Thread: Sharpener edge test

So my final test was to cut through some rpm thick natural fibre rope, no idea what it was but it came out of a gym, the stuff you used to climb up as a kid then fall onto the hard wood floor underneath, school of hard knocks stuff, anyway once I cut through that I thrived to cut paper.

The one sharpened on a knife makers belt sander went first (that ones now sold), it cut though but it wa quite a bit of work, a lot of sawing back and forth to get there, but get there it did in the end, this one is full flat no secondary bevel and the edge took a beat of a beating, well bending actually, it would not cut paper afterward, however maybe 10 seconds of stroking on the edge of the bench and the edge was restored and it sliced paper fine, needed a tough of the stone and a second strop before I let it go to the new owner though.

Next up was the one sharpened on the tormek, a toothy edge, and it ripped though the thick rope without hesitation, and hacked through paper happily afterwards too.

Then came the wicked edge, this cut about the same as the tormek, the paper it sliced a tad better but I would call them even on performance.

Finally the Tsprof, this sliced straight though the rope, lest amount of work needed and also cut paper as if it had not just been s icing thick rope a few seconds before.

So to conclude: the 84 engineering bench sander is the quickest to use (once you know how to use it), is the largest, and the most expensive, for a knife maker it’s great, as a sharpener it’s only so so, I prefer to almost finish on this then do the final edge on a different tool, unless you are actually wanting to make knife I would avoid.

The tormek is the second fastest to use, take a bit of practice to get the hang of it and you need to buy a variety of jigs to sharpen different things, it it is by far the most versatile, allowing you to sharpen knives, scissors, axes, chisels, planes, gauges, drill bits, lawnmower blades...and because it runs through a trough of water you will not ruin the temper of the blade. The catch is you need a different jig for each tool and you need to practice to get it right.
For someone who uses a variety of tools and does not need a razors edge but just want a sharp or toothy edge this is a great option, it’s not cheap, it needs both water and electricity to work, but it does give a consistently very good edge.
It’s not super portable though, being heavy and needing power.

The wicked edge is the cheapest, third slowest, most portable option, if you upgrade the diamond paddles that it some with it makes a fantastic edge, polished mirror edges that glide through produce with ease and the norm with this tool, repeatedly excellent edges will before the norm with a little effort, it’s not fast I use something like 3000 strokes per blade (it’s hard to count too!).
You are locked in to a system though (like the Tormek), and your options are diamonds or ceramic, you can make a toothy edge with less effort or a beautiful polished edge with more effort, I would recommend a digital angle measuring tool with it. It’s beaut. It’s not cheap though and I would only get it if you use a lot of knives and a precise edge is important to you.

The Tsprof k03...this won my test at 1000 grit. Why. Well partly I think it lets you cover more of the blade with each stroke, so the edge from the ricasso right to the tip gets done, however care is needed as it would be easy to do one part of the blade more than another, creating a dip that would need to be corrected, care is needed, it’s the slowest system I have, it’s also messy as the stones I currently have need to be soaked in water and create a slurry as you sharpen. It’s not cheap either, coming from Russia, mind you the tormek comes from Sweden, the wicked edge from USA and the 84 engineering from Australia, so for all of them you need to factor in freight, although the tormek is held in stock here, maybe the wicked edge too, and the 84 engineering is quick to get here.
The system is slightly fiddly and not super portable, although it is packaged better than anything else. My wicked edge is much easier to transport.

Another aspect to consider with the Tsprof, which has nothing to do with why it performed well, is that you can get a huge variety of different stones you can get to go with it - diamonds, yup, boride, no problem, aluminium oxide of course, whet stones, would you like Indian, Arkansaw, Japanese, Chinese or European? Oh you wanted some waterstones no problem, maybe you had you heart set on some rock from the bottom of the ocean made from crushed and hardened crustaceans, not a problem. Of course this adds cost to your set up and time to the sharpening process. I have some of these on order, but thanks to the virus they are taking a long time to get here.

So there you have it, still can’t decide? No problem send me your knives and I’ll do them for you, you can choose how you want them sharpened or let me choose, if the edge is under 100 mm long then it’s a fiver per blade, same price for chisels, plane blades, scissors or axes, longer knife blades are seven fifty and it you want any major chips or a broken tip fixed it’s another two fifty on top, you need to pay postage too, I do a moneyback guarantee, not satisfied your money back.

Shelley 021727546