Community Sharpening Journal

[Giygas]

Thirding the WS precision adjust recommendation.

You can get the sharpener, 4x1 stone adapter, and a full set of CGSW resin bonded diamond stones for not much more than the base Edge Pro.

None of that is really necessary, though. It's perfectly serviceable straight out of the box.

[JSumm]

The WS PA is a great way to get into a fixed system with a small investment. It works great. All I used for awhile. I'm simple when it comes to sharpening, so now I just use WS diamond bench stones for re-profiliing and touch up on the sharpmaker.

[Erich]

I want to get a Work Sharp Precision Adjust but don't know which one to get. Is the base model good enough or is the elite model worth the extra money? I know there is also a pro version but I don't think I want to spend that much.

It's not very useful. You have a very small range of motion and fine ceramics clog quickly which matters because you have to jump from an extra fine diamond to a extra fine ceramic, a huge grit jump. Worksharp sets up the fine ceramic for heavy metal removal but it is not designed for that kind of work.

Get an Edge Pro. The water stones that come with it are ok but if you are not careful you can over polish the edge. Buy a Sigma Power stone like a 10k grit from Gritomatic and you'll be good; grind away with the stock waterstones and then finish with the Sigma Power. Gritomatic sells tons of stones and plates for Edge Pro.

I have to 100% disagree with you on the WorkSharp. I've reprofiled many of mine, and friends knives using the base model Precison Adjust, but with the upgrade kit that includes other grits. Not the newest, beefier released model they have.

For the price, it's really tough to beat. Even with its limitations. Light pressure and you shouldn't have any problems. I've used it on some of my favorite knives with great results.

It is an inferior system with corresponding limitations. That is why it is cheap. To make it functional at all you will need to buy an aftermarket stabilizing post for the clamp, and the factory abrasives are held by a plastic mold that is not flush with the stone and so makes sharpening to the choil a pain. If you are on a budget though, then sure, go for it. Yet guys will spend hundreds of dollars on knives with exotic steels like in your images but then go cheap on their abrasives.

[TkoK83Spy]

*REMOVED - TazKristi*

[vivi]

lol, I needed a good laugh this morning.

I can use training wheels better than you!

[vivi]

btw heres the perrin le baby bowie ive been working on



it came from the factory with no edge on the first 1/2" or so. I got that part mostly apexed cleanly with my belt sander.

This weekend I'm resetting the entire edge on the sander since currently half has an edge off that and half has a hand ground edge off a diamond stone.

Cuts good as is lol, just looks goofy. Excited to see what I can do on my sander with it later.

[vivi]

Ok, so not great, but better than the first few knives I tried sharpening with power.

I find it much easier working with larger blades like chef knives and machetes. 3" blades are tricky.

This one came with an edge like the bow river. first 1/2" was as blunt as can be, literally a 3mm wide flat section where the edge should be.

Might not be the prettiest edge but boy does it cut. I cleaned it up with my fine spyderco benchstone, but not so many strokes I sharpened out all the teeth. Can't remember the last time I could wave my knife over my arm without contacting skin and watch arm hairs jump like lemmings. Coarse edges cut and cut but they don't do tricks like that.





Didn't take pictures but I also dropped the angle on one of my 62rc A2 fixed blades really low. Gonna play around with it in the garage for breaking down cardboard and see how it responds to a dramatically thinner edge.

[Bemo]

I love it Vivi.

[Bemo]

Quick question: anyone out there try Pride Abrasives water stones? Saw my local Woodcraft now carries them. I'd be interested in anyone's experience.

[Steeltoez83]

Quick question: anyone out there try Pride Abrasives water stones? Saw my local Woodcraft now carries them. I'd be interested in anyone's experience.

Ive used the 400 and the 1k quite a bit. Havent used my 3k enough to give a fair opinion. Anything specific you wanna know?

[Bemo]

Most of my waterstones are King or Shapton Kuromaku's with a few Naniwa's thrown in. Just curious how hard they are and how long they last. I figure I'd use it more for chisel or plane blades than anything else.

[Steeltoez83]

I don't think you gain anything by picking them up. They do seem to finish coarser than their listed grit ratings. But from what I can tell you have mostly splash and go stones and the pride guys are soaking stones. In my own usage I feel the rate of wear is around the kuromaku level.

