Would you sharpen your 3" folder to 15° on a Chef's Choice electric sharpener?

[csnack]

Thanks, yeah I had decided last night that I would probably end up getting the Sharpmaker plus the additional rods. It's got a 15° per side option so that's what I'm after. For around $135 I can get that with the additional rods, or the ken onion. Probably Sharpmaker is best, as I'd like a v grind and don't want to be taping up my blade every time. I saw the coffee mug trick, that's pretty cool. So for a diy strop would the back of just any old leather belt work?

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[Spey]

... I got a Ken Onion Worksharp for Christmas, still haven't used it.

Currently, I sharpen on an Edge Pro. I also have a Sharpmaker, a Lansky set, and a whopping big Norton stone somewhere. I like sharpening. It's meditative. ...
YMMV.

I got a Ken Onion Work Sharp about a month ago. I spent about 20 minutes or so last year at Blade watching demonstrations, talking to the rep and was impressed overall. But the sad fact is, I've had it for a month and have not even taken it out of its box. The main purpose I got it for was re-profiling fixed blades that have an edge that is too thick.

Those KOWS units are really good at taking that nice flat thin bevel that you work hard to extend all the way to a fine apex and convexing, progressively making the convex nice and fat near the cutting edge. A buddy of mine who was actually doing fairly well with his guided DMT system went out and bought that KOWS (WSKTS-KO) because he wanted a faster and more mindless way to sharpen his knives. He fell in love with that sharpener, and got into more refined and polished edges, then started bringing his knives back to me for sharpening. They were ground around 60+degrees inclusive at the edge now and he was struggling to understand why he had to hold the knife at such a steep angle to get it to bite.

I got an opportunity to get that sharpener out of his hands and it lives in a milk crate now. I think it has a place in sharpening & polishing, just has an issue with folks abusing edges without an understanding of what's going on (more material, more easily removed from the edge-apex than the shoulder). Kinda the same as struggling to get a flat bevel all the way to the apex (during a reprofile secondary) and then steepening the grind a little ... and selling the edge a little short of what it could have been. While the tool (WSKTS-KO) may be adjusted to 15 or 20-degrees, without a platen one must also account for deflection of the belt coming off the edge (steeper angle) and the amount of pressure of the blade to the belt.

 

[Mecha]

Thanks, yeah I had decided last night that I would probably end up getting the Sharpmaker plus the additional rods. It's got a 15° per side option so that's what I'm after. For around $135 I can get that with the additional rods, or the ken onion. Probably Sharpmaker is best, as I'd like a v grind and don't want to be taping up my blade every time. I saw the coffee mug trick, that's pretty cool. So for a diy strop would the back of just any old leather belt work?

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...and you also decided last night to get a big ol' sword, correct?

 

[Quiet]

I haven't read this thread, because I assume that it's three pages of saying what I'm about to say: NO. I would never sharpen a folder (or any other knife) on one of those Chef's Choice crappo jobbies. Terrible for your edges, really.

 

[sabre cat]

I have a Sharpmaker, a Lansky, plus a few basic stones for freehand sharpening. A Chef's Choice sharpener is not even on the horizon for me. It should not be for you, either.

I bought a great slicing knife for when I have prime rib. It came from a second hand store and I got a very good price on but the edge had been ruined by someone using an electric sharpener.

Oh, I went through all the knives they had. You would be amazed by how many had seriously damaged edges from improper sharpening.

 

[Herlock]

Hi! An out from the pack voice here . I sometimes resort to a Chef Choice 120 for sharpening my blades. Not on a regular basis, for “normal” maintenance I use my Lansky System (diamonds, stones and leather hones ) or a KAI stone 400/1000 but, for sharpening dull hard steels, I am not afraid to use it .

I can only bring my own personal experience with this as an hobbyist and no expert at all. Almost all my folders went through it at least once or twice in their life time and I have never “screwed up” a blade or an edge. On the 120, the first slot it’s rough, I agree and, if I don’t pay attention, it can remove way too metal compared to what is really needed. But let’s be realistic: it’s not that it eats out half of my blades or turns a PE into a SE in one pass ! C’mon! Also I have no empirical evidence which could prove the theory that the generated heat can damage irreversibly the blade temper. Actually, though I never managed to find infos about the real spin/minute of the diamond discs in the Chef Choice 120, I perceive the speed as being far from supersonic and the heat generated basically null. It’s not we’re talking about industrial/pro grinders! These blade steels nowadays melt at T° of thousands of degrees and get tempered at hundreds, so I don’t think this is really an issue in reality.

