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Work Sharp Knife Sharpeners...Ken Onion vs Cabelas special edition
Posted on 5/11/19 at 5:33 pm
Posted on 5/11/19 at 5:33 pm
I normally sharpen with stones but I recently got the chance to use a podnuh's Ken Onion Work Sharp and was pretty impressed how quickly it put an edge on S30V. I have some credit card points to burn and was planning on buying one. I noticed that there is a Cabela's edition for close to half the price but still has blade guides. What's the difference?
Any experience with these? Will I get similar results from the Cabela's edition?
Both have close to perfect 5 star reviews, I just don't want to get the Cabelas edition and end up regretting not getting the Ken Onion.
LINK
LINK
Any experience with these? Will I get similar results from the Cabela's edition?
Both have close to perfect 5 star reviews, I just don't want to get the Cabelas edition and end up regretting not getting the Ken Onion.
LINK
LINK
3
Posted on 5/11/19 at 6:17 pm to Bateaux
I bought the Cabela's special edition model and had trouble controlling the knife when I got to the tip, due to it not having the blade rest that is on the Ken Onion. That wasn't good because it made it easy to round off the tip. Particularly on some of my pointier clip blade knives. So I bought the Ken Onion and it was so much easier to use I gave away the cheaper sharpener.
Now, having said that, someone on here suggested buying an additional attachment for the Ken Onion base that was even more of an improvement over the KO guide and blade rest. I need to find his post because I can't remember what the attachment was called and I would really like to upgrade. Not that the KO doesn't do the job, but I still have to watch the tip and I believe he said it wasn't a problem with the other attachment.
Also, the KO uses wider belts, which I also found to be a plus.
Now, having said that, someone on here suggested buying an additional attachment for the Ken Onion base that was even more of an improvement over the KO guide and blade rest. I need to find his post because I can't remember what the attachment was called and I would really like to upgrade. Not that the KO doesn't do the job, but I still have to watch the tip and I believe he said it wasn't a problem with the other attachment.
Also, the KO uses wider belts, which I also found to be a plus.
Posted on 5/11/19 at 8:41 pm to Tigerhead
Thanks Tiger, I think I'm going to go with the Ken Onion now lol. I'm getting it because I like the consistency, sounds like the onion will be better for that.
Posted on 5/11/19 at 11:56 pm to Bateaux
I have the KOE with the blade grinding accessory that runs the 1x18 belts. I use it for everything except some of my kitchen knives that I use Japanese water stones for. There are leather stropping belts available and with some green compound they put a hair popping mirror edge on any knife with ease.
Posted on 5/12/19 at 7:34 am to Bateaux
Be careful with the tip on the KO one as well. I’ve got one. It works well but there’s definitely a learning curve to avoid rounding the tip. Make sure to disengage the motor before you pull the knife tip all the way through the belt. In other words, don’t just keep it running and sliding the knife back and forth through it.
Posted on 5/12/19 at 12:03 pm to bluemoons
quote:
Be careful with the tip on the KO one as well. I’ve got one. It works well but there’s definitely a learning curve to avoid rounding the tip. Make sure to disengage the motor before you pull the knife tip all the way through the belt. In other words, don’t just keep it running and sliding the knife back and forth through it.
Exactly. I tried this method on the cheaper model but between the narrower belt and the lack of a blade rest, it was almost impossible to keep from screwing up the tip. With the KOE I can control the tip and stop the belt like they recommend.
OP,
Clames was the guy I was referring to that recommended the grinding attachment. Going to get online and look for one. Thanks for the tip Clames.
Posted on 5/13/19 at 11:10 am to Bateaux
I've got the regular work sharp belt sharpening system and I like it a lot. As mentioned, it took some getting used to regarding not screwing up the tip. I knew that could happen because I saw it firsthand: My cousin got one on a Christmas yankee swap when it first came out. After "ooo'ing and ahhh'ing" over it for awhile with perplexity, we observed as another cousin gave it a go with his family heirloom Case folding pocket knife. (For the record: I spoke up with my premonitions about him doing it with that knife, but my pleas for prudence were stamped out by the mob who gathered around to watch.)
Within a few swipes, panic set in on his part. As the crowd grew, we watched (and coached) as, swipe after swipe, he whittled that beautiful old blade down to a state of being little more than a metal toothpick. With each desperate swipe being an attempt to somehow "put" metal back on the blade (and our pleading to stop the madness), he finally shut her down once he'd rounded off the now tiny blade to a nice butterknife-like point. Somber times, for he and his Case.
I also have the Work Sharp Guided Sharpening System and bought the Upgrade Kit that has the extra coarse, extra fine and leather strop attachments, as well as the stropping compound and 25* angle guides (the base kit has the included 17 and 20* guides and the other stones- including the ceramic one).
I love that kit. On the knives that it's suitable for, it is so effective. It doesn't take the place of proper form on a stone, but it does encourage it. It definitely improves muscle memory when freehand sharpening. You still have to take into account the bevel type, inherent crooked sections of a blade, etc., but it is effective nonetheless. Here's a link to worksharp's web page for that kit. I highly recommend it as an addition to the belt systems:
worksharp
Within a few swipes, panic set in on his part. As the crowd grew, we watched (and coached) as, swipe after swipe, he whittled that beautiful old blade down to a state of being little more than a metal toothpick. With each desperate swipe being an attempt to somehow "put" metal back on the blade (and our pleading to stop the madness), he finally shut her down once he'd rounded off the now tiny blade to a nice butterknife-like point. Somber times, for he and his Case.
I also have the Work Sharp Guided Sharpening System and bought the Upgrade Kit that has the extra coarse, extra fine and leather strop attachments, as well as the stropping compound and 25* angle guides (the base kit has the included 17 and 20* guides and the other stones- including the ceramic one).
I love that kit. On the knives that it's suitable for, it is so effective. It doesn't take the place of proper form on a stone, but it does encourage it. It definitely improves muscle memory when freehand sharpening. You still have to take into account the bevel type, inherent crooked sections of a blade, etc., but it is effective nonetheless. Here's a link to worksharp's web page for that kit. I highly recommend it as an addition to the belt systems:
worksharp
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