[Bemo]

Thanks Steeltoez, that's very helpful. And I hope things are going ok for you.

[Scandi Grind]

Didn't take pictures but I also dropped the angle on one of my 62rc A2 fixed blades really low. Gonna play around with it in the garage for breaking down cardboard and see how it responds to a dramatically thinner edge.

I've been curious just how low of an edge angle I could go on a general purpose outdoor fixed blade. Since I don't have a grinder and most knives come pretty thick behind the edge, I have literally been considering buying a paring knife, dropping the edge angle too 16 degrees or less if I can get it there, then trying it around my house, lawn, and garden to see if it can actually hold up. Not sure if that is overly hopeful, but it would be interesting to see if something that thin might be more capable than I expect. I want to test the limits of thinner edges, at least for my personal use anyway.

[vivi]

More sharpening adventures with my 1" belt sander.





This was one of the first knives I ever tried to sharpen on the sander, a large TDI. Tried to correct the edge today. You can still see scratches from the first attempt. Much cleaner edge now.




SOCP style knife a friend gave me to sharpen for him. Apparently it came completely dull.




Landi EDC. Carves wood extremely well now. It came with a really thick edge and the steel is hard and tough to grind. Taking this knife this thin by hand would have taken at least 45-60 minutes.




Landi Bushcrafter. Came thickly ground and mostly dull. Carves much better now.

Excited to take some of these out for day trips to the woods and mess around carving things out of wood with them.

Saved myself a good 2-3 hours over doing this by hand. Spent maybe 10 minutes on the bunch.

[vivi]

Picked up some of my moms kitchen knives to touch up for her. Here's a henckels santoku:





Like I said before, bigger knives are easier for me to work with on the sander. This one looks pretty close to factory.

Starting to like this method for simple touch ups too, not just reprofiling. I get a clean apex, then give the knife 4-8 strokes per side on a fine ceramic and its hair popping sharp with some toothiness left.

[p_atrick]

Vivi, have you ruined any knives when you first started out with the sander?

[vivi]

Vivi, have you ruined any knives when you first started out with the sander?

No. Taking that kabar TDI to too low of an angle and scratching it up is about the worst I've done. Blunted a couple of tips but that's a quick and easy fix....just grind down the spine end a bit.

I'm surprised to be honest. Thought I'd ruin a few in the process but they're all still functional.

[vivi]

I scored this used for $10.



It was in decent shape. Some patina, a few rust spots, a stiff pivot and two completely dull edges, but no damage and no flaws I didn't think I could easily fix.

I cleaned up the sides of the blades and oiled the pivots, but never did get around to putting a new edge on the blades. Until today:







Took the clip up to 2k grit, and edged the spey on the diamond sharpmaker stones then 1 stroke per side on the fine rods. stropped each on bare leather twice per side. Both blades cleanly shave, but that clip blade took a screaming sharp polished edge.

One of the great things about gaining more confidence with my belt sander, is I'm tuning up the edges on knives like this. Knives I bought at one point, but never got around to reprofiling, and so because they didn't cut very well I never carried them.

Went through all my fixed blades that needed a new edge and have been knocking them out one by one. Old chef knives, utility knives, paring knives, machetes, bushcrafters....anything I can think of that needs a new edge.

I've been gaining a new appreciation for knives in the back of my knife drawer I hadn't touched in years. My Landi Bushcrafter came with an VERY thick edge, and the hard steel was taking a while to reprofile. Never got around to finishing it.

Now that it has a crisp, thin edge I refined up to 8k grit, it's been an absolute pleasure carving wood with it. The ergonomics fit me so well. Definitely adding this one to the hiking / camping rotation now.

Got some Pacific Salts I'm gonna try soon too.

[endura3]

I may have missed it earlier in the thread, but what specific belt sander do you have? It seems like a really quick, handy way to sharpen once you get the hang of it. You're putting some really nice edges on these, and I similarly have drawers of older knives I'd love to put new edges on but don't really have the time/energy to put to the bench stones.

I'd be curious to hear any specific feedback you have on the make/model you own (or general advice on getting started) since most belt sander reviews aren't really geared towards knife sharpening.