What’s your favorite sharpener?

[vcdgrips]

I was the OP. I went sharpmaker and have not looked back. I did buy the extra fine stones.

They keep everything i have forearm hair shaving sharp.


PS I too continue to be enamored with VG10 steel. VERY SHARP from the box and easy to keep that way with a few passes on the edges of the ultra fines.

[baddean]

I've sharpened knives for years using stones and the DMT diamond system.
Thought I was getting them sharp "enough". I guess I was.
Then I bought a Work Sharp KO system. Thought I'd found the answer.
That works great for my wife's thinner kitchen knives and other knives that weren't too heavy. I still use it for those purposes.
I found I didn't like the way it "rounded" the bevel on my thicker hunting and EDC knives because it makes it harder to touch them up in the field. I thought I had ruined one of my Emersons that way.
Then I found this
http://www.sharpeningwheels.com/new/
I bought the eight inch wheel kit. The instructions that come with it are quite comprehensive.
All I can say is Holy s***.
Now I can get my hunting knives and other thicker knives razor sharp, literally, shaving sharp. I've never before been able to get this level of sharpness this easily.
It's been said here already that it's a game of angles and this system takes some time to get right like any other. I played with some "junk" knives first.
I run the wheels on my buffer and run it backwards. Away from me. Makes working the bevel angle easier at least for me working from the top.
That will make sense on the web site.
I put a light over the unit so I can easily see when a burr appears.
So far I like this system a lot.
I don't use it for my axes and tomahawks. I still use the belt sander and stones for those.
Oh, and I was able to fix the Emerson on this setup.

[Pnut]

By the nature of the design, the WorkSharp tends to create a convex grind on knives. I believe it can be slightly eliminated on the blade grinding attachment by moving one of the wheels closer together, but I don’t know by how much, especially on thicker blades.

[SCCY Marshal]

Cheap butterfly knife style diamond stones. Buy a bunch to stage in various packs, drawers, tool boxes/belts, and everywhere then move on with life.

[NH Shooter]

I too use the Spyderco Sharp Maker, have done so for years. As already stated, it does a great job of maintaining a good edge. But without buying additional rods, I've found that it's not ideal for re-profiling or major edge repairs. Even for just a touch-up, it's also a challenge with tanto blades to keep the "yokote" (secondary point at the intersection of the two angles) sharp without rounding it off.

After much research I just ordered the Work Sharp Precision Sharpener. Based on my own experience, being able to hold a precise and consistent angle has always been the challenge - especially for an edge that requires more than just a few passes on the Sharp Maker. It will also make sharpening my tanto blades an easier task by allowing the precise control needed to sharpen each edge individually.

So my plan is to continue using the fast and efficient Sharp Maker for maintenance of my non-tanto blades and use the new Work Sharp Precision Sharpener for everything else.

[Pnut]

A little off topic, but I remember when my dad, rest in peace, purchased our Spyderco Sharpmaker 30 years ago. We were at the Fred Hall fishing show in Long Beach and there was a Spyderco demo booth set up. The guy was sharpening attendee’s knives to show how good it was. This was the era when Spyderco’s serrated edges were all the rage and the Sharpmaker could sharpen them with their triangle rods. We left the show with a sharpener and a knife!

[Leroy Suggs]

I sharpen on various grits of 3M wet/dry sandpaper on a perfectly flat 3 in piece of hardwood.
I can easily sharpen steels like ZDP-189 ans CPM M4.

Been sharpening over 65 years and have no problem holding the angle.

As I am typing this I have a Dragonfly ZDP-189 and a Gayle Bradley 1 CPM M4 in my pockets and they are hair popplng sharp.

[Leroy Suggs]

@blues Means a lot to me that you liked my post.

I hung around for years on BladeForums and read a lot of your posts.

[blues]

@blues Means a lot to me that you liked my post.

I hung around for years on BladeForums and read a lot of your posts.

We've been friends here for seven years, D. That means a lot to me.

By the way, I'm assuming you're stroking edge following, like a stropping motion, rather than edge into the abrasive?

[Leroy Suggs]

We've been friends here for seven years, D. That means a lot to me.

By the way, I'm assuming you're stroking edge following, like a stropping motion, rather than edge into the abrasive?

Correct. A stropping motion.
You do it by feel and sound. Start motion with blade flat and raise it until you feel and hear the edge on the abrasive.