"Warthog v sharpener"

I have never seen one. Maybe you can post a picture or review link.

Best V sharpener I have is Spyderco Sharpmaker. Comes with all the tools in a very compact and portable package that is very user friendly and easy for anyone to use without scratching up the blade.
 
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Doesn't KaBar make a Warthog knife? Probably no relation. It does look like one fancy gadget with it various screws, etc.
 
Kind of looks like the Boker Vulkanus sharpener, which nobody has experience with either. Interesting concepts though.
 
I see the Warthog V-Sharp sharpeners pretty regularly at gun/knife shows around here. The vendor has sharpened my S30V EDC folder a few times with it and it seems to work okay.

There are IIRC three grits of diamond rod that go with the unit. The one used on my EDC was 600 grit IIRC and left a bit of a toothy edge. That seemed coarser than the brown Sharpmaker rod. That's a good thing to me, since the biggest shortcoming I find in the Sharpmaker is that the brown and white rods I have are simply not coarse enough for removing much metal very fast. You can adjust the angle of the Warthog rods to 17, 20, or 25 degrees. For chisel ground blades, you just manually retract the rod on the side of the device that you don't need.

One great thing about the Warthog V-Sharp is that it doesn't need any lubricant, so it is a *LOT* neater than using oil stones, water stones, Edge-Pro, or other sharpeners. I realize that the Sharpmaker is also lube-less, so only has considerations of how much you feel you need to scrub off the triangular ceramic rods to keep them working to your satisfaction.

The stroke used with the wart hog is much like that used with the sharp maker. The two differences I noticed were:

#1. The Warthog sharpens on both strokes - on the push stroke (tip moving forward, like a stabbing thrust), as well as the reversing pull stroke. The edge is in contact with the rods as the guy both inserted and extracted the blade from the guide slot where the rods are located. On the other hand, the video that Spyderco includes with the Sharpmaker shows sharpening on the pull stroke only, which is how I use mine.

#2. With the Warthog you can't vary the pressure exerted by the edge against the rods. That is controlled by the springs as the rod brackets slide horizontally back and forth. To remove more metal with the Warthog, you can only take more strokes until the job is done. With the Sharpmaker and other fixed-abrasive sharpeners, to vary the pressure exerted (and consequently the amount of metal each stroke will remove) you can simply press the blade harder against the abrasive surface.

The Warthog works well enough and, if I had no other sharpener already, it would probably be a good one to get. It's fairly idiot-proof since the blade position is narrowly constrained by the guide slot. I guess the things that keep me from buying a Warthog V-Sharp are:

#1. the fact that I already have sharpeners of a few different types (Edge-Pro, Sharpmaker, diamond steels, crock sticks, water stones, etc, etc) so the Warthog would simply be one more gadget hanging around.

#2. the price - for the $80 they were asking, I could buy almost two Sharpmakers.... or another knife. ;)

#3. the complexity of changing rod grits or angles vs the Sharpmaker, Edge-Pro, or other sharpeners. The rods on the Warthog V-Sharp are held in place with little bitty screws. Those screws have to be removed every time to either change to a different grit rod or to change to a different angle (applying a micro-bevel).
 
Unfortunately I bought a Wart hog before finding this forum.
Here is what I have found so far. It does work to a degree. I pick up most of my knives at flea markets, thrift stores, ECT so you can imagine what the blades are like. The only knives that it quickly sharpened for me were 4 Old hickory carbon steel knives. I should say 3 it worked well on. Set at 25 degrees it only took about 15 to 20 strokes to get them acceptable. For the boning knife that someone had abused I set the diamond bars to 17 degrees. The blade had several flat spots on the edge. 30 strokes or so later still several flat spots on the blade. Must need more strokes. 30 minutes later still flat spots on the blade. Ran the knife through the Chefs choice 110 got the flat spots out, finished it on the Wart hog. Then it went well.
Next came the old Chicago cutlery knives. The first set actually went fairly easy as they had never been sharpened before, and did not have any flat spots. 15 to 20 strokes and they were good to go. However one big butcher knife that I was not going to sharpen because it was already sharp. Had a flat spot on it. The person I bought it from let it slice through the bag and hit the asphalt dinged it. I guess he did not believe me that the knives were sharp. Well several stokes later the flat spot was smaller, but still there. 30 minutes later it was time to run it through the Chefs choice to regrind the blade. Back to the Wart hog, all went well.
Next came 2 older Chicago cutlery knives that had been sharpened or had an attempt at sharpening. After several strokes and no or very little progress had been made. Back to the Chefs choice then the Wart hog. (Don’t laugh about the older Chicago cutlery, I find these older American made knives to very nice knives). If we did not own several high quality vintage knives these would be my choice for kitchen knives.
Next an old Dexter boning knife from eBay that had been sharpened with a file or something awful over many years. Several strokes on the Wart hog to no avail. Back to the Chefs choice to reshape the blade, then the Wart hog. The knife is now a valuable tool and fairly sharp except about the last two inches of blade. The tip on the blade is very flexible and does not stay against the Wart hogs guide.
Next came a Shark filet knife made in Germany. A few strokes on the wart hog and it will shave a few hairs from my arm.
Ok enough experimenting to know the sharpener is safe to use on our vintage kitchen knives. I ran all the Sabatier, Henckels, and ECT. through at 17 degrees. Then put in the metal rods they call steals and did several strokes. Most went well until one of my wife’s stainless Henckles that is not vintage and a vintage Sabatier both paring. The more they were run through the steels the duller they got. Out of frustration I ran them a few strokes across my vintage Henckles steel. This put the cutting edge right back on the knives. Evidently these so called steels for the Wart hog made a bur on the blade. At least that’s all I can figure.
What I mean by acceptable is the knives slice right through meat, tomatoes, potatoes ECT. just fine. We are not a professional chefs, so we only need acceptable, not razor sharp.
This is my first attempt to write a review, and hope it might help someone.
I think the Wart hog will be OK for those that do not have much time to sharpen knives, and if the blades are already in good shape. Good enough for my wife to use if need be. Also good for a touch up on skinning knives. The problem here would be getting the blade clean before sharpening.
Bottom line, knife owners that use this forum, save your money for something really useful.
 
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