anothernewb
Member
First off, I''m not much of a blade guy (yet...) In that I like to have a blade handy, but I'm just not that technical on the kinds of steel and so forth... I'm the kind of guy that will do just enough research to make sure I'm not buying crap, and then move on.
nor am I an afficianado on sharpening. I've bought a few of the tools like a lansky and a spyderco - but never really put enough into it to learn to do it well. No skill I guess. I've wrecked perfectly good blades, and done OK with others.
I've seen this worksharp micro belt sander thing a couple places and have been back and forth on it. Honestly - by first thought. another power sharpener. I've had a few of them over the years too and have trashed a number of what I later realized were fine knives. However- a friend got into making knives and bought one, but then moved into a much larger setup. some sort of sandpaper wheel and belt sander bench mount thing. I guess.
Anyway, he made me a heck of a deal on it - and I have to say It's changed my mind on it. I think this thing was designed precisely for people like me who don't want cheap knives, want them sharp, but don't have the skill or inclination to really get the most out of a hand stone system.
SO I dug up a few "beater" blades I keep around and ground on them for awhile. I have to say I was very impressed with it. I know enough that a 40 degree angle is pretty thick for a kitchen knife, but a good 40 edge is far better than a beat up chipped up 20* one.
Does it have drawbacks? of course even I can see some. The included grits are missing a step I think - but it works better than the draw through carbides, and is much better at making a steady angle than I am. I quickly got up the courage to run through my kitchen knives (older henckles and Chicago forged blades) and successfully restored a few knives I thought were beyond repair.
Now a skilled person with a good set of stones and the skill to use them will wipe the floor with this thing, and I'm sure I could make a shim to narrow the angle a bit too. but as a "I just need a way to sharpen knives decently" type of person, this thing is pretty sweet. I'm not in the habbit of doing this
- but I would recommend this unit if you're like me at all in that you understand edge angles and the fact that there is good steel and bad steel. and how that relates to edge holding and ease of resharpening. You care about decent knives, but you realize you will never see the value in $500 kitchen knives, and are perfectly okay a simple way to get a good edge that's 90% or so of it's potential with one simple tool.
nor am I an afficianado on sharpening. I've bought a few of the tools like a lansky and a spyderco - but never really put enough into it to learn to do it well. No skill I guess. I've wrecked perfectly good blades, and done OK with others.
I've seen this worksharp micro belt sander thing a couple places and have been back and forth on it. Honestly - by first thought. another power sharpener. I've had a few of them over the years too and have trashed a number of what I later realized were fine knives. However- a friend got into making knives and bought one, but then moved into a much larger setup. some sort of sandpaper wheel and belt sander bench mount thing. I guess.
Anyway, he made me a heck of a deal on it - and I have to say It's changed my mind on it. I think this thing was designed precisely for people like me who don't want cheap knives, want them sharp, but don't have the skill or inclination to really get the most out of a hand stone system.
SO I dug up a few "beater" blades I keep around and ground on them for awhile. I have to say I was very impressed with it. I know enough that a 40 degree angle is pretty thick for a kitchen knife, but a good 40 edge is far better than a beat up chipped up 20* one.
Does it have drawbacks? of course even I can see some. The included grits are missing a step I think - but it works better than the draw through carbides, and is much better at making a steady angle than I am. I quickly got up the courage to run through my kitchen knives (older henckles and Chicago forged blades) and successfully restored a few knives I thought were beyond repair.
Now a skilled person with a good set of stones and the skill to use them will wipe the floor with this thing, and I'm sure I could make a shim to narrow the angle a bit too. but as a "I just need a way to sharpen knives decently" type of person, this thing is pretty sweet. I'm not in the habbit of doing this
- but I would recommend this unit if you're like me at all in that you understand edge angles and the fact that there is good steel and bad steel. and how that relates to edge holding and ease of resharpening. You care about decent knives, but you realize you will never see the value in $500 kitchen knives, and are perfectly okay a simple way to get a good edge that's 90% or so of it's potential with one simple tool.
).
