TimboKhan
Member
I have long admitted that I am for whatever reason quite horrible at sharpening knives. I don't know why this is a skill I don't have, but I don't have it. I have tried everything: Benchstones, Sharpmaker, Lansky, pull through sharpeners, etc. None of them worked particularly well for me.
For my birthday, my dad gave me a gift card to Cabelas, and while I was looking around, I saw that they sell the Work Sharp electric sharpener. I had seen these at gun shows, so I thought "Why Not!" and ordered one.
Fantastic decision on my part.
First, for those not familiar, the Work Sharp is basically a miniature belt sander. Really, nothing more complex than that. In fact, here is a picture of one:
It comes with 2 each of a 80 grit, a 220 grit and a 6000 grit belts, plus a DVD. I immediately lost the DVD, so I had to use the instruction book and played it by ear.
I set it up, grabbed a cheap kitchen knife and set to work. Literally within less than a minute, my crappy kitchen knife was shaving hair. I tried another. Same thing. I tried one of my cheaper folders. Same thing. I moved on to my regular carry folders and, guess what: Same thing.
Finally, feeling bold, I decided to see what I could do to an old Sharpfinger I picked up for a couple of bucks that was so dull that the edge almost had corners. It took a couple of passes with the coarse, about 5 passes with the medium and 10 passes with the fine, but that old Sharpfinger is SHARP now. I also used the fine on my Mora, and by god, that thing will about split atoms now.
Easy to use, and easy to understand. There are a couple of videos on the web in which people complain about not being able to get an edge, but I have to say, I have no idea how that is possible. I mean, I am not unfamiliar with tools, but it really was as easy as turning it on and pulling the knife through the guides. I also tried to freehand it a little, and that worked pretty good too. Belts were fast and easy to change, causing absolutely no problems for me at all.
On the downside, you have to be careful not to pull the tip of your knife down when completing a stroke, as you will round tips. I figured out how not to do that (just made sure not to pull down, basically), but my Santoku does have a slightly rounded tip now. Plus, you know, it's a power tool and it takes up space. Also, it's like 80 bucks. Also, I haven't really figured out how to do serrations yet, and kind of messed up the teeth on one of my very few serrated knives. Not a big deal for me, as they still work and that knife isn't the jewel of my collection, but enough that I will not sharpen serrated edges on any of my others or my roommates serrated knives until I can find a cheapy to figure out the technique on.
Anyway, if you stink at sharpening things but want to sharpen your own stuff, this may be the path for you. I am totally impressed and happy, and between the kitchen, my collectioin and my roommates, I sharpened something like 35 knives this weekend with no sweat, and every single one of them will shave hair.
For my birthday, my dad gave me a gift card to Cabelas, and while I was looking around, I saw that they sell the Work Sharp electric sharpener. I had seen these at gun shows, so I thought "Why Not!" and ordered one.
Fantastic decision on my part.
First, for those not familiar, the Work Sharp is basically a miniature belt sander. Really, nothing more complex than that. In fact, here is a picture of one:
It comes with 2 each of a 80 grit, a 220 grit and a 6000 grit belts, plus a DVD. I immediately lost the DVD, so I had to use the instruction book and played it by ear.
I set it up, grabbed a cheap kitchen knife and set to work. Literally within less than a minute, my crappy kitchen knife was shaving hair. I tried another. Same thing. I tried one of my cheaper folders. Same thing. I moved on to my regular carry folders and, guess what: Same thing.
Finally, feeling bold, I decided to see what I could do to an old Sharpfinger I picked up for a couple of bucks that was so dull that the edge almost had corners. It took a couple of passes with the coarse, about 5 passes with the medium and 10 passes with the fine, but that old Sharpfinger is SHARP now. I also used the fine on my Mora, and by god, that thing will about split atoms now.
Easy to use, and easy to understand. There are a couple of videos on the web in which people complain about not being able to get an edge, but I have to say, I have no idea how that is possible. I mean, I am not unfamiliar with tools, but it really was as easy as turning it on and pulling the knife through the guides. I also tried to freehand it a little, and that worked pretty good too. Belts were fast and easy to change, causing absolutely no problems for me at all.
On the downside, you have to be careful not to pull the tip of your knife down when completing a stroke, as you will round tips. I figured out how not to do that (just made sure not to pull down, basically), but my Santoku does have a slightly rounded tip now. Plus, you know, it's a power tool and it takes up space. Also, it's like 80 bucks. Also, I haven't really figured out how to do serrations yet, and kind of messed up the teeth on one of my very few serrated knives. Not a big deal for me, as they still work and that knife isn't the jewel of my collection, but enough that I will not sharpen serrated edges on any of my others or my roommates serrated knives until I can find a cheapy to figure out the technique on.
Anyway, if you stink at sharpening things but want to sharpen your own stuff, this may be the path for you. I am totally impressed and happy, and between the kitchen, my collectioin and my roommates, I sharpened something like 35 knives this weekend with no sweat, and every single one of them will shave hair.
