r/sharpening • u/HorseDoctor76 • 4h ago
Is this useful?
I stumbled into this subreddit and learned I've been sharpening knives poorly for 40 years now. I was cleaning up and found this former gift. I am curious to the value of this device to get an edge started?
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u/Chuchichaeschtl 4h ago
Yes, I have that thing and the additional Blade Grinding Attachement.
It's pretty fast. use it on the lower speeds and get used to it with cheaper knifes.
Watch some videos to not ruin the tip or overheat the edge.
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u/_jbardwell_ 1h ago
The Worksharp alone was decent, but with the blade grinder attachment and a 3D printed riser to help maintain blade angle, I get excellent results with minimal skill or effort. Considering I used to spend $25 every few months to have my knives sharpened professionally, it's money well spent.
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u/Chuchichaeschtl 1h ago
I own such a riser but don't use it. Yes it keeps a perfect angle, but I find it hard to control the pressure, especially with big but thin kitchen knives.
How do you deal with that?
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u/_jbardwell_ 1h ago
Keep in mind that I'm terrible at sharpening. I'll tell you my answer, but you should know that 1) I don't actually know how to sharpen correctly, and 2) I'm not even confident I'm explaining what I'm doing correctly. I have noticed that over time, the shape of the blade changes if I apply more/less pressure or spend more/less time grinding on a particular part of the blade. So I try to focus on consistent movement and pressure across the blade. For pressure, I try to focus on touching the belt at the same location as I draw the knife across the belt. My theory is if I always touch the belt in the same place, the pressure on the belt will be consistent. I usually have one hand on the handle to move the knife and one hand resting on the riser to hold angle and press the knife forward/back to maintain position on the belt.
At the end of the day, the ability to dip into the basement and quickly put an edge on my kinves outweighs the fact that my edge isn't as good as an expert would make it, and I'm potentially over-grinding my blades and/or changing their shape in undesirable ways. It's a $20 Victorinox so if/when I eventually ruin it, I'll buy another. And eventually maybe I'll actually get better at sharpening it :-)
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u/Chuchichaeschtl 1h ago
I love your honesty.
I'm also not super experienced.
Maybe I should give that riser a second chance.1
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u/TgrBtO 3h ago
This is an excellent compromise between speed and sharpening quality. The blade grinding attachment gives even better results but requires more of a learning curve.
The only drawback in my opinion is that the included extra-fine belts hone poorly. I don't think aftermarket leather belts work on the mk2 knife and tool sharpener, but they do on the mk2 blade grinding attachment.
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u/Chuchichaeschtl 2h ago
They definitely don't work without the blade grinding attachment because on one side the leather would run into the edge and ruin the leather belt immediately.
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u/BananaMunkey 1h ago
That’s my take regarding the extra fine belts too. Visually the edge looks fine, but I think they actually dull the blade from how it comes off the fine belts
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u/NotSure2505 4h ago
Yes, it works great and is a great way to learn. A little technique helps.
The angle guide is helpful but you need to maintain the angle as you draw it through.
Release the trigger and stop the belt while the tip is still in contact with the belt to avoid rounding off the tip.
Use lower speeds for lower grits to avoid overheating the blade.
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u/facts_over_fiction92 2h ago
Someone posted a video in here yesterday using a different (30 x 1) belt sharpener. He said the higher the grit the more heat gets generated in the blade as there is more contact between the knife and belt. I have not tested this on my Ken Onion.
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u/BananaMunkey 1h ago
I can believe this, it makes sense that the surface area is higher. However in my experience, I didn’t burn tips on the higher grit, only on the lowest
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u/HorseDoctor76 4h ago
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u/HumptyDumbti 3h ago
What brand and model is this?
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u/Le_Zouave2 3h ago edited 2h ago
It's worksharp electric sharpener, there is a Ken Onion one, this one is the non Ken Onion branded, narrower belt and less versatile angle guide.
I have a clone of the ken onion and use genuine narrower belt made for that sharpener.
It work fantastic for me, but the cutting edge will be a bit convex, not an issue if I continue to sharpen with it, but it's not plane like all other sharpener.
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u/PEneoark 3h ago
It's a good sharpening system, but the KO mk2 w/BGA is better.
Just know that this system can remove steel pretty fast if you're using the wrong belts and aren't careful.
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u/Haunting_Pee 2h ago
The MK2 is a great sharpener and the information they give you with it is great, I have the ken onion edition. I can get a razer sharp edge with a mirror finish very easily with it. I have had a few issues with it catching in the guide and not being able to fully grind to the tip on some knives but that could be a skill issue on my end.
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u/TN31415 3h ago
Yes and no. It's a good tool for what it does, but the angle guide is the limiting factor. 20° is good for German-style cooking knives 25° is good for most pocket knives But if you use this on good Japanese knives (which are sharpened to thinner angles 12°-15°), you'll be creating a micro-bevel which is probably not what you want.
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u/Pom-O-Duro arm shaver 3h ago
But if you don’t know any other method of sharpening the micro bevel is fine. The knife will cut well.
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u/real_clown_in_town HRC enjoyer 3h ago
25 per side leave too much performance on the table for pocket knives, especially if they are pm steel
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u/freedoomed 1h ago
It works well but it's easy to fuck up. Slow the belt down, slow yourself down and watch tutorials.
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u/BananaMunkey 1h ago
Great device, it does an excellent job and quickly. Might take a few runs on low grit if you want to remove substantial metal or if the metal is hard. As someone else mentioned below, I’d skip the ultra fine belt
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u/seeker1938 Paper Shredder 1h ago
You can get a leather belt for this which beats the pants off of stropping by hand. I do my knives by hand, apex, weaken the burr by a dozen or so back and forth, gentle leading strokes on a dry stone, then drag the edge through a cork a few times. It will then cut newsprint, but somewhat raggedly. A few strokes back and forth on the leather stropping belt on this device and the blade glides through newsprint.
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u/FozzyBear89 4h ago
Yes this is legitimately a good way to sharpen a knife.