Which Work Sharp To Buy?

[glitchy]

I have the E5 and really like it. I have the East-West kit like ItsAllGoneToTheDogs . If you think you’ll only use for kitchen knives, it’s the easy choice. If you have other things to sharpen, the Ken Onion might be better. The E-W kit also gets you some extra belts too and a couple additional grits.

[SheilaAnn]

Interesting thread. I was going to bring this up as I have been wondering what y’all do. Currently, I use a simple whetstone and a steel.

[gboss]

I can't use a whetstone system. I need something to "Set the angle" otherwise I am worrying about it the entire time I am sharpening. I have the Spyderco Sharpmaker, the Lansky Sharpening system, and now the Ken Onion Worksharp. I tried some manual "angle guides" for whetstones when I was living in Japan, but I didn't like how they performed. I have a lot of respect for people who can maintain the right angle. It's just not me.

[WillTravelForFood]

There's nothing wrong with finding a local sharpener pro and taking your home knives to them once or twice a year. A pro will do things to your knives that a countertop unit would never come close to.

And don't trust those home stores that say "bring in your knives, we'll sharpen them for you", as all they're going to do is run them through a countertop appliance in an effort to sell you a unit.

Figure to spend *about* $5 per blade for professional sharpening (more or less, your local prices may be higher or lower -- but shouldn't be too far off this mark). As always, wrap your knives in kitchen towels or other appropriate covering for travel. Safety first!

One way to find a local sharpener: ask your favorite restaurant chef where THEY go to get their knives sharpened.

Once you've done that, you should be able to use a countertop appliance for in-between maintenance.

[USMCCrashCrew89]

I got the KO with the tool attachment mainly for the ability to sharpen other than kitchen knives. If I had to go back and focus solely on kitchen knives I would probably do the E5 based on the learning curve for the KO. Either one is a good choice especially if they go back to an AR discount, just depends on your needs really.

[barelfly]

STEbbq like you, I noticed my Mercer wasn’t working like I wanted as well this weekend. I’ve used it a few times this month and it’s a few years old, but I take the honing steel to it before each use and I have a manual Chef’s Choice 463 Pronto sharpener/hone that was rated well on Cooks Illustrated. Maybe I needed to run it through the sharpener prior to cutting the rib roast, as it did ok but didn’t want to cut at first.

But, I do like WillTravelForFood suggestion on finding a local sharpener and see how that works for this knife. Give that a whirl and see how it works the first go around and go from there.

Will be watching to see what you end up doing and how it goes though.

[rickgregory]

So, stuff I learned from lurking (mostly) at KKF - Honing rods don't sharpen, they just stand up the edge. Useful on stainless, not on Japanese knives mostly. Not sure about non-japanese carbon. Also, touch up knives regularly but do realize that when you sharpen, you're removing steel and thus shortening the life of your knife (at least its life in the profile you bought). For home use, this is not really important since it will take years of even semi-regular sharpening to materially alter the profile.

If your knives have gotten noticeably dull, I'd have a pro sharpen them. You CAN get them back to a good edge at home, but a pro will give you a standard to match. It's easy to go from dull to kinda sharp at home and think "hey, this is pretty sharp" because of the contrast whereas a good pro will get the knife as sharp as it can be.

[gboss]

I use a MAC black ceramic honing knife. It's hard enough to work even on the shallow angles of Japanese style knives. It's a little pricey, but I think it does a great job.

[WillTravelForFood]

Honing rods don't sharpen, they just stand up the edge.

Brings up a good reminder -- not for those smarties here on the Pit, but for when we visit friends' houses and are forced to use their not-quite-up-to-snuff cooking utensils.

THEM: "But I sharpened it with that round thing that came in the set!"

US: "No, no you didn't."

[Santamarina]

Using other peoples knives is frustrating. If I know I’m gonna be doing any cooking or prep on the road I’ll bring my Wusthof chefs knife.

[Dr. Pepper]

I agree with rickgregory that keeping a consistent angle is important if you don't want to be repeatedly putting a 'new' edge on your knife. Of course, some knives need different angles. (EG: Cleaver might be 20⁰ per side, vs kitchen chef's knife 16⁰ , vs fish filet knife.

