BEST knife sharpener I've ever used

S

sigma2chi

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jun 20, 2010
167
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Grovetown, GA
#1
I recently bought a Wicked Edge knife sharpener

Wicked Edge Pro Pack I Knife Sharpening Kit

It was downright expensive I won't lie about that but I finally justified it by realizing that it did not make any sense to be willing to spend between $100-$350 on a quality knife only to have it less than razor sharp in a few months after use. If you're gonna invest in quality knives you need a quality sharpener.

The learning curve on this sharpener is non existent . VERY easy to use. Any my knives now are sharp enough to literally shave your face with. It is flat out scary how sharp my carry benchmade is.

I have tried everything from Lanskey to Japanese water stones to newspaper. You name it. Now, in about 10 minutes time I can take a dull blade that won't cut butter and slice saddle leather like it isn't there.
 
#3
Thats awesome and i could agree with you more. Two years ago i purchased a sharpening system. Previously i had done more damage that good while trying to sharpen a knife. I love being able to sharpen my own knife.
 
#4
I've been sharpening on a two sided Arkansas stone since I was about 10. Not until I started taking on the tougher steels did I venture into the diamond lanskey/gatco kit. Works ok, but if I'm not in a hurry I still use that flat stone. That being said I have been lusting over the wicked edge for two years now I think. I asked my wife for one thing for Christmas and the pro pack is it. I'm not holding my breath but I am crossing my fingers! I may just break down and get it. The only thing dumber than an unloaded house gun is a dull knife!
 
#5
I got the spyderco sharpmaker, I'm no expert sharpener by any stretch of imagination but I can get my good steel knives shaving razor sharp with it. Takes time to get a real dull edge up to snuff on the real tough stuff but once there a quick touch up when necessary is all that's needed. And it was like $50.00ish.
 
#6
I have an Apex Edge Pro sharpener. It gets my knives razor sharp. I love It and won't be switching, but if I were buying for the first time, I would get a Wicked Edge Sharpener.

Both systems don't compare the Lansky or the Spyderco Sharpmaker (which I own). They are more expensive for a reason.

There are people out there who can get knives this sharp by hand. I am not one of them.
 
#7
clmayfield said:
I have an Apex Edge Pro sharpener. It gets my knives razor sharp. I love It and won't be switching, but if I were buying for the first time, I would get a Wicked Edge Sharpener.

Both systems don't compare the Lansky or the Spyderco Sharpmaker (which I own). They are more expensive for a reason.

There are people out there who can get knives this sharp by hand. I am not one of them.
Click to expand...

It looks to me like the wicked edge duplicates the precision of the venerable edge pro with significantly more speed. I like it, though I wish that the field and sport version had the same build quality as the precision sharpener. It looks cobbled together by comparison. The clamp should be an integrated part of the base and the joints should be of the same quality as the other version.
 
#8
Geranimo said:
I've read a few threads with the same comments, and needed one even longer lol. Was hoping to find a deal on the pro pack 2 with no luck yet, might have to break down and get a second job.
Click to expand...

Good luck finding a deal. Get the second job and buy this knife sharpener. It's the easiest sharpener on the market to get a edge that you can shave with.
 
#10
the rod across the bottom is indexed for all the different angles. comes in real handy

Agree with all. best money i have ever spent on edge weapons. Just be careful or you'll find yourself in my boat....USPS boxes of knives show up at my door from family and friends dull and they expect them to be returned sharp.
 
#14
wow that is cool looking but my $50 lansky with a sapphire stone gets my knives plenty sharp to shave with. I sharped a knife for a friend and he bet me I couldn't shave my head with it... I won or lost depending on how you look at it.
 
#15
I've had the Wicked Edge for about a year, and couldn't be more satisfied. I sold my edge pro after it hit my mailbox. Wicked edge for me. I use a Benchmade with 154 steel for work, and cut shrink wrap and some cardboard all day long. I sharpen this knife 2x a week and just use 400/600 to freshen up the edge. Only takes me less than 30 seconds to do it. Thanks, Wicked Edge! J
 
#19
Tactical said:
Drill Doctor makes a knife sharpener I have been using for a few years. Works fats on all blades and leaves razor edge. Here is an Ebay link not sure if this is good deal or not. I got mine at a Gunshow.
Darex Work Sharp Drill Doctor WSKTS Electric All Purpose Knife Tool Sharpener | eBay


Also it costs 70.00
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I have used quite a few sharpening systems and this "Work Sharp" by Drill Doctor is the best. I get a knife extremely sharp in seconds to a couple minutes max, depending on how dull the knife at the beginning. The wicked edge may get a knife sharper but it takes significantly more time and money. The "Work Sharp" is simple and my knives are all shaving sharp all the time.
 
