Knife Sharpeners for the Unskilled

[*zap*]

Any skill takes a bit if time to acquire. Smiths tri hone and a four sided wooden strop is a good start. Some knives may require a file to get started if they are very dull. I was self taught and it took me months to figure it out. I still need to keep the steps in mind and not get impatient...
A good steep angle on the blade is important, imo.

 

[Dos Perros]

I can't get the motorized WorkSharp to work. I suck at it, apparently.

Conversely, I can get this one to work very well, scary sharp as they say.

 

[Trees91]

Work sharp professional precision adjust. A nice upgrade from the plastic original model. It's a little spendy but cheaper than an edge pro or wicked edge. Takes a little time but you can make some crazy sharp knives and no guess work with your angles.
I have never been good at a stone or anything unguided. With the work sharp it's easy to have a shaving sharp knife. I sharpen by buddies knives for free and after the first knife they're happy to pay $10 a blade.

For quick touch ups I use a spyderco triangle sharp maker.

 

[Beendare]

The best system I've used is the Edge Pro.

No way I put one of my expensive knives in a Worksharp- not going to happen. I've seen guys with those take too much steel off.

 

[sndmn11]

This thing is too easy. Id never go back to rebeveling with a hand scratcher

Blade Grinding Attachment for Ken Onion Edition Knife & Tool Sharpener Mk.2™

Elevate your sharpening experience with the Blade Grinding Attachment for the Ken Onion Edition Knife & Tool Sharpener Mk.2™ (Ken Onion Mk.2 sharpener not included). This attachment expands your sharpening system to provide more control on every knife you sharpen with horizontal benchtop...

www.worksharptools.com

Spyderco ceramic, steel, and leather to touch up after that.

No burrs left!

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

As mentioned above, Spyderco sharpmaker. Simple and effective, and not too expensive. Just don’t let your knife get super dull and it’ll never take long. I touch my EDC up weekly in about 45 seconds on my sharpmaker and can easily shave hairs when I’m done.

Or, just buy one of these and never have to worry about sharpening again:

Amazon.com

I have an outdoor edge for field butchering. Lots of fixed blades for other things. Fillet knives, kitchen, pocket, etc.

 

[KChunter71]

Send them to @6mm Remington

 

[Mule3006Elk]

Are you using a sharpie with your worksharp?

The first step is to color the bevel with a sharpie and adjust your angle until a fine stone removes the sharpie cleanly

Now, drop back to your coarser stones, work the edges to build a burr, flip the burr and burr the other bevel.

NOW your edge is apexed. Work in successively finer grits to refine that edge.

I'd be happy to PM, email, text or talk to you to help you get your system working for you. I do sharpening as a side gig and I'm pretty good at it.

The sharpie tip is huge. O/w you are sharpening and might be screwing up the original angle of the blade.
I'm descent at sharpening, middle of the road if you will, the sharpie tip helped me understand every knife is a little different and I can't use the same angle for each.

 

[ID_Matt]

I have the work sharp motorized belt system. It takes some practice and you can definitely screw up a tip if you aren't careful but once you figure it out, it is fairly easy to get any knife shaving sharp within a short time. I wish I was talented enough to do the same with a rod or stone but have not acquired that skill yet.

https://www.amazon.com/Work-Sharp-Knife-Tool-Sharpener/dp/B08VD8ZGFZ/ref=asc_df_B08VD8ZGFZ/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=692875362841&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10128656005255238732&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9029448&hvtargid=pla-2281435181898&psc=1&mcid=63fe05f5779132b8b41b4ba668dcab73&hvocijid=10128656005255238732-B08VD8ZGFZ-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=692875362841&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10128656005255238732&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9029448&hvtargid=pla-2281435181898&psc=1

 

[7mm-08]

I've used the KME knife sharpening system with great success. The impatient aspect to your personality, however, may push you to a power unit, which I have never tried. As said above, any of these systems require patience and practice. The Sharpie tip is gold to establish correct angle. It probably takes me 45 minutes to sharpen a knife from dull to sharp (and when I say "sharp," I mean mirror polished edge sharp). I use about four different grits of stones for angle and polishing and then four different leather strops (from Stropman) with different compounds to polish the edge to a mirror finish. The process is very therapeutic and requires A LOT of patience. Like 1,000 stroke patience to do a knife from start to finish. No way I'm sharpening a multi-hundred dollar knife with a power unit of any kind.

 

[doc holiday13]

the wasabi system seems to look good, But I do everythign free hand so no hands on experience

Iki Ruixin Pro™ Sharpener + 4 Whetstones Set

Also available in Sake Energy Bundle Highlights Pro sharpness with almost no practice Adjustable & fixable angle Angle can be adjusted to 10-50 degrees Multipurpose: kitchen knives, hunting knives, pocket knives, scissors and more Ergonomic: can be clamped to the table, easy blade flipping...

wasabi-knives.com

 

[Snowwolfe]

Edge Pro if you have time to kill otherwise the Work Sharp. I used stones for years and the Work Shop is faster and easier.
If you want to have pride and use stones to sharpen a knife or a hand file to sharpen a chain for a chain saw then go for it.
But the Work Shop sits on my bench and gets used often.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

I’ve used the spyderco one mentioned above and liked it- used it at a relatives house on their really dull knives and was able to get them sharp again- wasn’t real fast but it worked pretty well.

I have a set from smiths what works pretty good - similar to this one- https://www.scheels.com/p/027925505...MI_t_PjaDJiQMV0gKtBh1EJiP4EAQYDiABEgKUV_D_BwE

I'm no pro by any means, but using the Smith's as linked here I can pretty quickly get any of my knives sharp and there's two slots for different angles. I'm also very impatient and tend to do the entire house of knives in one sitting a couple times a year. Wife is hell on my butchering knives, I need to hide them.

 

[Jethro]

I use the Gatco system and consider myself “just ok” at sharpening. But I am able to get the knives so they shave arm hair.

Fine diamond and the ceramic stone for resharpen/touch up work.

 

[Muleface]

New here, but another +1 for the Spyderco Sharpmaker. Utilitarian, requires little effort, results are excellent.

 

[rifletuner]

I have used the ken onion worksharp for years and get excellent edges with this system. I mainly use a belt progression where I go from a 400 grit, then a 1000 grit, then a 1500 or 2000 grit. If I batch a few knives through at once I can get several razor sharp in maybe 5-6 minutes.

The only down side is that the guides on the worksharp can leave some light marks on the blade. Thats not a big deal for me with working knives, but I cant use it to sharpen the knives I make for sale. For knives I make for others, I sharpen on a paper wheel and then strop. With good edge geometry, these are also very quick to sharpen.

 

[Yoder]

I have a Work sharp and I think it's mediocre at best. I put a way better edge on my knives with my Lansky sharpener.