There are devices which guarantee that you will be consistent. I almost purchased a Wicked Edge system, but during my days of OCD YouTube 'research', came upon this Russian company, TSProf.

https://tsprof.us

I now own the Kadet, which is their middle sized sharpener. Their top-of-the-line K03 is too big for WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor), the smallest Blitz requires you to hold the base to keep from tipping. The Kadet can easily be partly broken down, and my lovely wife of 41 years lets me keep it in the pantry (vs the garage!)

https://tsprof.us/blogs/news/the-best-gift-for-a-man-tsprof-sharpening-system

Check it out. I don't think I have ever bought a 'made in Russia' product, which, if you think about it, is sad for Russia. China, Japan, Holland, England, Italy, France, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Israel, Turkey......., but never Russia. These folks spun out of the aerospace industry, and the machine tooling is awesome. Also, their website has many quick educational links. eg: explanation of knife blade metallurgy, etc.

I play this YouTube at 1.5 speed, and he still is excruciatingly slow.

[BBQPhil]

I have the Spyderco manual sharpener and it is genius. Easy to setup, easy to use, and all fits into a small package.

https://www.amazon.com/Spyderco-Tri-Angle-Sharpmaker-Sharpener-204MF/dp/B000Q9C4AE

I bought this after lots of research and willing to spend more. It is so simple to use and prevents oversharpening that can occur from motorized sharpeners- a problem I had. I use it for chef's and carving knives, serrated knives, pocket knives and scissors. It's a design that's been around a long time and still is better than anything else I've tried.

[STEbbq]

Well, SWMBO dug out this random Henckels sharpener that had been long forgotten about and stashed in the cupboard, so I am going to give that a shot and see what happens.

https://www.macys.com/shop/product/zwilling-j.a.-henckels-twin-sharp-stainless-steel-duo-knife-sharpener?ID=83002

If that doesn't work, since so many of you use manual sharpeners with apparently no issues or ruined knives, I will get this one:

https://www.worksharptools.com/shop/sharpeners/manual/angle-set-knife-sharpener/

I watched a bunch of Work Sharp videos, and this one seemed the most idiot-proof and offered the proper angles for kitchen knives (15 degrees apparently). The other one required me to give up control of the blade (put it in a grip) or put my fingers on it, which seemed riskier.

[jfmorris]

STEbbq I have the Ken Onion Angle Set sharpener - your #2 option - and like it a lot. What attracted me to it was the range of angles - 15, 17.5, 20, 22.5 and 25 degrees - and the compact size. I sharpen my EDC - a Kershaw Leek - to 20 degrees, and have been sharpening most of my kitchen knives to 15 or 17.5. The nice thing too is it is small enough to fit in a drawer, and requires no power.

A quick sharpen of a blade - 10 passes on each of the 3 different grits - probably takes 2 minutes per knife.

If you are comfortable with your ability to hold the blade vertical during each pass - it’s super easy. It’s not for folks who aren’t careful though. My wife would be best served with an electric sharpener that holds the blade in place for example, as she admittedly can’t even hang a picture level, and relies on me for that.

[rickgregory]

...offered the proper angles for kitchen knives (15 degrees apparently). ...

Just a word about this - precise angles matter a little but the bigger issue is keeping them consistent across the blade. If you did a 17degree angle, it would be fine. Sharper angles will dull a little faster than shallower ones (although again, this isn't going to be very noticeable in home use). Anyway, go for something that makes it easy for you to maintain the same angle along the length of the blade and you'll be fine.

[bmillin]

This is a very informative YouTube review of a broad range of sharpeners, with great technical detail on the sharpness before and after use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWcTv8Uqesg

[Santamarina]

That Ken Onion sharpener looks pretty slick. I bought a cheap set of whetstones on Amazon earlier this year. My knives haven’t been this sharp in years. But it is a lot of work and I worry about getting the angle wrong. The KO might be just the ticket.