It’s true that the Chef Choice 120 leaves rather toothy edges so, if one needs/wants “polished” edges, have to work with the stones and leather for a while, after the grinder. Personally I have a preference for toothy edges for my folders, especially for the modern so called “super-steels”. I think the real main reason for disliking the Chef Choice type of grinders/electrical sharpeners is they are not “cool” and they take away somehow the pleasure and the “ritual” of hand sharpening, the wise and measured gestures, the “mystic” of the burr creation and removal, etc. Sure I like all these but, sometimes, I need to be fast and practical. My Chef Choice 120 made edges are working good for me. And yes, big and thick blades can’t be sharpened properly into the Chef Choice 120… sure I tried that as well ! I’m today more careful with pull-through sharpeners. My Lansky pull-through, if not carefully operated, can mess up an edge quite badly and I have experienced this as well . Trial and error method applied at its best for me .

 

[wensynch]

You probably already know, but the rule of thumb is smaller angles are more cooking based, with a sharper edge with less retention, so more maintenance, and the fatter angle for more general purpose, with a less sharp edge with more retention and a stronger edge.

Thin angle on thick blades usual roll and harder to maintain a consistent edge throughout. Keeping a consistent edge is more important to sharpening then angle.

I bought a used rebeveled Techno and while sharp, the edge kept rolling and chipping. So it somewhat limits the use of the knife.

General > 25 per > kitchen

 

[csnack]

Hi! An out from the pack voice here . I sometimes resort to a Chef Choice 120 for sharpening my blades. Not on a regular basis, for “normal” maintenance I use my Lansky System (diamonds, stones and leather hones ) or a KAI stone 400/1000 but, for sharpening dull hard steels, I am not afraid to use it .

I can only bring my own personal experience with this as an hobbyist and no expert at all. Almost all my folders went through it at least once or twice in their life time and I have never “screwed up” a blade or an edge. On the 120, the first slot it’s rough, I agree and, if I don’t pay attention, it can remove way too metal compared to what is really needed. But let’s be realistic: it’s not that it eats out half of my blades or turns a PE into a SE in one pass ! C’mon! Also I have no empirical evidence which could prove the theory that the generated heat can damage irreversibly the blade temper. Actually, though I never managed to find infos about the real spin/minute of the diamond discs in the Chef Choice 120, I perceive the speed as being far from supersonic and the heat generated basically null. It’s not we’re talking about industrial/pro grinders! These blade steels nowadays melt at T° of thousands of degrees and get tempered at hundreds, so I don’t think this is really an issue in reality.

It’s true that the Chef Choice 120 leaves rather toothy edges so, if one needs/wants “polished” edges, have to work with the stones and leather for a while, after the grinder. Personally I have a preference for toothy edges for my folders, especially for the modern so called “super-steels”. I think the real main reason for disliking the Chef Choice type of grinders/electrical sharpeners is they are not “cool” and they take away somehow the pleasure and the “ritual” of hand sharpening, the wise and measured gestures, the “mystic” of the burr creation and removal, etc. Sure I like all these but, sometimes, I need to be fast and practical. My Chef Choice 120 made edges are working good for me. And yes, big and thick blades can’t be sharpened properly into the Chef Choice 120… sure I tried that as well ! I’m today more careful with pull-through sharpeners. My Lansky pull-through, if not carefully operated, can mess up an edge quite badly and I have experienced this as well . Trial and error method applied at its best for me .

Do you happen to have a knife that currently has an edge on it from that machine that you could post a photo of?

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[Dre]

Hi! An out from the pack voice here . I sometimes resort to a Chef Choice 120 for sharpening my blades. Not on a regular basis, for “normal” maintenance I use my Lansky System (diamonds, stones and leather hones ) or a KAI stone 400/1000 but, for sharpening dull hard steels, I am not afraid to use it .

I can only bring my own personal experience with this as an hobbyist and no expert at all. Almost all my folders went through it at least once or twice in their life time and I have never “screwed up” a blade or an edge. On the 120, the first slot it’s rough, I agree and, if I don’t pay attention, it can remove way too metal compared to what is really needed. But let’s be realistic: it’s not that it eats out half of my blades or turns a PE into a SE in one pass ! C’mon! Also I have no empirical evidence which could prove the theory that the generated heat can damage irreversibly the blade temper. Actually, though I never managed to find infos about the real spin/minute of the diamond discs in the Chef Choice 120, I perceive the speed as being far from supersonic and the heat generated basically null. It’s not we’re talking about industrial/pro grinders! These blade steels nowadays melt at T° of thousands of degrees and get tempered at hundreds, so I don’t think this is really an issue in reality.

