Thread: Knife sharpener - Scary sharp or Wicked Edge

Originally Posted by Puffin

Having a blade rigidly clamped at bench height and with the edge facing outwards is not a system I could trust myself with.

Amen, when I bought one of the Chinese sharpening kits I mounted it to a bit of decking timber which I can clamp to my bench or remove easily, and I either have it facing away from me or at 90 degrees to where I'm standing, as I'm always wary of feeding my hand to a freshly sharpened knife

Originally Posted by dannyb

fixed it

I see your wire and cardboard and raise you regularly cutting on the marble counter top.... know have chips in my nice vitronox skinner that i 'donated' to the kitchen

I sharpen as a side business to making knives and sheaths, I have used and still use some of theses, lansky (don’t use anymore), oil stones (don’t use anymore), diamond rods (emergency use), ceramic rods, scary sharp, spyderco sharpmaker, dc4, tormek, scary sharp, Japanese’s water stones, wicked edge, strops, steels and a 2 x 72 inch belt sander...
Different steels need different methods, the scary sharp is good for non “super steel” tripe knives, try and sharpen sv30 or Elmax on it and you won’t get the results you want, it’s very good for some type of knives and if you are happy with a toothy edge it’s fine. It’s downside is that you need to use it bolted to a bench in a shed, it makes a hell of a mess and sticks to high heaven.
The wicked edge you can sharpen anything, you can do it at the kitchen table, makes almost no mess, and need no extra chemicals to use it, with the right diamond plates yuk can get an edge sharper than anything anywhere. Period. But it’s damn expensive and it’s not fantastic on filleting knives. It works but I usually get out the scary sharp, or the tormek for them.
The tormek is a great piece of kit, but unless you get the Japanese waterstone it’s edge is no better than the scary sharp system, however you can also sharpen chisels, planes, Axes, shears and a hell of a lot more on it.

May not be much help but if you want send me three knives and I will sharpen them, label each one with the method I used and you can see what edge you like...I do charge $5 plus postage for the knives though but they will be sharp afterwards...
Shelley 021727546

Originally Posted by Shelley

I sharpen as a side business to making knives and sheaths, I have used and still use some of theses, lansky (don’t use anymore), oil stones (don’t use anymore), diamond rods (emergency use), ceramic rods, scary sharp, spyderco sharpmaker, dc4, tormek, scary sharp, Japanese’s water stones, wicked edge, strops, steels and a 2 x 72 inch belt sander...
Different steels need different methods, the scary sharp is good for non “super steel” tripe knives, try and sharpen sv30 or Elmax on it and you won’t get the results you want, it’s very good for some type of knives and if you are happy with a toothy edge it’s fine. It’s downside is that you need to use it bolted to a bench in a shed, it makes a hell of a mess and sticks to high heaven.
The wicked edge you can sharpen anything, you can do it at the kitchen table, makes almost no mess, and need no extra chemicals to use it, with the right diamond plates yuk can get an edge sharper than anything anywhere. Period. But it’s damn expensive and it’s not fantastic on filleting knives. It works but I usually get out the scary sharp, or the tormek for them.
The tormek is a great piece of kit, but unless you get the Japanese waterstone it’s edge is no better than the scary sharp system, however you can also sharpen chisels, planes, Axes, shears and a hell of a lot more on it.

May not be much help but if you want send me three knives and I will sharpen them, label each one with the method I used and you can see what edge you like...I do charge $5 plus postage for the knives though but they will be sharp afterwards...
Shelley 021727546

How much difference does the japanese water stone make to the tormek over the one supplied?,I have a t4 bushcraft coming and see they make a water stone for that size machine.

New Ruixin Pro ($30 on TradeMe) in action on my wife's just finished kitchen knife.
So far this system works really well for me, as I am bad with a sharpening stone doing freehand sharpening..



A Happy New year to everyone

Originally Posted by Shelley

I sharpen as a side business to making knives and sheaths, I have used and still use some of theses, lansky (don’t use anymore), oil stones (don’t use anymore), diamond rods (emergency use), ceramic rods, scary sharp, spyderco sharpmaker, dc4, tormek, scary sharp, Japanese’s water stones, wicked edge, strops, steels and a 2 x 72 inch belt sander...
Different steels need different methods, the scary sharp is good for non “super steel” tripe knives, try and sharpen sv30 or Elmax on it and you won’t get the results you want, it’s very good for some type of knives and if you are happy with a toothy edge it’s fine. It’s downside is that you need to use it bolted to a bench in a shed, it makes a hell of a mess and sticks to high heaven.
The wicked edge you can sharpen anything, you can do it at the kitchen table, makes almost no mess, and need no extra chemicals to use it, with the right diamond plates yuk can get an edge sharper than anything anywhere. Period. But it’s damn expensive and it’s not fantastic on filleting knives. It works but I usually get out the scary sharp, or the tormek for them.
The tormek is a great piece of kit, but unless you get the Japanese waterstone it’s edge is no better than the scary sharp system, however you can also sharpen chisels, planes, Axes, shears and a hell of a lot more on it.

