Work sharp suggestions?

[ubet]

Bought a work sharp the other day and have used it a little bit. Doesn't seem like I'm getting the sharpness out of my knives that I should. Have a zt 300 and it won't get as sharp as when it was factory new. Any tips you guys have would be appreciated

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[GH41]

I'm no expert but it looks like a blade like the ZT300 would be impossible to sharpen on a belt sander. How do you attack the concave section closest to the the hilt? I have been looking at the WorkSharp but wondering how versatile it really is.

[sierra 223]

It took me a little practice.

Don't take the tip past half way across the belt or you will probaly round off the tip some.

As far as sharpening I make at least 12 passes with the fine belt to make sharper.

I also touch mine up on Spyderco Sharpmaker after using WorkSharp.

[ubet]

Well I've used it and have started to learn the ropes of it a touch, watching the DVD helped. I'll be interested to see how the edges hold though. I have a Damascus belt knife that I got really out of whack on whetstones and it got it trued up and sharper than I've ever had it. Real test will be this spring though when wet brand, see how that knife holds up with the edge the work sharp put on it when it comes to cutting ears and cutting bull calves nuts all day.

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[ubet]

It seems to sharpen the zt fine, even the recurve

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[GH41]

Slightly off topic... I know they eat pig nuts (Mountain Oysters) but do they eat cow nuts as well? Waste want not.

[ubet]

Oh ya, I don't think you could pay me to eat a pig nut. Bit calf nuts, little flour, little garlic salt fry em in oil and damn they are good

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[GH41]

In other words like rattlesnake and MREs... If you put enough Tabasco on it it's GTG.

[JackFanToM]

the worksharp is, IMO, a very imprecise sharpening tool. I'm not saying it is useless, as I own one, and I use it for certain things. First recommendation, is lose the guides unless you like your blade to develop a recurve at the choil. My main gripe with the machine is the lack of inbetween grits and speed control (I hear these are addressed in the Ken Onion design - which should work on your zt350 as he designed that as well). I still use my worksharp on my husqvarna small forest axe, but I vise the axe down and use the worksharp as a mini handheld belt sander. In the event you want your knives to retain as much steel as possible, yet yield incredibly sharp edges, invest in an edge pro apex or a wicked edge (learning curve shorter with wicked edge, but the tool is more expensive). In the event that is to much, then I say get a DMT dia-sharp duo stone with course on one side and fine on the other, a spyderco untra fine ceramic stone, and a strop. Those 3 items will allow you to easily surpass the best edge you will achieve with the worksharp, and as I've said before I think being able to handsharpen a tool is a vitally important ability for an adult male.

Like many things that we all enjoy, hand sharpening is a skill that requires practice, it requires technique, it forces you to be patient, and you develop a true sense of varying degrees of minute force being applied by your fingers. These are all skills that are required to shoot well, play golf, fly fish, etc. In addition, it is great to show off my wicked edge mirror polished, beyond razor sharp knives, but when I can say this mirror polished, beyond razor blade sharp knife was done by hand....something entirely different in the pride zone. It is also fun to take an overripe tomato and cut see through slices off it :D

[ubet]

the worksharp is, IMO, a very imprecise sharpening tool. I'm not saying it is useless, as I own one, and I use it for certain things. First recommendation, is lose the guides unless you like your blade to develop a recurve at the choil. My main gripe with the machine is the lack of inbetween grits and speed control (I hear these are addressed in the Ken Onion design - which should work on your zt350 as he designed that as well). I still use my worksharp on my husqvarna small forest axe, but I vise the axe down and use the worksharp as a mini handheld belt sander. In the event you want your knives to retain as much steel as possible, yet yield incredibly sharp edges, invest in an edge pro apex or a wicked edge (learning curve shorter with wicked edge, but the tool is more expensive). In the event that is to much, then I say get a DMT dia-sharp duo stone with course on one side and fine on the other, a spyderco untra fine ceramic stone, and a strop. Those 3 items will allow you to easily surpass the best edge you will achieve with the worksharp, and as I've said before I think being able to handsharpen a tool is a vitally important ability for an adult male.

