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Looking for knife sharpening system suggestions

J

Jeremy_D

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2020
Messages
359
Location
Wisconsin
Looking at the KME system but I dont know what's all out there. Any opinions?
Alot of the reviews show sharpening pocket knives. If it makes a difference I want it more for sharpening kitchen, fillet and butchering's knives.
 
I've had this smiths kit for over 10 years. The diamond stones needed replacing but I just bought another kit. The knife clamp has been up graded to more bevel options. The cloth pouch is very nice....I have a small Rubbermaid that I keep all the cleaning tools in the truck and that pouch fits good. Add a sharpie and a small piece of leather or the edge of ur vehicles window and I are u can get great results. With the new bevel options u can sharpen kitchen knives with their more acute bevel angle, pockets knives, broadheads, etc. It's a little cumbersome with long 10"+ blades like filet knife but after some practice u can get those longer blades very sharp as well

smithsproducts.com

DIAMOND PRECISION SHARPENING SYSTEM

Smith’s Diamond Precision Knife Sharpening System offers an easy way to sharpen all types of knives . . . INCLUDING SERRATED. The fabric storage pouch makes this kit portable and easy to store, and the 1-inch wide stones makes sharpening safe, fast, and easy. The kit comes with a Coarse Diamond...
smithsproducts.com smithsproducts.com
 
Pocket knives generally aren't the hardest metal so you can literally sharpen them with anything. The Ken onion is probably my main sharpener right now. Get the Red Label series of belts for it.

Waterstones are what I use on knives I don't want to put a concave edge on.

The Smith/Lanksy type system is good for those that aren't great at free handing.

Get a good SMOOTH steel and a strop. Don't get one that has the ridges. The diamond ones I'd reserve for junk knives
 
I’ve sharpened knives for many years, and have had many different types of sharpeners. I’d stay away from anything electric like the work sharp. There’s a huge learning curve, and can ruin a blade very easily. Other systems like the lansky and others are decent because of the ability to reprofile a blade, however there’s still a learning curve. I highly HIGHLY recommend getting a good set of diamond sharpening stones. Yes there’s a learning curve there as well but it’s much less invasive as some of the other sharpening systems. I’d get a cheap kershaw as they usually has super soft metal and you’ll get a ton of feedback on your bevel angles. When I started out I would take a sharpie and black out the bevel that way when I start sharpening I could see if I was too steep or too shallow on my angle. Stones are super simple and quick once you get over the learning curve. Good
Luck.
 
Work sharp guided field sharpener. Gets my knives shaving sharp in a couple minutes and comes in a small package I can keep in a bag with me. I’ve used it to sharpen kitchen knives too, no problem.
 
SnakeEater said:
Work sharp guided field sharpener. Gets my knives shaving sharp in a couple minutes and comes in a small package I can keep in a bag with me. I’ve used it to sharpen kitchen knives too, no problem.
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The biggest flaw in the work sharp is, even with the guides if you pay attention to the belt it bows when it makes contact with the bevel causing a rounded edge. Another minor flaw is the angles are pre set. What if your knife has a different degree bevel than what the guides come with? You’re basically re profiling the blade removing more metal than need be. They have their use, but to me I’d never use one on one of my higher end kitchen or pocket knives. Cheap knives say $100 or less maybe, but they’re awesome for machetes, axes, shovels etc. I have one, but I’d never use it on a quality knife. But that’s just me.
 
Catchot713 said:
The biggest flaw in the work sharp is, even with the guides if you pay attention to the belt it bows when it makes contact with the bevel causing a rounded edge. Another minor flaw is the angles are pre set. What if your knife has a different degree bevel than what the guides come with? You’re basically re profiling the blade removing more metal than need be. They have their use, but to me I’d never use one on one of my higher end kitchen or pocket knives. Cheap knives say $100 or less maybe, but they’re awesome for machetes, axes, shovels etc. I have one, but I’d never use it on a quality knife. But that’s just me.
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It’s not the belt one, it’s a smaller hand held one so you don’t have to follow the guides. I missed OP where it said for kitchen knives so I edited and added at the end of my post. I’ve been using it for over a year with no complaints.
 