#20
I had the W.E. guy sharpen my knife at the Shot Show a few years ago. The next time I used the knife "forgetting it was sharpened" I cut my self pretty bad it was so friggen sharp.

I have a Lansky and a few of the stick sharpeners and they don't even come close to that W E.
 
#21
thebolt said:
I have used quite a few sharpening systems and this "Work Sharp" by Drill Doctor is the best. I get a knife extremely sharp in seconds to a couple minutes max, depending on how dull the knife at the beginning. The wicked edge may get a knife sharper but it takes significantly more time and money. The "Work Sharp" is simple and my knives are all shaving sharp all the time.



|
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Yeah, I got hung up watching an infomercial on the work sharp system one day. Always skeptical of what I see on the tube, I then went to their website I noticed that Cabelas sold them. For the most part if things don't work as advertised Cableas doesn't sell them. I had a party invitation there where you get employee pricing and purchased the work sharp after talking with hunting department manager that I have known for a long time. After returning home, within minutes I had several knives sharpened just as advertised. I took a knife that was dull and had my daughter follow the directions and without even knowing what it was had the knife sharp in like 2 minutes.

I am sold on it as it very fast and works on many different blades, from a 2" pen knife to a 10" filet. I felt even better after talking with the Mrs and finding out she was paying some guy $70 to sharpen her Wusthof kitchen knifes once a month.
 
#22
Beware of using anything powered to sharpen your knives. You end up removing a lot of metal unnecessarily and might generate enough heat to ruin the temper. They do make water cooled sharpeners designed to manage the heat issue. The Work Sharp is not one of them. If you don't give too much of a crap about your knives, it is fine. I would use it on my mother-in-law's knives, but not on my own. I have good knives with expensive metallurgies. Not a good idea for me.
 
#23
I've always used a diamond stone and thought I was doing a pretty good job until I got a Spyderco Sharpmaker. The Sharpmaker makes it seem easy to get an edge that will pop hairs off your arm.
 
#24
clmayfield said:
Beware of using anything powered to sharpen your knives. You end up removing a lot of metal unnecessarily and might generate enough heat to ruin the temper. They do make water cooled sharpeners designed to manage the heat issue. The Work Sharp is not one of them. If you don't give too much of a crap about your knives, it is fine. I would use it on my mother-in-law's knives, but not on my own. I have good knives with expensive metallurgies. Not a good idea for me.
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As someone who makes knives as a hobby, I can tell that is one of the biggest myths in knives. Most knives are tempered at temperatures over 300 degrees, which means, if you can touch the metal without burning yourself, you will not ruin the temper. You don't have to worry unless the metal changes colors. The main reason power tools are are bad ideas is that they are way too fast which prevents control. BTW, here is a video of Devin Thomas grinding a knife after the metal has been tempered.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/iu_r22FxzNQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
#25
clmayfield said:
Beware of using anything powered to sharpen your knives. You end up removing a lot of metal unnecessarily and might generate enough heat to ruin the temper. They do make water cooled sharpeners designed to manage the heat issue. The Work Sharp is not one of them. If you don't give too much of a crap about your knives, it is fine. I would use it on my mother-in-law's knives, but not on my own. I have good knives with expensive metallurgies. Not a good idea for me.
Click to expand...

With the work shop you have to use common sense just like any other sharpening process. Once you get the desired angle of the cutting edge with a 220 medium grit you need not use it again on that particular knife so removing meterial is not different than a sone,diamond or whatever. Simply hone or strop the edge with a 1000,3000 and 6000 grit belts.As far as generating heat, mine has a variable speed motor, different grits= different speeds, again use common sense. You are typically moving the blade at about an inch a second with very minimal pressure and I mean very light pressure. You would have to work very very hard to get the metal remotely close to hot enough to affect temper with a WS if following directions. This isn't a 1hp grinding wheel after all.

We all have things to sink money into and knives isnt one of them personally. Like alot of typical sporsman I use case, gerber, benchmade, bucks etc. nothing high dollar. Its not that I don't give a crap about em just don't want to spend more time than needed. Kinda like using a progressive loader over a single stage, the outcome is the same but the time spent is shortened.
 
