Sharpener edge test

Decided I want to compare the edge of some knives that I sharpen with different sharpeners, my Tormek, my wicked edge and my new Tsprof k03, to keep things consistent I made these:
Attachment 134812
Three small neck knives made from 2mm O1 tool steel, brought from room temp to critical over several hours, held soaking at critical for an hour before being thrust into warmed oil then placed into the tempering oven for three cycles at 235 c for two hours at a time with cooling to room temp between cycles.

Need to clean them up, then I plan to sharpen each blade to 1000 grit, which is not that sharp but it’s the best I can do on the tormek at the moment as I have not yet ponied up for the Japanese waterstone for it yet...

Then do some cutting tests and some visual inspections, then will tidy them up once more, make the handles and some kydex sheaths.

Interesting times, stay safe.

Shelley

I'd be keen to see how you test them. You tube is full of guys sharpening their knives and shredding paper like thats the measure of a sharp knife. Yet I saw a another guy on there forge a knife with a very basic backyard set up sharpened it and went out and chopped down a few small trees then shaved some hair, sliced some fruit etc. way more impressive to me. I guess it's about getting the correct bevel too, convex or concave.

The knife you recently made for me has done a wee bit of work mate. Hasn't needed a sharpen yet. I reckon it will be the only knife I need to carry as it covers all the bases.

My boy has started using the wicked edge and getting better results than I do so all the kitchen knives are sharp. At least until they start to get thrown in the sink and dishwasher again.[emoji16]


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Originally Posted by Shelley

Decided I want to compare the edge of some knives that I sharpen with different sharpeners, my Tormek, my wicked edge and my new Tsprof k03, to keep things consistent I made these:
Attachment 134812
Three small neck knives made from 2mm O1 tool steel, brought from room temp to critical over several hours, held soaking at critical for an hour before being thrust into warmed oil then placed into the tempering oven for three cycles at 235 c for two hours at a time with cooling to room temp between cycles.

Need to clean them up, then I plan to sharpen each blade to 1000 grit, which is not that sharp but it’s the best I can do on the tormek at the moment as I have not yet ponied up for the Japanese waterstone for it yet...

Then do some cutting tests and some visual inspections, then will tidy them up once more, make the handles and some kydex sheaths.

Interesting times, stay safe.

Shelley

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Just wondering have you looked at the aussie eze-sharp.
I like it as I can just use my own stones from my diamond to the Arkansas polishing stones.
Had mine for years and had awesome results.
The only reason I got one was that the boss of our meulsing crew used it for his shears.
After seeing the results I had to have one.
I got mine in about 1990 and then bought the attachment for doing the other bits and Bob's.
Very simple with the flipping system and a reasonable price I reckon.

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Made, ready for cleanup before edge testing...
Attachment 136302

I'll put a fiver on second up from the bottom [emoji3]

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Attachment 137126

Finished these off, three grew to four as one will be sharpened on my knife making belts sander as well. Also need to whip up some sheaths as someone’s already spoken for one and my testing will not be destructive, just testing out sharpening systems, so I will let the others go to, at a discount of course.

I recently come across that test by that Ozy chap while looking for vanax:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xOUwjwt5SII

Now with sheaths...

Attachment 137285

Watching with interest, I have a Lansky sharpener here hiding in box somewhere, It will be interesting to see how your sharpeners differ from each other. Be interesting to hear your impression on each as to ease of use etc.
Could be keen on one of the finished items too.

So this one is being sharpened (now done) with this, an 84 engineering belt grinder
Attachment 137777

And this one is being done on the tormek
Attachment 137778

Two more to go...

Next is the wicked edge
Attachment 137970

Followed with the last one on the Tsprof k03
Attachment 137970Attachment 137971

I have a Sharpmaker with added ultra-fine rods. Does ok job. What do you think of those last 2 systems for the 'enthusiast sharpener'...the wicked and tsprof?

Do you have close up pics of the blades before and after sharpening? Time taken to sharpen with each system would be interesting info too.

