Quick initial review of the Worksharp knife sharpener

[hso]

http://www.worksharptools.com/knife...ener/work-sharp-knife-and-tool-sharpener.html

I've seen these for the past couple of years at BLADE show and was impressed by their performance, but I didn't "need" one and didn't need to pay the $80 for it to find out.

Advance to this year.

I needed presents for the BILs (grrrrr) and I found the Worksharp knife sharpeners at a tolerable price so I got "some".

I, of course, wanted to be able to demo them to the recipients so I had to have a test set to train myself to show the guys how to use theirs.

Easy DVD and manual instructions were included and they were intelligible and straightforward enough to follow. I'd seen them at Blade and they bear a resemblance to miniature knife grinding machines with quick change features so it took no time to get the hang of changing and even aligning (after intentionally misaligning) the little belts.

The guides drop right into place and mount solidly without having to tighten anything.

The controls have a triggered or continuous on switch.

The ergonomics are good and the head rotates through a full rotation with several locked detent stops so you can orient the head for the most logical position.

There are 3 grades of belts, coarse, medium and polish.

How's it work? Great!

I sharpened a BIL's kitchen knives that were an embarrassment for any kitchen. The knives were DULL and not suitable for use in a kitchen. A couple of runs through the guides on the coarse and the blades were usable again. A couple more on the medium and they were pretty darn good. A few on the polish belt had them rather smooth and shiny.

BIL commented to SIL, with considerable excitement, that the knives were sharper than when new. SIL made a crack about cutting a potato in mid air while I was peeling a potato in a nice continuous ribbon. I thought, "what the heck?", and tossed the potato into the air and used my best rope cut technique. The tater fell into 2 neat portions with a perfect cut and no ragged edges. Even I was impressed.

I'll need to play with my test set a bit, but it sure brought some crappy kitchen knives (including a serrated) up to real usability in just a few minutes.

Note that the system puts a convex edge in place since the system is a mini belt grinder. I'm excited to see how it works on some tough use knives and blades (glad it will work on mower blades as spring looms on the horizon).

 

[oldfortyfiveauto]

I have the Ken Onion version and am very happy with it.
Note, if you try to sharpen things like lawn mower blades you'll eat up those pricey belts pretty quick.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Thanks for the review hso.

 

[hso]

Ohhhh, I got the KO as well, but wanted to review the standard model first.

 

[plateshooter]

I have the standard model. I love that thing. After establishing the convex edge that the sharpener puts on the blade, I find that for me, just a touch up with the purple stropping belt once in a while is all that is needed to get me back in business for my uses.

Seems rare these days to buy something that actually works as good as the ads say it will. My opinion of my worksharp is that it works much better than I expected and was well worth the money I traded for it.

 

[Speedo66]

I see on Amazon the standard is $70, and Onion version $140.

If you don't mind, what are the differences, and is the Onion worth twice the price?

 

[dtalley]

I have the standard one and have to carry it with me everywhere to sharpen family knives. I love it and it works great. I have shaved all the hair off of my left arm and leg testing sharpness....

 

[alsask]

I was at the fur buyers shop just before Christmas, getting the wife a gift, and they had them on display beside the checkout counter. I must say I was tempted to pick one up, I didn't realize how compact they actually are, but I have blown my knife budget for 2013.

 

[plateshooter]

I was at the fur buyers shop just before Christmas, getting the wife a gift, and they had them on display beside the checkout counter. I must say I was tempted to pick one up, I didn't realize how compact they actually are, but I have blown my knife budget for 2013.

2014 budget could start next Wednesday.

 

[oldfortyfiveauto]

Two big differences with the KO version over the regular. The wider belts hold up better and greater adjustability. Can't really say if it is or isn't worth as you will be happy either way.

 

[danez71]

I'm not so patiently waiting for the review on the KO version HSO.

Ive been eying one on sale and it ends soon!

Speedo,
I don't know exactly what all the difference are but the KO version can adjust all the way down to 15 degrees per side up to 30 degrees per side in 1 degree increments.

The regular one has two fixed options at 20 and 25 degrees per side.

To me that important as I like my kitchen santuko knives at 15 to maybe 17 degrees at most where they should be.

The KO version is variable speed and I guess wider belts... from what the above post says.

The regular one is only 1 speed I believe.

The KO has more flexibility in other areas too.

 

[ugaarguy]

Dane, if you want a KO while it's on sale I'd go ahead and get it. HSO is a tease who posted this review before he left on travel. He won't be back on until several days after the new year.

 

[rcmodel]

HSO

Any updates on further use yet??

Any pros discovered, or cons reared their ugly heads so far?

rc

 

[TimboKhan]

RC,

I have one of these, and I swear by them. Pros are fast, accurate bevels and ease of use. It is absolutely not a machine that has a learning curve in terms of getting it set up, getting belts on and off, etc. If you use the guides, the sharpening itself is about as simple as it gets.

The cons, in my experience, are that you have to be a little careful just pulling a blade through because it will round tips faster than you can shake a stick at. I also managed to immediately remove all the serrations on a knife experimenting with mine when I first got it. In my experience, you get around the first problem by simply being careful and taking your time near the tip. I have not figured out how to do serrations yet, but since I own a grand total of two serrated knives I am not all that worried about it.

One minor "con" is how fast you go through belts. The most frequently used belt is the fine (which one would expect), and while it is true that they last a lot longer than they appear they would, I manage to go through about 5 a year under normal usage. However, they aren't crushingly expensive, and it is a totally expected thing to happen, so it's really not the machines fault.

In general, I love mine. Its a well made tool, and it affords me the ability to do the type of things that I simply don't have the ability to do on a stone, such as totally reshape bevels, get appleseed grinds and do major resharpening on older knives that are so dull as to be bar stock, lol. For example, I bought a old sharpfinger at a pawnshop for just a few dollars and it was so dull that I could literally saw at my finger and not get hurt. It took me 20 minutes, but I was able to get that knife back to shaving sharp and thus get it back to being a usable, useful tool. I was able to get my Mora as sharp as I have ever gotten any knife.

You absolutely cannot get the same level of sharp that you can get on stones or a wicked edge but you definitely can get shaving sharp very quickly. But, by the same token, with this you essentially get a competent mini-grinder that is 100% usable on a space as small as something like a kitchen table. In the hands of someone that knows what they are doing but doesn't have the space or cash to buy a big belt grinder, I could totally see a someone making a knife using this tool. In fact, I have used worn out fine belts with a little buffing compound to clean up rusty pliers, sockets and even to buff out some stainless steel spoons. It worked very well. I cleaned up an entire 14 piece set of Craftsman wrenches (Metric and SAE) that were just not cared for very well that way, and I paid a buck for those wrenches at garage sale.