#26
clmayfield said:
Beware of using anything powered to sharpen your knives. You end up removing a lot of metal unnecessarily and might generate enough heat to ruin the temper. They do make water cooled sharpeners designed to manage the heat issue. The Work Sharp is not one of them. If you don't give too much of a crap about your knives, it is fine. I would use it on my mother-in-law's knives, but not on my own. I have good knives with expensive metallurgies. Not a good idea for me.
Click to expand...

I understand your concerns of power sharpeners and was skeptical myself until I used this system, initially on my average quality knives. I have a passion for knives and am very comfortable using the Work Sharp on my most expensive knives. I use a very fine belt for most of the work and the knives have a very limited amount of heat in the blade due to the light pressure from the belt.
 
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#27
rockbox said:
As someone who makes knives as a hobby, I can tell that is one of the biggest myths in knives. Most knives are tempered at temperatures over 300 degrees, which means, if you can touch the metal without burning yourself, you will not ruin the temper. You don't have to worry unless the metal changes colors. The main reason power tools are are bad ideas is that they are way too fast which prevents control. BTW, here is a video of Devin Thomas grinding a knife after the metal has been tempered.

I think what Carter is saying here is that the probability of serious material removal and hardening goes up when using belts and grinders. As a result, for most of us, the slow and steady ways may actually get us to our end point more quickly. In the video Devin has a large tempered blade that he is removing metal from and he quenches it frequently which is the right thing to do but not everyone may be as attentive as he is. I also find its easier to add excess heat to metal when not sequencing your grits correctly. If you make too big of a jump from one grit to the next you end up, essentially, just polishing the grinds from the courser grit and its common to see people add heat as they press harder on the steel to get the expected finish.

Not saying RockBox and others here are wrong in 'how' to do it correctly......I just think, for many people, taking the slow approach will keep you from ruining a blade.
Click to expand...
 
#28
Pester said:
rockbox said:
As someone who makes knives as a hobby, I can tell that is one of the biggest myths in knives. Most knives are tempered at temperatures over 300 degrees, which means, if you can touch the metal without burning yourself, you will not ruin the temper. You don't have to worry unless the metal changes colors. The main reason power tools are are bad ideas is that they are way too fast which prevents control. BTW, here is a video of Devin Thomas grinding a knife after the metal has been tempered.

I think what Carter is saying here is that the probability of serious material removal and hardening goes up when using belts and grinders. As a result, for most of us, the slow and steady ways may actually get us to our end point more quickly. In the video Devin has a large tempered blade that he is removing metal from and he quenches it frequently which is the right thing to do but not everyone may be as attentive as he is. I also find its easier to add excess heat to metal when not sequencing your grits correctly. If you make too big of a jump from one grit to the next you end up, essentially, just polishing the grinds from the courser grit and its common to see people add heat as they press harder on the steel to get the expected finish.

Not saying RockBox and others here are wrong in 'how' to do it correctly......I just think, for many people, taking the slow approach will keep you from ruining a blade.
Click to expand...

I'm not recommending people buy a harbor freight belt sander/grinders to sharpen their knives even though you can get pretty good results that way if you know what you are doing. I was just addressing the myth that a person will ruin their temper by doing so. It's almost impossible to ruin the temper if you are just trying to sharpen a knife with power tools. The problem with power tools is that they work so fast that you can remove chunks of steel from your blade in almost no time and ruin the grind/shape of your knife.

I've never used a work sharp, but I doubt a battery operated sharpener is powerful enough to remove metal fast enough to ruin a knife. The grinder I use to make knives runs on a 2 HP 220V 3 phase motor and I've pushed hard enough on the belt to almost stop the motor before.

I personally use water stone to sharpen my knives. I gets lots of control and they work fast. It just requires some effort to learn a new skill.
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#31
Wow I thought my thread had died. Come back and there are 30 replies.

If anyone here is seriously considering any other brand all I can say is you get what you pay for. Yes the WE is expensive. Divorce is expensive. Both for the same reason. THEY ARE WORTH EVERY PENNY. I carry a Benchmade MPR and it went from butter knife dull to shaving with zero resistance sharp in less than 5 min. I'm sure there is some old Japanese guy somewhere that can do the same with a water stone somewhere in the world. But I'm not him and I like things that work well and do it quickly and simply.
 
