Work sharp worth it?

They are a fantastic addition to a sharpening system. I absolutely love the W/S for my bigger knives. Something like a Busse Team Gemini, a Survive! GSO 10, etc that will push cut newspaper is impressive. I rounded a few tips before I got the technique down now, I have had wonderful success. I sharpened a Survive! GSO 4.1 in M390 and let my buddy use it in Alaska. He used it all week, and skinned and caped a Dall Sheep with it. 3 minutes on the W/S had it shaving again.
 
We sell them at work and keep getting positive feedback. I use one at work to sharpen customer's knives all day long. Including a lot of high end blades. Gets almost all razor sharp. (some of the ones brought to me are just hopeless.)
 
I have the original Work Sharp powered sharpener and the Ken Onion Edition with the optional Blade Grinder attachment. Although I sharpen more by hand for the added therapeutic benefit I like the devices very much, particularly the Ken Onion version with the variable speed control and the attachment mentioned. Definitely worth it IMO.

When I first started sharpening with a belt sander years ago I took the advice of a forum member which was to practice on a bunch of beater blades. The trouble was I didn't have a bunch of beaters as I had already culled them from my growing collection, so I bought a box full of well used Forschner boning knives from a meat processor for less than a buck a piece. It turned out to be one of the best investments in time and money that I have spent in the area of sharpening and recommend it to anyone wanting to become proficient with powered sharpening equipment.
 
The Ken onion with blade grinding attachment produces better results than that of the work sharp alone. You have more control and aren't always creating a wide bevel. Micro bevels are incredibly easy with it too. The attachment gets my knives hair whittling sharp quickly, while also decreasing your chances of tip rounding.

One thing is the machine will remove allot of steel using the course belt and you can muff a blade up pretty quickly. I learned this lesson the hard way.
 
BenchCo Spydermade said:
The clip that holds the belt sander at different angles(the part that lets you think tilt the actual belt, not the guide) broke so the belt part itself moves when its on.
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Send it back to work sharp they have a warranty


That's not normal with regular use either..I've used mine extensively sharpening, reprofiling, my knives as well as anybody who I know that discovered I have it and needed there knives sharpened lol
 
hope they can sort that broken piece out for you--I typically free-hand, but the KO Work Sharp does yield good results:
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Has anyone here used the work sharp ko for doing full regrinds on primary bevels? Would it be difficult to use it for this purpose?
 
I have the Onion version. I liked it for most knives when I first got it, but I did find it difficult to properly follow the curve on really curved blades. I recently picked up the Blade Grinding Attachment, and it was a game changer for me. So easy to use, since it allows you to freehand the blade in a horizontal position against the belt. Just lay the blade on the flat guide ledge, raise it up to the belt, and go to town. This is now my favorite guided setup. :thumbup:
 

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FlameCycle said:
Has anyone here used the work sharp ko for doing full regrinds on primary bevels? Would it be difficult to use it for this purpose?
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I tried doing a full height convex on the attachment and it's really slow at it, which then heats the blade tremendously...It could be done but patience and several belts will be needed.
 
G. Scott H. said:
I have the Onion version. I liked it for most knives when I first got it, but I did find it difficult to properly follow the curve on really curved blades. I recently picked up the Blade Grinding Attachment, and it was a game changer for me. So easy to use, since it allows you to freehand the blade in a horizontal position against the belt. Just lay the blade on the flat guide ledge, raise it up to the belt, and go to town. This is now my favorite guided setup. [emoji106]
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Just picked this up too and I agree it is a game changer. It's simple to do micro bevels and gets a knife much much sharper. The regular one I got good results with, but your really limited with it and you always end up with that high ground convex bevel. Which isn't always a bad thing but some knives that come with a micro bevel like the tops bob are reprofiled using the regular. The grinding attachment easily touches up the tops bob without reprofiling it completely.
 
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