cutco knifes. toss all the rest expensive yes but dang are they sharp. American made lifetime warranty. I have heard good things about the work sharp but I will send them back to cutco when they get dull. which from what I hear takes years.

quote:

Originally posted by XLT:
cutco knifes. toss all the rest expensive yes but dang are they sharp. American made lifetime warranty. I have heard good things about the work sharp but I will send them back to cutco when they get dull. which from what I hear takes years.

Gimme an afternoon with one and I'll dull that sumbitch up no problem.

Chef's Choice and similar mini grinding wheels make it really easy to screw up a good knife.

They are electric, so you can quickly remove more metal than you need to. People can't control the pressure they pull them through with, so they tend to put more downward pressure on the blade near the handle (where they have more leverage) and less near the point. Over time, this puts a concave edge on the knife. My dad has several knives that look like that.

Other than not being electric, other pull-through systems have the same problems.

You're better off learning to sharpen on flat stones. It takes more effort, but once you learn the skill of it, it isn't hard. I like diamond stones. They cut quick (but not like an electric), and clean easily.

Jig systems like the Work Sharp (still electric) or Wicked Edge seem to work well, and offer less possibility for error. I haven't used them.

^^^^^^ I don’t think most people would consider a mini belt grinder a “jig”. Jigs are fixtures which hold things at certain angles. The worksharp doesn’t really do this (Even though it has a setting on a guide for a secondary bevel angle, it is spring loaded and falls away easily); rather it is just a small belt grinder which is generally the main stay up any knife makers tool Kit.

Japanese water stones are great… As I mentioned before they can be quite meditative however they do take time especially if there is a fairly dull edge and you have to go through all the grit levels i.e. 400, 1000 2000 5000 and up then honing on a strop. More so, there is a learning curve teaching your hands wrists and arms all to hold a common angle for both left and right sides of the edge. It took me a couple of weeks to learn that. That does make for a hair Poppin sharp edge, but so does the worksharp.

It’s a tedious process which I often enjoy. But if you need to sharpen a knife quickly Or put an edge on a knife were none exist, the worksharp is a great little solution.

How’s it work?

Waiting for “range report”

quote:

Originally posted by snwghst:
How’s it work?

Waiting for “range report”

Tried cheapest knife I have $5 cleaver my mom gave me 20 years ago. Came out semi sharp. Next I tried low end henkels knife. Sliced paper like a champ. Used 25° for cleaver and 17.5° on chef's knife. Used 120 grit on both to reprofile edges, then went through coarse to hone bands to sharpen and hone.

Afterwards went on YouTube, watched a number of videos. Found I was drawling knife to slowly and likely too much pressure. Will try on my better knives later today or over weekend. I am thus far satisfied with my purchase and look forward to results on better steel with a little more knowledge and practice.

What degree are you guys setting for your high end kitchen blades?

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

What degree are you guys setting for your high end kitchen blades?

I use 12 degrees based on some nerd work that I did. I think it is the angle or the nearest whole angle at which the amount of material is proportionately the same between the bevels as measured anywhere along the hypotenuse of the bevel.

A good book of sharpening I read which is considered the "bible" of sharpening written by someone who made a living off sharpening knives used by working people said that to get a knife as sharp as it can be is to rub off the fancy deer etching on the side. I forget what kind of bevel that's called but the bevel effective goes all the way from the edge of the spine flat to the edge. Some people believe in putting in a microbevel to make the edge last longer also.

quote:

Originally posted by snwghst:
How’s it work?

Waiting for “range report”

I started with a 10” Wusthoff chef’s knife. I set the machine to 20 degrees and worked through three belts. After 10 minutes, the knife sliced up paper with no hesitation.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I forget what kind of bevel that's called but the bevel effective goes all the way from the edge of the spine flat to the edge.

Full flat grind, or Zero grind.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Chef's Choice and similar mini grinding wheels make it really easy to screw up a good knife.

They are electric, so you can quickly remove more metal than you need to. People can't control the pressure they pull them through with, so they tend to put more downward pressure on the blade near the handle (where they have more leverage) and less near the point. Over time, this puts a concave edge on the knife. My dad has several knives that look like that.

Other than not being electric, other pull-through systems have the same problems.

You're better off learning to sharpen on flat stones. It takes more effort, but once you learn the skill of it, it isn't hard. I like diamond stones. They cut quick (but not like an electric), and clean easily.

Jig systems like the Work Sharp (still electric) or Wicked Edge seem to work well, and offer less possibility for error. I haven't used them.

Agree. Another advantage of the diamond stones is that they stay utterly flat – never hollow out.

I recommend long stones that allow a long stroke. I like the DMT 11-1/2" x 2-1/2" x 3/8" continuous surface stones (actual a slab of SS). They've available with a large range of grits.

A few guys have said they have an Edge Pro / Edge pro Apex. I found this video a few years ago. Been drooling over something like this, but have never pulled the trigger.

Good video.

For some reason this video keeps starting at approximately 11:00 minutes. You need to manually start it from the beginning. I tried several times to fix it, and gave up.

My Spyderco Sharpmaker seems so plebian after reading this thread, but its done well for me.

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:
A few guys have said they have an Edge Pro / Edge pro Apex. I found this video a few years ago. Been drooling over something like this, but have never pulled the trigger.

Good video.

For some reason this video keeps starting at approximately 11:00 minutes. You need to manually start it from the beginning. I tried several times to fix it, and gave up.

[FLASH_VIDEO]<iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/liJKYgO_P3I" width="560"></iframe>[/FLASH_VIDEO]

I'm considering becoming an Apex dealer, if anyone is interested in getting in let me know (e-mail mdmllc@sbcglobal.net). I need to get enough orders together for a buy in, if I buy a lot on my first order it will take me forever to sell them so I prefer to get people ahead of time interested.