SnakeEater said:
It’s not the belt one, it’s a smaller hand held one so you don’t have to follow the guides. I missed OP where it said for kitchen knives so I edited and added at the end of my post. I’ve been using it for over a year with no complaints.
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Oh ok. Yeah I use the small work sharp field sharpener with the diamond stone and it works amazingly. Very good for the money.
 
A 340 600 and 1200 grit diamond stones for sharpening wood working chisels, Im just no good at sharpening knives free hand. I try!! lol. Thats why Im considering the KME. Looks like the "knife" jig will do both heads and knives and comes with diamond stones.
 
If you really want to go cheap...you can get some automotive sandpaper in various grits and either on mouse pads, tends to get a more concave edges or a hard surface like wood or glass.
 
Tennessee sticks for everything. Pack up nice for a kitchen drawer too.


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SnakeEater said:
Work sharp guided field sharpener. Gets my knives shaving sharp in a couple minutes and comes in a small package I can keep in a bag with me. I’ve used it to sharpen kitchen knives too, no problem.
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Another vote for this one. Used mine today to get a couple of knives scary sharp and I'm very much a novice at sharpening, so that speaks to its ease of use
 
I have never been able to put a very good edge on a knife. I have gone through multiple different sharpeners and just never been able to make them work. This year I broke down and got the Work Sharp with the blade grinding attachment. I can't say enough good things about it. I have been able to put razor sharp edges on every knife I own including all the kitchen knives.
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jy198460 said:
I have never been able to put a very good edge on a knife. I have gone through multiple different sharpeners and just never been able to make them work. This year I broke down and got the Work Sharp with the blade grinding attachment. I can't say enough good things about it. I have been able to put razor sharp edges on every knife I own including all the kitchen knives.
ae4dbe3f2d383bc8497fa5ebdfba47ed.jpg


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I have this as well. I’m far from an expert at sharpening knives but I can quickly get my knives very sharp with this.


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sdoyle1 said:
I have this as well. I’m far from an expert at sharpening knives but I can quickly get my knives very sharp with this.


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Difference between good edge and hair popping edge. And I’d be interested in what quality of knives you’re using on this machine.
 
Catchot713 said:
Difference between good edge and hair popping edge. And I’d be interested in what quality of knives you’re using on this machine.
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You can put a scary sharp edge on your knives with this sharpener. There are numerous YouTube video's out where you can see people using it. I have sharpened $5 kitchen knives to my $200 fixed blade hunting knife. I have been able to get the same result on every knife I have tried on it.

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Ive turned cheaper knives into practically lightsabers with a workshop. I have used it on my 200$+ knives but it takes longer to sharpen. If I sent them back to the people that made those knives, they use full size belt sanders, O1 and D2 knives mostly
 
Guff Dawg said:
KME Grizzly Stik kit sharpens knives and broadheads. Diamond grit stones. Pricey but worth it
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This is the kit that I have. I like that it comes with 2 clamps. One for broadheads and one for knives.
I will say that sharpeners like the KME or Lansky do have a quirk that's easy to deal with when it comes to sharpening larger knife blades. Since the clamp grips the knife a little bit on the minimal side, the stone makes for a little leverage against the blade which changes the angle a bit. I use the thumb of my hand (that's holding the jig) to support the knife from the underside. It keeps the knife from rocking down when stone pressure is applied.
Another minor issue with large blades is sharpening the very tip of curved edges. With those types of blades, I usuall sharpen them in 2 stages. I sharpen the rear 1/2, Then I re-clamp and then sharpen the tip 1/2. Doing it in 2 stages, I can get a perfect edge from end to end. If I try to sharpen long blades in one stage, I can never seem to get the curved tip perfect.
 
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