Work Sharp Knife & Tool Sharpener - Wow!

[circleshooter]

I love a sharp knife, but alas, have never been any good, AT ALL, with using sharpening stones. Oh, I've tried. My father is superb with stones and has tried many times to instruct me in their use. I have many fine qualities, but "mechanically inclined" is not among them.

I've owned a Chef's Choice sharpener for years. It's fine for kitchen knives but sucks for everything else. Well, it died. So after seeing it mentioned in a couple of threads here during a forum search I decided to get one.

Holy Sh*t!! This thing puts an edge on a knife like nobody's business. I sharpened about 10 kitchen knives of all sizes and shapes in about 15 minutes. And they are...sharp...as...hell! Then I changed the guide and set to work on my Armand Palacio balisong. There's kryptonite or something in the steel that renders it impervious to sharpening. It took longer than the kitchen knives, but I got an edge on it that takes the hair off your arm with ease. Not bad.

So next up will be a serrated bread knife, an awesome left-handed, single-bevel Japanese sashimi knife and a dull pair of scissors that annoys me greatly.

Nice tool.

 

[wilcam47]

i wondered about those...how much are they?

 

[circleshooter]

i wondered about those...how much are they?

I paid $69.00 through amazon.com

 

[Silverlode]

Can it do chainsaw blades too?

 

[jhcrab]

I just got one this week and I have started to experiment using it. I am having problem's with small pocket knives - tool will grind cheap knife blade down real quick. Larger knives are no problem - gives super sharp edge.
I will grow to really like this sharpener once I learn how to best use.

 

[circleshooter]

Can it do chainsaw blades too?

I don't think so. The whole head can rotate so it can be used to sharpen garden tools like shovels, hoes, and hedge clippers. But it doesn't say anything about chain saw blades.

 

[circleshooter]

I just got one this week and I have started to experiment using it. I am having problem's with small pocket knives - tool will grind cheap knife blade down real quick. Larger knives are no problem - gives super sharp edge.
I will grow to really like this sharpener once I learn how to best use.

You learn very quickly that you need a light touch, keep the blade at the correct angle in the guide (which is pretty easy), and a consistent pulling speed of the blade across the belt (instructions say an 8" blade should take about 2 seconds to pull through the guide). Just takes a little getting used to.

Oh...and I noticed that the blades still seem almost dull after 5 pulls per side through the guide. But once you change over to the honing belt and pull it though that a few times the edge absolutely reveals itself

 

[Atec]

I paid $69.00 through amazon.com

I just ordered one from Amazon after your review , should be here tomorrow ! Thanks

 

[circleshooter]

Well, as follow up I can say that I've now used the WSKTS to sharpen over 20 knives of all kinds, sizes, and blade shapes. Cleavers to small pen knives. Straight back, spear point, clip point, drop point, wharncliffe, to spay point blades shapes. A serrated bread knife, a pair of scissors, and even a left-handed, single-bevel, Japanese sashimi knife.

All of them....extremely sharp, done easily. I can hardly wait for them to get dull so I can sharpen them again. And believe me, I'm not easily impressed. This little machine is pretty impressive.

 

[gaskg]

Thanks for the review. I have been thinking of buying one of these for a while.

 

[Atec]

Mine arrived yesterday , I am going to give this a try tonight. I have a few knifes that I could never get a sharp as I wanted. I hope this does the job. If not check the classifieds in a few days ! lol

 

[Robert]

I love a sharp knife, but alas, have never been any good, AT ALL, with using sharpening stones. Oh, I've tried. My father is superb with stones and has tried many times to instruct me in their use. I have many fine qualities, but "mechanically inclined" is not among them.

I've owned a Chef's Choice sharpener for years. It's fine for kitchen knives but sucks for everything else. Well, it died. So after seeing it mentioned in a couple of threads here during a forum search I decided to get one.

Holy Sh*t!! This thing puts an edge on a knife like nobody's business. I sharpened about 10 kitchen knives of all sizes and shapes in about 15 minutes. And they are...sharp...as...hell! Then I changed the guide and set to work on my Armand Palacio balisong. There's kryptonite or something in the steel that renders it impervious to sharpening. It took longer than the kitchen knives, but I got an edge on it that takes the hair off your arm with ease. Not bad.

