Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire I have been looking for a high quality knife sharpener (wicked edge questions)

Paper wheels. But they are not for everybody.

Accusharp. Bought my first after moving down here in March. Made in the USA though I don't recall ever seeing them. Bought two more for the houses in Texas and Idaho. Best $25 ever spent, trust me.

http://www.accusharp.com/

KME, out of New Jersey. Excellent sharpener, excellent people to deal with.

my wife bought me one of these for christmas,and it actually works pretty good.

https://www.getedgeofglory.com/?uid...6E0&gclid=CIL55KC0nLoCFa0-MgodiTQA8w

Interesting comments here. As a retired meat plant owner, I can tell you for a fact that using diamonds as sharpening agents are really tough on blades. They are much harder than any blend of knife steel, and while they will sharpen a knife, the finished edge will be much rougher under a scope, than if water stones were were used instead.

Personally, we used a set of 6 edge pro's all set with a different stone so as to save my butchers time in sharpening. Every one of the boners loved those edge~pro's!!

Respects,
Richard

One of these; SPYDERCO SHARPMAKER

Ed

Just ordered a wicked edge pro1 pack with the ceramic stones as an add on I will report how I like set up and easy of use in a couple weeks

Congrats ~ anxious to hear your comments after using it a time or two

Wow, you should have a perfect setup there. I look forward to hearing your thoughts after using your set up.

Respects,
Richard

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?...PLA&gclid=CNy8nseTn7oCFUdk7AodoSAAXg

1000 grit is a starting point.

I don't know about the wicked edge but do have the edge pro and like it very much, but don't use it as often as I should because of being somewhat cumbersome to set up.

Here's what I have learned in my 15 year quest to be able to sharpen knives.

It's not about the media you use to sharpen. Paper wheels, bench grinders, lansky, edge pro, whetstone, or cobblestone will all work fine in the hands of somebody who knows what they are doing, and sharpening a good knife.

For the rest of us that suck at it, It's about being able set an edge on a repeatable angle, and them hone the edge you created at that same good angle.

The cheapest way to do that, with the least amount of work required IMO is the spyderco sharp maker. No gimmicks, fast setup, and you can re-bevel any knife to a 40* edge, and hone it to shaving sharp in less than 5 minutes on good steel. You need to add a pair of diamond stones to speed up resetting a bevel on hard steel or crappy knives.

People may argue about media and angles and steel. But the name of the game is being able to consistently remove material from your knife blade at a consistent, repeatable angle. And that's an irrefutable fact. So choose however that's easiest/cheapest for you to do.

You can spend literally any amount of money on knife sharpening. But if it's for an actual WORKING knife, the humble, simple, and dirt cheap Smith carbide/ceramic sharpener is one of the few times where going cheap is THE way to go!!



http://www.smithsproducts.com/product/50293/

But if you're a knife snob and just uber anal, you'll hate it; it's not perfect. You get one angle and it gets a little less effective on the tip and won't do the first 1/8" at the shank of the blade. But the tip can be sufficiently sharpened, while the rest of the blade gets shaving sharp. And the one angle you get is ideal and all you need. The carbide side I really never use, just the ceramic side.

But if your knife is a serious working blade, then you'll absolutely LOVE this cheap little sharpener. I bought 4 of them to put in various places because I paid like $4 apiece.

But seriously, 4-5 swipes and you're back in business; sharp enough to shave with. I have completely abandoned all other sharpeners because these are just so easy and practical.

You see, what I'm looking for in a knife is it's ability to do the job it was intended to do. I don't find knife sharpening to be a hobby or particularly "fun", but a dull knife is nearly as useless as an unloaded gun.

So if you're looking to impress your friends, then spend a couple hundred dollars on some "system" contraption that takes 6 times as long to use, comes with extensive instructions and more parts and accessories than a teenage girls makeup case, and does perhaps a 2% better job...if you do it all right.

For someone who would rather spend his time doing something productive, then spend 30 seconds with the cheap little Smith and snicker at this little gem you've discovered.

actually the cheap Smith sharpeners are what i use(different model but works the same) because i want to be able to touch up the blade whenever.....ive got 3 or 4 of the Smiths scattered around so one is usually handy no matter where i am......ive got a Lanskey but found it usually wasnt handy when i needed to touch up the blade(in other words it was at home in a drawer or some such thing).....

course im also an oddball in that i like D2 or full blown carbon steels over some super hard stainless that while keeps its edge for a long time is a pain in the arse to sharpen when i do need to touch up the blade.....

Another vote for the Spyderco Sharpmaker. They are idiot-proof and it's easy to put a scary sharp edge on any blade. I also bought the diamond sticks for mine for cutting the back bevels and reshaping edges on new blades with hard steel.

I've been at it for nearly 40yr, and for the last 35 or so, I was the guy folks asked to sharpen their knives, and I've mostly done it freehand with, at first, Smith Arkansas stones. I bought a set of DMT Diamond "stones" in 1987, and still use them today. The blue one with a Gerber steel will deliver a hair-shaving, flesh cutting edge, on good steel, faster than ANY technique/gadget I've ever seen. It can be done just fine by hand, it just takes practice to get the muscle memory. You need to position your body in a similar position when you sharpen, as YOU are the jig. You need light to be able to see the arris. This will tell you if you need to adjust the way you hold/stroke the knife. When the knife will "nick" your nail, it might be sharp enough to steel.

or you could save oodles of time and money and use the little Smith and get 98% the results in 30 seconds. They're just outstanding.

Don't get me wrong, all the others are good, but they're typically a knife sharpening production. You have to get everything out, set it all up and then make sure you hold the knife just so. The Spyderco really is excellent, but it's like $100 for only maybe 2% better results. I have a Lansky that was rather expensive. It's a serious production to set everything all up and in the end I will end up with a SLIGHTLY sharper knife. But seriously, the little Smith gets my knife shaving sharp and I've never once been using a Smith sharpened blade and felt it needed to be sharper. The Smith does a fantastic job and it's completely idiot proof. I just freshened up my Swiss Army Knife that goes with me anywhere. 5 swipes down each blade and I'm on my way. And it will do that to S30V or VG-10 just as easy; how can you go wrong.

Tormek. You won't find better!

Of course I am a knife snob and just uber anal as you say Kevin.

GFY

Geo

I also have two Bark River knives that come with a convex edge. Im new to the whole convex edge thing but bought the leather paddle and sharpening compound that goes on it. Im trying to learn the process but it seems like the more I sharpen the duller it gets! May end up putting it in the Edge Pro and putting a flat bevel on it. I love those two Bark Rivers by the way.