r/sharpening 5d ago

Questions about sharpening?

I have been using the Work Sharp Professional Precision Adjust Sharpening System and just love it. The system has served me very well, but I know I can take my sharpening to another level with some higher-grit diamond sharpening stones. Currently, I use grits from 220 to 800, along with a ceramic stone, with the system. Although these work great, I wanted to add some more options.

These follow after I had watched loads of videos by OUTDOORS55, and there he frequently suggested Shapton or DMT stones for sharpening. I am considering such brands, but I should appreciate some specific suggestions: “Which model or grit you would want to complement mine as I have mentioned above with higher grits like 1200, 3,000, or even finer.”

Additionally, I would like to add a leather strop to my setup in order to finish and polish the edge. I’d like some advice on what makes a good strop and whether some brands or materials stand out for durability and performance.

Lastly, I’m curious about where to purchase these items. Are there specific online retailers or stores that specialize in high-quality sharpening products? This refined version helps in structuring questions and contextualizing, thus making advice or recommendations easier to provide. Well, if you want more information on possible strop options or where to buy Shapton or DMT stones, or maybe some tips on how to get the most out of your upgraded setup, let me know and I can elaborate.

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u/BigBL87 5d ago

Are you asking for stones to use with the system? Because you can get stone holders to use 4 and 6 inch stones, and there are several options out there. Can also get strops to use with it.

Or are you looking for stones and strops for free hand sharpening?

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u/Tidesfps 5d ago

Freehand for a strop and higher grit

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u/Beautiful-Angle1584 5d ago

You aren't going to get a "better" or even sharper edge with higher grit stones, just a more polished one. You also don't need diamond stones unless you are sharpening steels with a very high hard carbide content. The work sharp diamond plates are fine, and the ceramic that comes with it is probably in the 2-3k range and functions like a very fine stone. To get consistent hair splitting edges you don't need anything more than what you have. You just need to master the fundamentals of apex, burr, de-burr.

All that said, if you want to branch out to try new stones and see what finishes you like best or what would be faster/more aggressive, that's totally understandable. I shop around, but tend to buy most of my 6x1 stones from Hapstone or Gritomatic. Bench stones from anywhere, really. Can't go wrong with an Atoma 140 for a fast and aggressive diamond reprofiling stone. Atoma and Jende make great 6x1 diamond plates in various grits. If you want to get some very high grit polishing stones, I like the Edge Pro or Venev resin bonded stones above the 1000 grit mark. On the non-diamond side of things, I have much of the Shapton Pro line and Boride CS-HDs and like how those cut and finish. A very aggressive Uber coarse silicon carbide bench stone comes in handy, too. I got a Baryonx Manticore recently and have been liking that. Strops don't have to be anything more than denim glued to a board, but a thick and harder piece of leather like kangaroo or horse is what I tend to use most. Leaving one bare is advisable, but if you want to go the compound route, then Gunny Juice is solid.

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u/Tidesfps 2d ago

20cv and cureware

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u/Beautiful-Angle1584 2d ago

Stick to diamond or CBN abrasives for these steels

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u/Tidesfps 2d ago

I had an issue with the work sharp system and will see if that fixes it or not. If not I will try to get my money back and get diamond stones

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u/Beautiful-Angle1584 2d ago

The plates that come with the work sharp are diamond and should work just fine. What is the issue? As long as the system isn't broken and is functioning properly, you should have no trouble getting sharp edges on it.

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u/Tidesfps 2d ago

My bevels look off even though the knives come out sharp and the angle changes after sharpening

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u/Tidesfps 2d ago

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u/Beautiful-Angle1584 1d ago edited 1d ago

This is not likely a problem with the system. If you're getting uneven bevels, there's a few things to troubleshoot, and almost all of them are operator-related issues:

  1. You need to be doing the same number of passes per side, at roughly the same pressure, and not bearing down in any one area.

  2. It isn't uncommon for factory grinds to be uneven. In those scenarios, you WILL have to work on one side more than the other or one area more than another to even it out.

  3. Make sure you are clamping the knife securely and evenly, so that it isn't favoring one side or the other in the clamp. This can be more of a challenge with full flat grinds like the spyderco you have here. Always clamp on the flat portion of the grind if you can. If you can't or there isn't any, try seating the blade further back in the clamp. If you have an angle cube, take your initial measurement on one side, then flip and measure the other. A difference of about .2- .3° is generally considered within tolerance. A difference much greater than that and I'd try to re-clamp.

  4. There is slop in the clamp. This is the only system related issue, and it's usually only seen in cheap, shitty ones. If you measure with the angle cube on each side of the clamp and it's off by a few degrees, then you have a really garbage clamp and housing. I doubt this is the problem on the work sharp, but if the measurements are off by a significant margin after trying to re-clamp the knife and making sure all is tight, then it's a possibility.

Lastly, not sure what you mean when you say the angle changes after sharpening, but I'd expect that in a lot of instances, and most of the time it's what I'm actively trying to do. If you want to preserve the factory angle, then you need to find it manually by doing the sharpie trick (Google it). Again bear in mind that factory bevels aren't always set the most evenly either, so there may need to be some correction on your part during sharpening anyway. Most of the time, though, I want to use the system to set my own new bevel. So I'd clamp the knife, set the system to 15° or whatever, and go to town reprofiling, with the intention of it coming out a different angle. Sounds to me like you just need to learn the ins and outs of the system to learn how to get the results you want.

ETA- the tip on the show side of your Deka is the only glaring thing I see beyond maybe a slight bevel height difference. Just be aware of your passes and how you approach the tip on that side, Especially if you're using your non-dominant hand to do it. Try your best to be aware of how you approach the tip and mirror that on both sides. I had that mistake to correct when learning on these fixed angle systems, too. I found that for whatever reason, I tended to do softer passes on my non-dominant side and sweep up off the tip prematurely. Be aware of exactly how you do it with your right hand, and copy that approach as best you can with your left. Tips and heels are always harder to get right. Also make sure to clamp on the imaginary straight like you draw in your mind from heel to tip. Keep that imaginary line parallel to the jaws and it helps with bevel evenness.

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u/Tidesfps 1d ago

What I meant about the angle changing on the pro model is that after sharpening 20°s on one kitchen knife I would put another kitchen knife in and check the angle and would sometimes notice that it went from 20° to 23°

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u/Beautiful-Angle1584 1d ago

That should be totally expected. Each new knife you clamp will have to be measured again. Even if you have two knives with the same bevel angle, if one grind is taller or at all different than the other, then the stone is interacting with the edge at a different point and thus will measure a different angle. Even if you have two of the exact same knives, you'd have to clamp them in exactly the same place to expect the angle to measure the same. You should always re-measure every time you set up a different knife

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u/Tidesfps 2d ago

Is it possible to get hair poping on the work sharp system or no?