So next up will be a serrated bread knife, an awesome left-handed, single-bevel Japanese sashimi knife and a dull pair of scissors that annoys me greatly.

Nice tool.

How does the edge hold up after sharpening ?

 

[jhcrab]

Well, as follow up I can say that I've now used the WSKTS to sharpen over 20 knives of all kinds, sizes, and blade shapes. Cleavers to small pen knives. Straight back, spear point, clip point, drop point, wharncliffe, to spay point blades shapes. A serrated bread knife, a pair of scissors, and even a left-handed, single-bevel, Japanese sashimi knife.

All of them....extremely sharp, done easily. I can hardly wait for them to get dull so I can sharpen them again. And believe me, I'm not easily impressed. This little machine is pretty impressive.

Wow - great sharpener. I have never had knives sharper than the edge that I have now. I wore out one of the belts already; Amazon has the replacement belts at a resonable price. I have to work on some garden tools next.

 

[Scot]

I sharpened 30 old chisels the first night I purchased mine. Haven't pulled out a diamond stone in over a year. The works harp is fast and easy.

 

[BeltBuckle]

How does the edge hold up after sharpening ?

That is more a function of the steel in the blade than the tool used to sharpen it...

 

[RaVis]

That is more a function of the steel in the blade than the tool used to sharpen it...

Angle geometry and fineness of the edge play a role. Any burring left? Micro-serrations? Etc.

I'm afraid of putting any blade in front of something with RPMs in it. Although, I might be persuaded to do so with practice kitchen knives and gardening tools.

 

[alucard0822]

A belt sharpener is the fastest way to get the best edge, I use a 1X30 sander, it takes a lot of skill, and can mess up a blade instantly, the worksharp uses a similar method, but is far easier to use, Smokey got our dad one for Christmas, and I have seen a couple in use, nice little tool. You have to be careful to not oversharpen, as it is easy to take a lot of metal off quickly, and watch for heat buildup, some steels can be really sensitive to overheating. I usually match the angle to the blade, harder steels on knifes for delicate tasks may get as little as 30 degrees inclusive angle, tough steels on rough use blades might get 50 degrees, this is for knives, not tools, they can vary even more. Choose a belt based on blade's shape, a corse 80 or 120 grit to reprofile or repair a nicked blade, 240-600 for a clean, but dulled blade, 1000-3000 to touch up a useable, but not razor edge, and a strop only to bring back a clean edge to razor sharp.

I pick a belt, sharpen with the edge trailing the belt's direction till there is a fine burr on the entire width, flipping it to keep both sides even, once you have a nice even edge and burr, move to the next finer belt. You can sharpen edge first, you won't build a burr, but can still get a nice edge, although it is tougher for me to tell if I have uniformly sharpened the entire edge, oversharpened or missed a spot. Finer grit leaves a finer edge and thinner burr, you have to look really close to see it on hard steels with 1000+ grit belts. The last belt I use is leather, but you can do a final strop by hand on leather or cardboard, polishing compound helps speed it up, this thins the burr till it basically wears off, and the edge is microscopic, and what separates a "sharp" knife from a WTF!!!!! knife. The polished bevel also helps prevent corrosion and helps the blade glide through material,keeping it sharp for longer. For serrated,I use the edge of a belt, or hand stones to repair nics, and very fine grit as low an angle as possible on the back to deburr, then strop both sides, this keeps from creating a second bevel, or destroying the serrations.

 

[6Den]

I also bought one of these after reading many rave reviews. The only knock I've read is that it can damage knife points if you're not careful. I like my Lansky set, but I wanted something less labor-intensive.

 

[Atec]

I have to say after sharping a few knives it does do a very good job. In fact they are sharper then they have ever been .
But I can not get them to the point of shaving hair off my arms . I would love a edge like that.
I may need some more practice.

 

[kstone803]

Love my worksharp. However for good blades I use my sharpmaker but for the blades in the kitchen the worksharp is king. Below is a good read from another forum on the aftermarket belts and how to use them to get the best edge. Also is a link to the maker of the aftermarket belts. I plan to get some aftermarket belts when I go through all my worksharp sets.

Aftermarket belts write up
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...Aftermarket-belts-for-Work-Sharp-tested-today!

Aftermarket belts website
http://micro-surface.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=272_7_228_262&products_id=91