Like many things that we all enjoy, hand sharpening is a skill that requires practice, it requires technique, it forces you to be patient, and you develop a true sense of varying degrees of minute force being applied by your fingers. These are all skills that are required to shoot well, play golf, fly fish, etc. In addition, it is great to show off my wicked edge mirror polished, beyond razor sharp knives, but when I can say this mirror polished, beyond razor blade sharp knife was done by hand....something entirely different in the pride zone. It is also fun to take an overripe tomato and cut see through slices off it :D

I have the Ken onion edition..... thank you for all your input, and I do agree everyone should know how to sharpen by hand. All I've ever used until now are whetstones. But these more modern steels like the s30v on the zt 300 and m390 on a Benchmade are a little tougher to get right on the Arkansas stones. I had mainly bought it for the recurve on the zt. But my belt knife has been tough to keep right and that thing sees A TON of use. It is something to to try it guess. The thing I do like about it is that it got some angles straightened out on knives that have been problem some lately. I have a spyderco ceramic fine stone, and a bunch of shapton glass stones from 220-16000 grit along with the range of Arkansas stones and a Norton.

When you say hand sharpen does that include stuff like the wicked edge or are you talking about actual stones or the dmt, sharp maker etc?

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[JackFanToM]

I don't consider systems like the wicked edge, edgepro, lansky, DMT Aligner, KME, etc. to be "hand" sharpening, as they require equipment other than the stone, knife, and lubricant to function. I use DMT Dia-sharp stones due to the modern "super steels", as well as the the consistent scratch pattern they create. Ironically, the wicked edge also employs DMT stones, but unfortunately the ceramic stones the wicked edge uses are not the spyderco sapphire ceramic stones (the scratch pattern using these is more consistent even than the DMT stones).

Allow me to elaborate on why I think belt sanders, grinders, and wheels are imprecise - these objects remove your ability to finely control the amount of steel removed. Each stroke on a stone is only subject to pressure, not speed, for scratch pattern and steel removal. Belts and wheels are subjective to how much time each point on the steel is in contact. An example of this would be - you fail to keep each point on the belt for the precisely same amount of time then you will grind deeper in some spots than others. This creates peaks and valleys on the bevel and the edge.

I have received knives from benchmade, spyderco, lionsteel, kershaw, zt, gerber, and the list goes on, and all of their factory edges have flat spots and over grinds. Now, the basic functionality is never an issue with these edges. The edges come toothy, they cut, they perform, but they are NOT repeatable, even wearing, nor razor sharp (yes they will shave your arm but not smoothly, more like sawing the hairs down than slicing through them). This is due to sharpening on belts and wheels - even using a machine to make the pass this can occur. Simply put wheels and belts remove steel too quickly to precisely control, but if your tool does not require precision edges (i.e. my small forest axe merely needs to be paper cutting sharp and convex) then a belt or wheel is the quick and effective way to achieve the required results.

I hear this phrase alot "restore the factory edge", as it seems the sharpest edge most people experience is factory. Please allow me to enlighten you, factory edges are NOT sharp, if you have not experienced a wicked edge or edge pro apex edge, done by an experienced user...you have not felt sharp. I can come close with my hand sharpening, but it takes me hours. I can cut fine curly hairs off newsprint with a wicked edge knife...try to cut a 3" hair thick, curly piece of newspaper with a factory edge.

[ubet]

I agree completely with the factory edge isn't that great on most knives. I've never felt a knife sharpened on a wicked edge. So if I were to get more stones what would you recommend, the dmt or spyderco?

My problem is I learned to use stones by holding the stone in my left hand, knife in the right so I know that makes it Eben tougher to get a proper edge. Now when I rehone my straight razors, they are done with the shapton glass stones and the stone is kept on a flat surface, but honing a razor is completely different than a knife.

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[JackFanToM]

youtube jdavis882, as I learned the system from him, but here are the stones I use -

I have the 6" DMT DiaSharps in Extra Course, Duo stone with course and fine, and extra fine DiaSharp, then I have a the Spyderco 2"x8" fine and ultra fine stones, then I finish with my JRE strop bat. This is the least expensive setup I have found to go from dull to mirror polish razor sharp (I recommend the 8" stones if you can afford them).

[ubet]

youtube jdavis882, as I learned the system from him, but here are the stones I use -

I have the 6" DMT DiaSharps in Extra Course, Duo stone with course and fine, and extra fine DiaSharp, then I have a the Spyderco 2"x8" fine and ultra fine stones, then I finish with my JRE strop bat. This is the least expensive setup I have found to go from dull to mirror polish razor sharp (I recommend the 8" stones if you can afford them).

Looked at some of his stuff, he knows what he's doing. I think I need to invest in some of the dia sharps and see what I can't destroy with them

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[JackFanToM]

Anyone that wants to get a firsthand experience with a wicked edge, please feel free to pm me. I do sharpen knives, stipple, and other such things as a side business, so I have the ability to re-profile and recover edges, set precise angle to the 2nd decimal place, mirror polish the edges, mirror polish pivot washers (phosphor bronze), and more.