to remind myself that all my pocket knives and kitchen knives are sharp as ever or I would have bought it.
After reading this thread, I went to Bass Pro and bought a Lansky Diamond system. I think the form and function of the system is awesome, but I am not getting results I expected.
The knife was exactly what I expected for $13.00, but not even close to the quality of the SRM. It was DULL out of the box, so I decided to try out my new sharpening system on it last night. I found the two cutting surfaces of the tanto to be different blade angle, so I sharpened them accordingly. I slightly re-profiled the “pointy” end at 30* and the “straight” surface at 20*. I made 10-12 passes with each stone, in the direction supplied with the instructions and the blade “looks” good, but it is not sharp at all.
The SRM out of the box is tons sharper than this knife after the Lanksy system. I understand you can’t polish a turd, but isn’t this thing supposed to be great?
The main thing with sharpening is establishing a new angle every time you go to sharpen the edge. Otherwise you’ll have several different angles on the edge, which is super detrimental to the edge sharpness. And the lansky guides for sure won’t be exactly what the factory angles were.
Also, you don’t have to keep that 30 and 20, do whatever you want. A good general use angle would be 20 20 even for softer steels. What you can do to really strengthen the edge is a microbevel after you have sharpened the edge like normal. This is just a slightly steeper angle, say, the main bevel is 20 20, you microbevel at 25 25. Nice thing about a microbevel, is once you put it on, you only have to sharpen that when the blade needs sharpening, because that’s whats making the contact. And it takes way less because it’s a smaller area to sharpen up again. It only impedes the cutting a little bit. I can still shave with mine after putting on a microbevel.
Once you start getting hair popping edges, you really become an addict. I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t keep my knives too sharp, or else I’ll baby them and not use them as much. This is mainly on my cheaper knives though, the ones with 8cr13mov. Because just one or two hard wacks at some wood will take off that crisp hair popping edge, that you just spent 30 minutes getting.
I would spend a total of 2 minutes per side with the most coarse grit, flipping back and forth every 30 seconds or so. Use some pressure early on, but once you get towards the end, lessen the pressure to remove the burr. Then just use the next grits as much as you want, you could do em the same as the coarsest grit.
I used to use several wet stones and spend hours sharpening my knives. It was a matter of pride and I enjoyed it. When time became more of an issue I purchased the 120, it does a superb job and is very quick.
I’m sure I could still get a better edge by hand if I wanted to spend the time but not a significantly better edge. I’d rather be doing other things, and I still have my wet stones if I want to use them.
I got myself a cheap 10X magnifying glass (2 inch lens) with ground glass. Good enough. Those higher mag ones with smaller lenses have quite a lot of abberations at the corners, too small a sweet spot to be useful.
Been looking to get a new “sharpener system” for quite a while now. I don’t _need _it, but….wait, yes I do :bigsmile: .
I do just fine with my Smith’s diamond system (Lansky knock-off….actually it works better than the Lansky, but I only had stones on that so it’s prolly the diamond) and a few bench stone. Actually I prefer the benchstones if I’m just re-touching an edge.
Was looking at the Sharpmaker for a bit but then had a friend recommend this KME system which is thesame kind of Lansky setup, but infinitely adjustable angles.
Now I keep seeing these Professional fix-angle sharpener systems popping up from all the Chinese vendors. and they actually look pretty decent (aside from the cheap ass plastic base). Was just wondering if anyone had used one of these yet. Seems like they’d be much easier to work with larger blades or mixed-angles (i.e. tanto) then the handheld systems. Anyone have any input on these?
I’m not a knifoholic but i don’t like blunt blades (who does?). Finally I found the following selfmade construction of a knife sharpener which i think it’s a very accurate method of sharpening with a grindstone and it is simply to build.
Just for info, Work Sharp have recently released a 220V version of the WSKTS. Not sure how common these are yet. Had to pre-order mine, and then wait for it to come in to stock. That was a few weeks back, and they are now becoming freely available in the UK. No doubt over time they will become available in other countries using a 220V power supply.
Also, for fans of the Spyderco Sharpmaker, as well as the ultra fine accesory rods, there are diamond coated triangular rods available for those who need a coarser grit for quick profiling of the blade.
I’ve been searching for the perfect sharpening system for too long now. I’ve got lots of knives in various shapes and steel types (recurves, regular, tanto’s, 440c, Aus8, D2, S30v, 154cm).
It’s been a long journey to find something to do them all. I’ve finally got there…
The Sharpmaker is certainly the easiest to use to get a razor sharp edge. Unfortunately, the limit on the 2 angles is a problem as not all knives come that way. Reprofiling a D2 or S30v knife on a Sharpmaker is really not an option.
I bit the bullet on one of the ‘Edge Faux’ chinese sharpeners. They really are great. Some say the stones are rubbish, I’m not so sure… I can’t get a razor sharp edge with it yet, but I can get pretty close and reprofile an edge to 20/20 in minutes. Then it just needs a touch up on the sharpmaker.
The answer. Edge Faux + Sharpmaker.