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Originally Posted by Tikka7mm08

I have a Sharpmaker with added ultra-fine rods. Does ok job. What do you think of those last 2 systems for the 'enthusiast sharpener'...the wicked and tsprof?

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I had the spyderco sharp maker with the ultra fine rods as well, a good system with a really well thought out case, however it does not even come close to the edge I can get with the wicked edge, so saying the wicked edge as I have set up now cost well over a grand, so if you only have a couple of knives it’s probably not worth it.

I thought so.

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Originally Posted by Shelley

I had the spyderco sharp maker with the ultra fine rods as well, a good system with a really well thought out case, however it does not even come close to the edge I can get with the wicked edge, so saying the wicked edge as I have set up now cost well over a grand, so if you only have a couple of knives it’s probably not worth it.

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Extra strops? Or other whizz bang bits[emoji16]

I'm in the hole for around 700 bucks with mine and would say I use it a fair bit. I also have different angles for different knives so being able to record and repeat them, helps a lot and saves a lot of time as most just need a tickle up from 800 then a polish.

I actually just sharpened 2 bahco? Knives. Dunno what steel they use but I can get those bloody things scary sharp really quick.
That knife you made for me has done a few animals and I still havent touched it. I havent dinged any bone with it tho.
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Originally Posted by R93

I actually just sharpened 2 bahco? Knives. Dunno what steel they use but I can get those bloody things scary sharp really quick.

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Same Swedish stuff as Mora (and out of the same factory) I think? Sandvik 12C27 according to the internet.

Ordered this with every stone for a play. If no good, will get a wicked edge. I don't have many knife and use them infrequently...but find it satisfying.

#Aliexpress NZ$ 18.87 46%OFF | Knife Sharpener Professional Larger Degree Newest Portable 360 Degree Rotation clip Apex edge EDGE KME system 1 diamond stone
https://a.aliexpress.com/_dUvGxDH

Link won't work...came to a $120ish.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ROKTOY

Watching with interest, I have a Lansky sharpener here hiding in box somewhere, It will be interesting to see how your sharpeners differ from each other. Be interesting to hear your impression on each as to ease of use etc.
Could be keen on one of the finished items too.

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How do you find the Lansky system? I've been considering buying one. I've got a handful of knives that I use regularly, but nothing especially fancy.

You cant go wrong at that price, I might have to get one!

I'll post a review once it turns up...

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Originally Posted by Pixie Z

How do you find the Lansky system? I've been considering buying one. I've got a handful of knives that I use regularly, but nothing especially fancy.

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Waste of money, too much play means the sharpener wobbles all over the blade.

Sharpener scratch patterns
2x48 belt sander
Attachment 138730
Pure primary grind, fairly smooth and blends in perfectly, most expensive system, quickest to use but easy to bugger it up and takes a lot of practice to get it right.

Tormek
Attachment 138731
Second quickest, edge very toothy, Japanese waterstone supposed to be a lot smoother, fantastic for most tools but for blades depends on your needs, would not use if for a chef knife but would for a skinner.

Wicked edge
Attachment 138732
Edge ok, fairly smooth, diamonds are well worn meaning they cut well with no high spots, so saying get much much better results with higher grit, thousand grit leaves a smooth but non polished edge, sharp but not outstanding, not fast, but not super slow.

Tsprof k03
Attachment 138733
Slowest method, also sharpest result by a hair, very smooth edge but not polished, will be buying higher grit stones with this one to see how it performs.

Photos taken with iPhone, need a macro lens to show results better, working on that, more cutting to come.

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Originally Posted by Tikka7mm08

Link won't work...came to a $120ish.

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I copied that link and it worked for me. Try this

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Originally Posted by Pixie Z

How do you find the Lansky system? I've been considering buying one. I've got a handful of knives that I use regularly, but nothing especially fancy.

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Pixie, I haven't used it a lot but I find you need to take your time and guide the stone as you sharpen, I probably need to use it more and get used to using it to be honest. I use a normal stone and a steel still but I have gotten good results from the Lansky, well good enough for my purposes.

