Knife Sharpener

I have an older one of these:

https://www.worksharptools.com/shop/benchtop/ken-onion-edition-knife-tool-sharpener/

It keeps all of the kitchen knives sharp.

Pocket knives are sharp.

one thing, i have a fixed blade i carry daily, with a thicker blade. Downside, thickness of the knife is excellent for all i need it for, but the sharpener wants to polish a little more than just the edge. I have applied cold blue to dress it up a little and it helps mitigate rust a little when it is wet out, it is a work knife not a show piece…

 

And replacement belts are easily had on Amazon.

 

I have a MK 2 Workstation sharpener, works great. I bought it 2 years ago on sale for $69.95 at the Smokey Mountain Knife works shop.

https://www.worksharptools.com/shop/benchtop/powered/knife-tool-sharpener-mk2/

 

I've been using one of these diamond honing steels on the kitchen knives to good effect for years now: https://www.amazon.com/G-TING-Professional-Sharpener-Sharpening-Tungsten/dp/B08PCYL46G/

Takes about a minute to make the knives sharp enough to shave with.

 

I debated the Worksharp products but wanted to do more. I bought a 1" combo belt sander and disc sander from Home Depot. Got a variety of belts from 50 grit up to 600 grit. Then ordered a knife guide for it. I wanted to be able to sand walking sticks and other wood products also. The knife sharpener guide is not as accurate as some but is adjustable from 17* up to about 25*. Smaller knives like pocket knives you have to copy and hold the angle manually. Every knife we have is now razor sharp, and we have a wood sander. They make a leather stropping belt that fits it but have not ordered it yet.

 

Knife sharpener... or knife grinder???

A Washita stone is what I like the best for fine-honing all my wood working edge tools, and pocket knives. I use a lot in my work.

But Norton closed the mine, and the genuine Washita stones have become very expensive.

However butchering and for most meat, a simple bastard file works well. A slightly ragged edge actually works better than a shaving edge.

 

I use an old Lansky setup similar to this: https://lansky.com/products/dlx-5-stone-system/

It does take a little while, but I'm fine with that. I just set up an afternoon, gather all the knives up, and sharpen all of them at once.

Not as convenient as some of the quick kitchen sharpeners, but I've not had good success with them (the ones with the little stones in a V pattern that you pull the knife through). Maybe if it were used more often it might work better, but if a knife is already dull, I've not had success with those quick ones.

 

Now get yourself a leather strop on a spindle,chuck it up in a drill press and take the wire edge off and polish the honed edge....now thats sharp !

 

Of the fixed angle sharpeners I expect the “Wok Sharp” is about as good as any.
I also prefer the old school hand sharpening methods.
But they generally require a lot of practice and skill to master.
Yes the washita stone is a time proven favorite.
But for even sharper edges the harder grades of novaculite are required.
I do a lot of my sharpening on sheets of 400 to 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper.

 

1200 or 1500 grit will give a knife as super sharp edge. Good for touch and cut situations.
Going to 2000 or 2500 grit and beyond is getting into the “crazy sharp” zone. Like You need to split some hairs or something.
These grades of fineness will do you no good if you can’t maintain a steady angle. (Hours upon hours of practice required)
That said, “Know” that edge angles matter.
Too narrow of angle and the steel may not hold the edge. Too blunt and it won’t cut well.
Angles are especially important for things like axe edges. Too narrow of angle and you end up breaking the edge on a frozen log. Too blunt of angle and you mash the wood fibers instead of cleaving out big chips.

 

I've always liked these..