#32
I use a two sided Japanese water stone that cost about 24 dollars from Veritas. It sharpens all my knives quickly and efficiently to the point where I can easily shave hair off my arm. I hone them with an old leather belt. Works great. No need for me to spend 400.00 to sharpen my knives.
 
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#34
clmayfield said:
Beware of using anything powered to sharpen your knives. You end up removing a lot of metal unnecessarily and might generate enough heat to ruin the temper. They do make water cooled sharpeners designed to manage the heat issue. The Work Sharp is not one of them. If you don't give too much of a crap about your knives, it is fine. I would use it on my mother-in-law's knives, but not on my own. I have good knives with expensive metallurgies. Not a good idea for me.
Click to expand...
+1!! Long before I was ever into guns, I was a knife collector and still am. I own everything frrom a $100-$3500 knife. I would NEVER use anything motorized to sharpen a knife of mine period. Buy a cheap knife, get a cheap sharperner... no biggie. But if your gonna spend $300 for an EDC, I suggest the Wicked Edge as well. Nothing comes close to getting a knife this sharp. Plus it offers many different angles depending on what the use of the knife will be. Ive had the Lanskys and the Sharpmaker and both of them just sit in the cabinet here in my office. My skinner is a Chris Reeve Nyala. I sharpen it once a season, kid you not. This thing cleans deer and ducks all season long with no need to sharpen. Only time I find that I need to "touch it up" is when I use it to hack thru bones instead of taking the time to locate my bone saw, and still with no seen damage to the edge other than it loosing a bit of shaving quality.
 
#35
+1 for WORK SHARP. This thing will sharpen the shit out of anything you feed it. The blade is easily cool enough when finished to touch it to your cheek, no way it ruins a blades temper. Ive tried many other systems and this thing blows them out of the water. Fast and super efficient.
 
#37
Quick question, I have been looking at Shun and Wusthof knives, and was told the WE was not good for convex edges. I have never tried to sharpen those, but even with free lifetime sharpening at the local shop I prefer to do it myself. The WE site says it does well, what do you guys think.
 
#38
clmayfield said:
I have an Apex Edge Pro sharpener. It gets my knives razor sharp. I love It and won't be switching, but if I were buying for the first time, I would get a Wicked Edge Sharpener.

Both systems don't compare the Lansky or the Spyderco Sharpmaker (which I own). They are more expensive for a reason.

There are people out there who can get knives this sharp by hand. I am not one of them.
Click to expand...

The Lansky and other systems that clamp on the blade don't seem to work well for me on smaller knives and knives with a beveled back edge.

I purchased this system and it is perfect for my needs.

Edge Pro Apex Model Sharpening System

The stones are twice as wide ass the Lansky and it works with all of my folders that have a beveled rear edge.

147.jpg
 
#40
I bought a pro PAC 1 about six months ago had reservations about spending that much coin on a sharpner then it arrived in twenty min I had a razor sharp sog and I love it best money spent in a while
 
#41
I am at a loss here folks. Been around razor sharp knives my whole life and not once did I need anything that looks like these by way of design or expense to get a razor sharp blade. What are you folks doing with your knives that require more than a quality porcelain rod or at worse a steel and strop to get it all back? Seriously, is it the quality of your steel or what you are cutting that requires you to have to reshape everything more than once in a great while?

Save what appears to be many hundreds of dollars, but your are going to have to learn how to use them. Far less loss of material, much faster, just as sharp.

Kitchen IQ 12 Inch Ceramic Sharpening Rod|eKitchenWorld

Illinois Razor Strop Co. 827 Imperial Russia Leather Strop | Fendrihan Shaving Store

Seriously, I am curious as hell..
 
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#42
#43
I tried everything over the years to sharpen knives and could get a razor edge on a regular basis. I saw the Work Sharp system and had one sent for $100 .Sharpens everything razor sharp very fast with repeatable results. I use it for everything with a edge. Kitchen knives ,carry knives ,hunting knives, axes ,shears ect. I WORK with my tools and in time they get dull. Used properly the Work Sharp will not harm blades. I do not have $3500 knives as they will not do the job any better than any "cheap "knife I own. If you collect knives of that caliber I highly doubt they get dull in the display case so in this case your point does not apply
 
#44
RollingThunder51 said:
I am at a loss here folks. Been around razor sharp knives my whole life and not once did I need anything that looks like these by way of design or expense to get a razor sharp blade. What are you folks doing with your knives that require more than a quality porcelain rod or at worse a steel and strop to get it all back? Seriously, is it the quality of your steel or what you are cutting that requires you to have to reshape everything more than once in a great while?