I had a Lansky, Its no longer used. I could do more damage with it than anything else. I ended up buying a couple of water stones and perservering / practicing using cheaper knivess until I managed to teach myself how to do it. Now I seem to have got the "knack" its not so bad. I have also learned patience as sharpening the new type steels takes a lot longer on waterstones than I thought. I know diamond stones would be faster but that means more $$

Cheers for the advice guys. Think I’ll perhaps pass on the Lansky then. I’ve been using a regular wetstone up til now. Get decent results but would really like to take it to the next level. I like the premise behind the Lansky, being able to precisely get certain angles. But sounds like it’s quite a fiddly system.

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Originally Posted by Pixie Z

Cheers for the advice guys. Think I’ll perhaps pass on the Lansky then. I’ve been using a regular wetstone up til now. Get decent results but would really like to take it to the next level. I like the premise behind the Lansky, being able to precisely get certain angles. But sounds like it’s quite a fiddly system.

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Not fiddly so much as poorly designed, the rods are quite small but the holes they ride in are quite big, as such there is a lot of slop, you can hold a finger under the rod and try and make it more stable but fingers are soft so you still get a lot of play.
If you can use a stone stick to it, try a waterstone, of it you can spring it a dmt double sided atone, the 8 inch version will get anything sharp and will last forever...or send em to me and I’ll hsrpen them up!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pixie Z

Cheers for the advice guys. Think I’ll perhaps pass on the Lansky then. I’ve been using a regular wetstone up til now. Get decent results but would really like to take it to the next level. I like the premise behind the Lansky, being able to precisely get certain angles. But sounds like it’s quite a fiddly system.

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Stick with the whetstone man, what grits are you using? Get a good polishing stone and a strop. Takes a little practice but really not that hard once you get it down.

A 3k finish and a strop when properly done will whittle hair. Keep it a bit courser/toothier for knives used on meet etc. A bit of tooth isn't a bad thing. I go to 1200 and strop on my filllet
and boning knives. They will still shave.

So where are the best places to get water stones.
I've been trying to use a lanskey and I find it crap.
So I want to give wet stones a try.

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Originally Posted by 25 /08 IMP

So where are the best places to get water stones.
I've been trying to use a lanskey and I find it crap.
So I want to give wet stones a try.

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Blademaster.co.nz or Top-Gear.co.nz is where I got mine. Went for middle of the road quality wise. 600/1000 and 1000/6000 grits. But I think a good 1000grit and stropping would be the ticket now
I think the only think I would like now is a DMT Extra Fine stone for the harder steels just to make the sharpening process a bit faster

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Originally Posted by mikee

Blademaster.co.nz or Top-Gear.co.nz is where I got mine. Went for middle of the road quality wise. 600/1000 and 1000/6000 grits. But I think a good 1000grit and stropping would be the ticket now
I think the only think I would like now is a DMT Extra Fine stone for the harder steels just to make the sharpening process a bit faster

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Awesome thanks [emoji106]

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by 25 /08 IMP

So where are the best places to get water stones.
I've been trying to use a lanskey and I find it crap.
So I want to give wet stones a try.

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@25/08 IMP prochef has a good selection of high quality Japanese stones. King is good value. A 1000/6000 is great for kitchen knives, but I like a bit courser for hunting/field knives.

A 2 sided dmt in fine/extra fine(600/1200) and a home made strop is a great place to start.

Just make sure you get a full size stone, it's tempting to buy the smaller stones as they are cheaper but they are no where near as good. Having plenty of stone to work on both helps consistency and speeds up the job.

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

I want one of these: https://www.edgeproinc.com/Professio...Pro-System-c2/

Got this from aliexpress for a try. Not that happy. Clamp doesn't hold all knives well, and I seem to struggle to get sharp blades same as sharpmaker. I am probably not even and need to count strokes each side or one side until a burr produced. The selection of cover 200 to 6000 and they do seem good for smaller knives.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b664363cef.jpg

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Make sure you are getting a burr before you flip to the other side, try soaking the stones in water beforehand, when I am going up progressions I usually aim for 100 strokes per side.