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Are sharpens best sharpeners any good?
- Thread starter Bo-Ri-Do
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2009
- Messages
- 44,314
Maintenance, Tinkering & Embellishment
Your how-to area for discussion on sharpeners, rust prevention, alteration & more.
Moving your thread there, General Knife Discussion is for discussing the knives themselves. There is a lot to cover, I would recommend reading threads and when you find something that catches your interest, then formulate some specific questions. Good Luck and happy reading.
Your how-to area for discussion on sharpeners, rust prevention, alteration & more.
Moving your thread there, General Knife Discussion is for discussing the knives themselves. There is a lot to cover, I would recommend reading threads and when you find something that catches your interest, then formulate some specific questions. Good Luck and happy reading.
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2014
- Messages
- 346
Look at the Edge Pro Axxis.
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2013
- Messages
- 300
Just learn stones or sandpaper man. There is no magical system that a monkey can operate to give you hair whittling edges.
A lot of people recommend the sharpmaker, and although it's great it is absolutely terrible for reprofiling. Speaking from experience.
The edge pro and wicked edge are the two top contenders for sharpening systems but are costly.
There's also the Lansky system, freehand, and whatnot. There are a butt load of options.
The edge pro and wicked edge are the two top contenders for sharpening systems but are costly.
There's also the Lansky system, freehand, and whatnot. There are a butt load of options.
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2010
- Messages
- 10,844
Which one is that?
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2015
- Messages
- 20
Sharpens best looks very similar to Coronas Garden tool sharpener. I've used on for several years to keep bypass pruners sharp. For some reason I've never tried tuning up a knife with one. Just a few strokes will get the pruners back on edge though. Sure wouldn't want to try any re profiling, but I'm thinking a guy could keep things work sharp with one.
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2013
- Messages
- 1,803
^^ this. The sharpmaker is great for maintaining an edge but way too tedious to reprofile. To reprofile, I'd recommend practicing on a junker knife before attempting on one of your good ones regardless of what method/system you choose.
I've used Sharpens Best for a couple of years. There is a lot of misunderstanding about them, and carbide Sharpeners in general.
I've attached a link to a sharpens best video at the end of this see if you can get a good idea of what we're talking about if you don't know it.
I think of the sharpens best as a steel rather than a sharpener. That is to say that it realigns the edge rather than actually sharpening it. If you use it as per instructions, with very little pressure, it doesn't damage your blade in any way, and it does make a sharp knife sharper.
I wouldn't try to reprofile a blade with it. It takes too much metal off at a time and it rips it off rather than smoothly grinding it off.
Here is the link.
https://youtu.be/cp75VUrYt0Y
I've attached a link to a sharpens best video at the end of this see if you can get a good idea of what we're talking about if you don't know it.
I think of the sharpens best as a steel rather than a sharpener. That is to say that it realigns the edge rather than actually sharpening it. If you use it as per instructions, with very little pressure, it doesn't damage your blade in any way, and it does make a sharp knife sharper.
I wouldn't try to reprofile a blade with it. It takes too much metal off at a time and it rips it off rather than smoothly grinding it off.
Here is the link.
https://youtu.be/cp75VUrYt0Y
As an update to my sharpens best comment, I just moved my washing machine for the first time in 10 years I guess.
Under the machine I found a Henkels kitchen knife. It's probably been there for 10 years. I scrubed any rust off of it, and sat down here with my Sharpens Best, and restored a shaving edge on the knife in under a minute.
It was already reasonably sharp, but not anywhere near shaving sharp.
I find the Sharpens Best or some of the other compact carbide sharpeners convenient to carry and very effective for normal use.
Under the machine I found a Henkels kitchen knife. It's probably been there for 10 years. I scrubed any rust off of it, and sat down here with my Sharpens Best, and restored a shaving edge on the knife in under a minute.
It was already reasonably sharp, but not anywhere near shaving sharp.
I find the Sharpens Best or some of the other compact carbide sharpeners convenient to carry and very effective for normal use.
If you're getting metal shavings off you're doing it wrong.
It's mostly dependant on your skill/technique and not equipment. I have several stones, Spyderco Sharpmaker (diamond and ultrafine rods too), DMT Aligner, Worksharp Field Sharpener, sandpaper, and have used Lansky Turnbox and Worksharps powered sharpener. I can tell you there is no best between them all, they all have advantages and disadvantages.
I can tell you the easiest one I have used thus far has been the worksharp, and I use easy very loosely as there is a learning curve still and you will need to practice with it a bit as it is extreamly easy to damage knives on it when you first start so we usually reccommend starting with junk knives. This is due to how aggressive it is, it makes it very easy to round/damage tips and remove far too much steel while sharpening. But due to the aggressive nature I find it's far easier to fully apex the blade and reprofile it which takes almost no time.
The Sharpmaker and Turnbox are among my favorites but even with diamonds they lack anything truely agressive to make reprofile work easy which should be done to match the bevels to the rods angles you use while sharpening for the first time. Same is true of all guided setups you should reprofile it to match the guided sharpener angles. That lack of predefined angles is one of the main benefits of freehand you can just match the existing bevel and just touch it up from the very start and not worry about it.