It’s true that the Chef Choice 120 leaves rather toothy edges so, if one needs/wants “polished” edges, have to work with the stones and leather for a while, after the grinder. Personally I have a preference for toothy edges for my folders, especially for the modern so called “super-steels”. I think the real main reason for disliking the Chef Choice type of grinders/electrical sharpeners is they are not “cool” and they take away somehow the pleasure and the “ritual” of hand sharpening, the wise and measured gestures, the “mystic” of the burr creation and removal, etc. Sure I like all these but, sometimes, I need to be fast and practical. My Chef Choice 120 made edges are working good for me. And yes, big and thick blades can’t be sharpened properly into the Chef Choice 120… sure I tried that as well ! I’m today more careful with pull-through sharpeners. My Lansky pull-through, if not carefully operated, can mess up an edge quite badly and I have experienced this as well . Trial and error method applied at its best for me .

My experience has been very similar. While I've always been intrigued by knives, I've only recently gotten started with sharpening. I started out with a Chef's Choice system because I didn't really know any better and it was recommended. And I will say that it did make a big difference. Knives that had previously never been sharpened all of the sudden worked a whole lot better. Behold the magic of sharpening!

I did notice the toothy / jagged edge when I sharpened my swiss army knife on the machine. That was the primary reason I went out and got a Spyderco Sharpmaker. Using that on the SAK made a world of difference in restoring a smoother edge. I did also spend time with all of the kitchen knives and the Sharpmaker and definitely liked the results better. Yes, it took more time, but the end result was worth it.

I do think machines like this have their use though. You can get pretty far quickly with a knife that's horribly dull on the machine. Then finish with something else.

 

[Herlock]

Do you happen to have a knife that currently has an edge on it from that machine that you could post a photo of?

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Hi. These are the last two I put through The Grinder . Get me straight in this: I am really not saying this is the best way of sharpening sporting knives, I normally make fun of myself here too when I resort to the Chef Choice . On the other hand, I don’t find sentences like “it’s hell on knives”; “it’s awful on blades”, etc. as representative of my personal experience with this.

As you can see very well on these coated blades, The Grinder, in my learning curve, put some scratches and ate a bit of the blade tangs but the edges themselves are not only perfectly serviceable and workable but also they look pretty “clean” to my standards . This might be another reason many enthusiasts avoid The Grinder, it puts scratches and marks on the blades. Since mine are all users and get a ton of these just by being put to work, I don’t mind the occasional extra one The Grinder might add.

Sure we are on BF here, there are atom splitting edges flying around here and people who are amazing when it comes to what they can get out of one blade in terms of sharpness and cutting ability. I can only speak for myself and for my use (EDC “light utility” task and hiking/camping chores), the Chef Choice made edges are good enough.

Note: the ER BF2 CT is with me since 2009 ca. and went through The Grinder at least 10 times . Just for reference.

@ Dre: :thumbup:

 

[csnack]

Thanks for posting those. I'd never get over the tang deal.

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[Spey]

Herlock,

Ya, anyone can argue the issue of grinding into the ricasso on those examples ...
BUT, I am impressed that you were able to get that close to the handle.

Curious ..., I am guessing you were holding the knife(s) at an angle less than parallel to the counter (handle lower than the tip) with blade riding the front half of the sharpen wheel(s)?

Thanks for jumping into this thread like you did.

 

[22-rimfire]

If you use a Chef's Choice, you really need to pay attention or you'll grind too much in one area.

I think these electric sharpening systems/appliances have their use. I don't use my Chef's Choice very often; maybe once in the last year. But it is another tool in the sharpening tool box. More often than not, I use bench stones and estimate my angles visually. I'm pretty content with that and stopping if I want a more polished edge.

 

[Sonnydaze]

No...not even close...neva hoppen...bunch of crap...and the list goes on.

 

[Oldsol]

Way old thread, but it’s my first post and i was looking for this exact subject. I have a 2 yr old chefs choice XV which puts a 15* “grind” on my kitchen knives which I clean up on my sharpmaker. Kinda ugly. I also have steels (and ceramics) because I learned how to misuse them freehand with flair 40 years ago working my way thru college in kitchens. But I have mostly resisted using the CC on my collection of cheap fixed and folding knives. I’m now trying to reset all my edges on at least 50+ knives, hence my research to confirm what I knew, ie don‘t use it. I ordered some SiC coarse grit triangle stones today because my freehand skills are poor/nonexistent and even 1095 was kicking my ass reprofiling on the brownstones. I’m back beveling all my knives at 30* with edge bevel of 40* so it’s a chore. I appreciate all the info I’m getting here, and have been inspired to add many additional cheap edc’s to my collection recently. I’m astonished at the quality of them all, but especially the Civivi‘s and Kizer’s. Glad to be here…