Suggestions on knife sharpeners.

[Ikeepitcold]

I also have a warthog! The best dam sharpener ever! Very easy to use and will sharpen even the Alaska knives that have crazy hard steel. I can't sharpen a butter knife till I got mine.

[Umpqua Hunter]

I have used a Lansky for years and it has always been my go to sharpener but does take a bit of time to use.

As Drhorsepower mentioned, I recently bought a Work Sharp. It got rave reviews on iFish. I sharpened 20 knives in my wife's kitchen drawer in an hour. Every knife would shave paper when I was finished. I think anyone could get a knife shaving sharp with this thing in only a few minutes.

The Work Sharp is basically a mini belt sander that uses:

80 grit belt, not for normal sharpening use
220 grit belt, this is the primary belt for sharpening
6000 grit belt, this polishes the edge, much like stropping with a leather belt

The Work Sharp won the 2011 Popular Mechanics Editors Choice award. It gets very high reviews on Amazon. I bought the last two in my area just a few days ago, they are very popular here. The factory is 2 hours away in Ashland, Oregon.

The negative on the Work Sharp you most often hear is it can potentially damage the point of the knife if you are not careful. Maybe some users are using the 80 grit belt?? Since this is a mini-belt sander, if you let the belt dwell in certain spots, it is going to sharpen the blade more in those spots. If you let it dwell on the tip it's going to round it or heat damage it. This seems to be solved with good technique. The proper technique is to insert the blade, start the Work Sharp, and stop it just as you get to the point of the blade. I am super impressed in the way it can get a knife sharpened in a hurry. Here is a You Tube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmC5GNbeYxM

This has given me an idea, use the Work Sharp for quick sharpening, or on the road (with an inverter). Also set up a small 1" x 30" belt sander in my shop. This would give me a similar platform used by certain professional knife sharpeners. The wider belt would give better control on the sharpening process. A guy who professionally sharpens offers a belt sanding kit for about $200. Here is the link and a video of him sharpening with it:

http://www.theedgemasters.com/Knife-...ng-System.html

I think this same "kit" could be put together for about $100 to $120 as follows:

Harbor Freight 1" x 30" belt sander: $39.99 (appears to be the same unit sold in the $200 package above)
Surgi Sharp 1" x 30" stropping belt from eBay: $27.00
Polishing compound: ??
An assortment of belts 320, 400, 600, 1000 grit: ??

[Drelk]

Do u guys think u could use the worksharp on a 3 blade broadhead. Would the geometry work out safely

[Umpqua Hunter]

Do u guys think u could use the worksharp on a 3 blade broadhead. Would the geometry work out safely

Drelk....I always buy new broadhead blades to hunt with so I couldn't give you an educated answer. On the Work Sharp you can remove the blade guide, pivot the head which gives you full unobstructed access to the sanding belt.

[Umpqua Hunter]

I just used my Work Sharp for the first time on a Benchmade knife with S30V steel. In two minutes it was shaving sharp. That rocks!

[dustin ray]

Wicked edge it works vary nice
http://www.wickededgeusa.com/

[Fink]

Do u guys think u could use the worksharp on a 3 blade broadhead. Would the geometry work out safely

I ruined every one of my G5 Monteks trying to sharpen them on the worksharp.. My technique might suck, but if you aren't sure of your technique, I probably wouldn't risk destroying them. The worksharp is awesome on knives though.

[Drelk]

Thanks fink. Great info. Really appreciate it

[Colorado Cowboy]

All the sharpening systems mentioned work....but technique is when gets the job done right. I was taught with an oil stone many years ago. Don't use it much any more. I use a sharpener that is diamond dust impregnated on a steel. Bought it from Calelas many years ago. Have a real small one about the size of a thermometer I use on fish hooks. The downside is it will wear out a knife much faster.

The one I like best was the cheapest and does a great job to put an edge back on a knife when you are butchering or dressing out an animal. Can't remember the name, but it is a small yellow plastic thing that has a course and fine notch on opposite sides. Bought it at WalMart for a couple of bucks. I keep one in my pocket when I am in the field, works great to dress up a knife that gets a little dull while you are using it. It only takes seconds to put the edge back in fine shape. Quick & easy

[Umpqua Hunter]

I ruined every one of my G5 Monteks trying to sharpen them on the worksharp.. My technique might suck, but if you aren't sure of your technique, I probably wouldn't risk destroying them. The worksharp is awesome on knives though.

Fink, now that I think about it, it makes a lot of sense that the Work Sharp didn't work well on the Montec. The Work Sharp's sanding belt is unsupported so it would flex away when you put the flat side of the G5 Montec up to it. I think you need a flat surface to properly sharpen a Montec.

The unsupported sanding belt is part of Work Sharp's claim to fame and why it is supposed to work well on a knife. Apparently as it "flexes" a bit around the edge of a knife blade it sharpens putting a "convex" edge on the blade. The convex edge is supposedly more robust and provides more support to the sharpened edge, helping it stay sharp longer. See the pic below.

Though I haven't tried it, its possible a small 1" x 30" belt sander idea could possibly work on Montecs because it has a flat support behind the belt.