It's mainly all about skill and preference on what you want to use and what will work best for YOU. Just don't get caught up in how high grit something can get as all the grit does is change the end result in finish, a more coarse grit causes a more agressive/toothy finish and can leave something which can be thought of as micro serrations and work better in slicing applications. A knife finished at a higher grit is more polished/refined and work better for push cutting applications. When they are both fully apexed, burr free and free of defects they are both equally sharp but in different ways if all other things are equal. And truth be told most people won't notice a difference unless told most likely. I highly reccommend searching for past topics on this as it comes up a lot and you get a far better feel for what will work for you after doing a little research on what you think they work best for you and asking questions on it. This way we can better help you instead of making random suggestions.
Here are a few things to look at. Spyderco Sharpmaker, DMT Aligner, Lansky Turnbox, Lansky (guided sharpener), Gatco, Worksharp (check out most of their line of sharpeners), Edgepro, Wicked Edge, KME, sandpaper (scary sharp method), Washboard,and I would highly reccommend either a Norton India or Crystolon stone as a first stone if you wanted to freehand.
I can tell you the easiest one I have used thus far has been the worksharp, and I use easy very loosely as there is a learning curve still and you will need to practice with it a bit as it is extreamly easy to damage knives on it when you first start so we usually reccommend starting with junk knives. This is due to how aggressive it is, it makes it very easy to round/damage tips and remove far too much steel while sharpening. But due to the aggressive nature I find it's far easier to fully apex the blade and reprofile it which takes almost no time.
The Sharpmaker and Turnbox are among my favorites but even with diamonds they lack anything truely agressive to make reprofile work easy which should be done to match the bevels to the rods angles you use while sharpening for the first time. Same is true of all guided setups you should reprofile it to match the guided sharpener angles. That lack of predefined angles is one of the main benefits of freehand you can just match the existing bevel and just touch it up from the very start and not worry about it.
It's mainly all about skill and preference on what you want to use and what will work best for YOU. Just don't get caught up in how high grit something can get as all the grit does is change the end result in finish, a more coarse grit causes a more agressive/toothy finish and can leave something which can be thought of as micro serrations and work better in slicing applications. A knife finished at a higher grit is more polished/refined and work better for push cutting applications. When they are both fully apexed, burr free and free of defects they are both equally sharp but in different ways if all other things are equal. And truth be told most people won't notice a difference unless told most likely. I highly reccommend searching for past topics on this as it comes up a lot and you get a far better feel for what will work for you after doing a little research on what you think they work best for you and asking questions on it. This way we can better help you instead of making random suggestions.
Here are a few things to look at. Spyderco Sharpmaker, DMT Aligner, Lansky Turnbox, Lansky (guided sharpener), Gatco, Worksharp (check out most of their line of sharpeners), Edgepro, Wicked Edge, KME, sandpaper (scary sharp method), Washboard,and I would highly reccommend either a Norton India or Crystolon stone as a first stone if you wanted to freehand.
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- Jan 5, 2013
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I have been using the same Smith's diamond hone for 5-6+ years now and haven't need anything else. Bought at Lowes. I am sure theres better DMT gets a lot of love. But cost 3 times s much but I am sure are worth it. Buy a strip of leather and make a strop. A hone and a strop keeps things nice and sharp for me.
The sharpmaker is great but limits you to only two angles, 15 degrees and 20 degrees. I have the DMT Aligner but wasn't very happy with it, replaced it with the KME system which I'm very happy with, the KME allows infinite adjustment between 17 degrees and 30 degrees and actually you can go lower than 17 by turning the rod pivot upside down.
- Joined
- May 6, 2016
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- 1
Sorry for the bump of an older thread but I was recently on a hunt for good sharpening tool and this among other carbide sharpeners were up for consideration. I eventually chose a diamond rod.
I posted a response to this tool's creator in YouTube and wanted to post it here as it might help others understand the downsides of using carbide sharpeners and have my comment be saved in case he deletes it.
The YouTube video in which he sharpens a butter-knife: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrYExXiXM3E
My response:
"The tool works, but the problem with all carbide sharpeners is that you will lose the edge fast or faster than through other methods. And that will require the need to constantly 'hone' the cutting edge before each use as the edge is much more fragile or susceptible to wear. This primarily stems from carbide sharpeners creating 1) a much thinner, angled edge, and 2) from more shavings of metal that is taken off from the edge just by using the 'honing' section. Even the new edge you just created on the butter knife will dull much faster and will need further shavings, further strain in the 'V' section than a properly created edge. Essentially, one is looking at another couple of minutes of work to create another viable edge.
In the long-run, I believe even an average user might find himself using more and more of this tool because of the direct dependence of it created by the sharpener itself, dependence created by a knife that will dull faster because of using the sharpener! This can become tedious and redundant, and any utility created by it will be negated."
I posted a response to this tool's creator in YouTube and wanted to post it here as it might help others understand the downsides of using carbide sharpeners and have my comment be saved in case he deletes it.
The YouTube video in which he sharpens a butter-knife: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrYExXiXM3E
My response:
"The tool works, but the problem with all carbide sharpeners is that you will lose the edge fast or faster than through other methods. And that will require the need to constantly 'hone' the cutting edge before each use as the edge is much more fragile or susceptible to wear. This primarily stems from carbide sharpeners creating 1) a much thinner, angled edge, and 2) from more shavings of metal that is taken off from the edge just by using the 'honing' section. Even the new edge you just created on the butter knife will dull much faster and will need further shavings, further strain in the 'V' section than a properly created edge. Essentially, one is looking at another couple of minutes of work to create another viable edge.
In the long-run, I believe even an average user might find himself using more and more of this tool because of the direct dependence of it created by the sharpener itself, dependence created by a knife that will dull faster because of using the sharpener! This can become tedious and redundant, and any utility created by it will be negated."