Save what appears to be many hundreds of dollars, but your are going to have to learn how to use them. Far less loss of material, much faster, just as sharp.

Kitchen IQ 12 Inch Ceramic Sharpening Rod|eKitchenWorld

Illinois Razor Strop Co. 827 Imperial Russia Leather Strop | Fendrihan Shaving Store

Seriously, I am curious as hell..
Click to expand...

A ceramic works fine for realigning a blade, but all of my knives need a good sharpening once or twice a year. I actually use my Sharpmaker with a superfine stone for realigning / honing. I also have one blade that was ground convex that I use the sandpaper and mousepad to maintain the blade... and that technique works really well.

The Apex and Wicked Edge make knives scary sharp. And when I say that, I am not talking about running the blade up and down your skin and hairs come off on the blade. I am talking if I run the blade a quarter of an inch above the skin and it hits a hair, it catches the hair and cuts it off. I know there are skilled bladesmiths who can get things scary sharp by had. I have bought a few Japanese Gyutos in aogomi blue steel that I know were hand sharpened and extremely sharp. I can tell you that try as I may, I cannot get my knives as sharp as with one of these more expensive tools.

And, by the way, I can't take one of my blades to your average knife sharpening shop and get them back as sharp as I get them with my Apex.

Now, it is true that it only stays scary sharp for so long. That level of sharpness is pretty delicate. In fact, most steels will lose that level of sharpness over time without cutting anything just through oxidation. But I LOVE super scary sharp.
 
#45
hermosabeach said:
The Lansky and other systems that clamp on the blade don't seem to work well for me on smaller knives and knives with a beveled back edge.

I purchased this system and it is perfect for my needs.
Click to expand...

I am absolutely a fan of the Apex and like I said, I am not selling mine. However, if you are comparing the Lansky with the Wicked Edge, you can stop right there. The Wicked Edge may look like a Lansky in that you clamp it in, but the similarities stop there. The tolerances are much tighter on the WE, the stones are of higher quality, the stone/strop selection is far superior. If the Lansky people sat around and thought about how to make their product better, they might have ended up at the WE, but they didn't.

Here are my gripes about the Edge Pro Apex (in comparison to the WE):
- You end up flipping the knife around a lot, manually placing the flat of the blade on a surface that will eventually pick up swarf and stone particles, which means that eventually you will mar up your blade. Yes, you can put painter's tape on the blade, but then you have to cut the tape just right or you end up with some funky shaped marring.
- For long knives, you have to move the blade along the apex as you sharpen, which means you are constantly changing angles. This impacts sharpening efficiency. With the WE, you clamp once and get essentially the same angle along the entire blade. Yes, the angle varies by the radius of the circle it creates, but the angle is the same for each portion of the blade.
- It is a hassle having to flip the apex around every time you want to sharpen the other side of the blade.
- From time to time, when I get careless, when bringing the stone down the blade, I end up not keeping the blade flat on the surface. It doesn't screw up the blade as the stone just hits the shoulder, but it is annoying.

Both systems will get you scary sharp flat bevel blades, but I think the WE is a bit easier to use just looking at how people use it. It seems a bit more fool proof.
 
#46
I know the higher end one like the OP listed is probably the best you can get, but the Lansky system is a hard sharpener to beat. I have always used that and the Arkansas stones my whole life, but I am getting into more knives now (I have been buying bokers). I know Boker is not the top end of all blades, but I really like the auto blade 74's, the fixed blade Argentina ones, and the ones from Germany.

I deer hunt, hog, duck, etc... and they are pretty awesome for everything I do.
 
#48
I personally favor convex edges. They are incredibly easy to maintain without insanely expensive gear. I do most of my touchups on a leather strop. I also have a 1x42 belt grinder (with belts as low as 9 microns) that I use to convex the edge of flat ground knives. Convex edges can be just as sharp as any other edge, but they are far more easy to maintain.
 
#49
I don't think I would ever put any blade besides kitchen stuff through an electric hone, that is just my personal opinion. Getting used to the Lansky kit I made a jig so I am always between 20 to 23 degree's when I sharpen my blades, every electric hone even the top end ones I have messed with don't give it that same edge.
 
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