May not be much help but if you want send me three knives and I will sharpen them, label each one with the method I used and you can see what edge you like...I do charge $5 plus postage for the knives though but they will be sharp afterwards...
Shelley 021727546

Shelly, you are pretty schooled up but wondering if you have investigated the ezesharp from aussie which I rate very highly as sharp is a part of my hobbys and work.
The good thing about ezesharp is you are not restricted to one type of stone.

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All of these sharpening systems produce micro bevels. Not much good if you have knives ground to or prefer a convex edge.


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The ordinary stone tops out at 1000, the waterstone is good for 4000, no good for removal, purely for refining the edge.

I will give it a look, always interested in trying something new.

Originally Posted by hotbarrels

All of these sharpening systems produce micro bevels. Not much good if you have knives ground to or prefer a convex edge.


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That’s where the 2x72 belt sander comes into play!

Originally Posted by Shelley

I sharpen as a side business to making knives and sheaths, I have used and still use some of theses, lansky (don’t use anymore), oil stones (don’t use anymore), diamond rods (emergency use), ceramic rods, scary sharp, spyderco sharpmaker, dc4, tormek, scary sharp, Japanese’s water stones, wicked edge, strops, steels and a 2 x 72 inch belt sander...
Different steels need different methods, the scary sharp is good for non “super steel” tripe knives, try and sharpen sv30 or Elmax on it and you won’t get the results you want, it’s very good for some type of knives and if you are happy with a toothy edge it’s fine. It’s downside is that you need to use it bolted to a bench in a shed, it makes a hell of a mess and sticks to high heaven.
The wicked edge you can sharpen anything, you can do it at the kitchen table, makes almost no mess, and need no extra chemicals to use it, with the right diamond plates yuk can get an edge sharper than anything anywhere. Period. But it’s damn expensive and it’s not fantastic on filleting knives. It works but I usually get out the scary sharp, or the tormek for them.
The tormek is a great piece of kit, but unless you get the Japanese waterstone it’s edge is no better than the scary sharp system, however you can also sharpen chisels, planes, Axes, shears and a hell of a lot more on it.

May not be much help but if you want send me three knives and I will sharpen them, label each one with the method I used and you can see what edge you like...I do charge $5 plus postage for the knives though but they will be sharp afterwards...
Shelley 021727546

I use these. No bolts required.

https://www.mitre10.co.nz/shop/irwin...-pack/p/142936

Originally Posted by Shelley

That’s where the 2x72 belt sander comes into play!

Agreed. That’s how all mine get sharpened now. Would like to make up a leather strop belt for my belt grinder.


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Originally Posted by hotbarrels

All of these sharpening systems produce micro bevels. Not much good if you have knives ground to or prefer a convex edge.


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Knives flat ground to 0 are. Fine on traditional wet stones, convex not so much. Personally I think convex edged knives are a pita, juice isn't worth the squeeze.

Originally Posted by Nick-D

Knives flat ground to 0 are. Fine on traditional wet stones, convex not so much. Personally I think convex edged knives are a pita, juice isn't worth the squeeze.

Knives flat ground to 0 are ..... what?

The main reason I went away from “sharpening systems” and took the time to learn to convex sharpen (even on flat ground blades, therefore technically a convex micro bevel) is that once in the field and forced to stone a blade (as opposed to strop or steel a blade), unless you can perfectly match the angles established by your sharpening system, you will never get a sharp edge again until you have ground your finely tuned micro bevel to that of your “natural hand”. Therefore, you are (IMHO) better served to spend the time and learn to hand sharpen your knives. In doing so, if you have to sharpen in the field your blade is already “set to your hand”.

If you are ‘sharpening for others’ then a ‘standardised’ angle profile is probably better.

As a young lad I was always astounded at how sharp my granddad and my dad could get their knives for home kill (my granddad turned to home butchery during the depression). A couple of minutes spent on a spit covered water stone and a few swipes with the old school super smooth steel had the forearm shaved as smooth as a new borns bum.
I still have a couple of their knives - they are all convex ground.

There is a reason why ‘jigs’ (sharpening systems) have been developed for micro bevel sharpening - it’s not easy to achieve repeatedly by hand.
With practice, a convex edge is much easier to achieve by hand than a micro bevel.

Therefore, if you read between the lines, I’m just lazy and taking the easy option by convex grinding.


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Originally Posted by hotbarrels

Agreed. That’s how all mine get sharpened now. Would like to make up a leather strop belt for my belt grinder.


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I think I have seem them for sale, need to use compound or maybe oil...also if you get them keep them sealed in a plastic bag or ice cream box as you don’t what grit getting into it.
Cork belts is an option too.