Features:

  • Adjustable sharpening guide - produce precise edge bevels from 15° to 30°. motor- 120Vac/1.5 amp. Duty cycle-1 hr Continuous
  • Variable speed motor - handle every sharpening task, from grinding to honing. More power with improved cooling & the option of slow speed honing or high speed grinding
  • Premium flexible abrasive belts - deliver a strong, long lasting razor-sharp convex edge. Work Sharp engineered and Ken Onion designed to deliver the pinnacle of knife sharpening.
  • Fast, Precise, & repeatable - sharpening results with no set up or calibration time. The 6000 grit belt measures ½ x inches) for better contact with serrations, gut hooks and other hard to reach edges
  • Proud to be an American company - Work Sharp is part of Darex, a 4th-generation family owned company in Ashland, Oregon. For over 40 years We have been engineering industry-leading sharpening tools here in the USA.
If You Don't Read and Follow the Instructions, You're Going to Have a Bad Time

Bought this to bring back the life to our kitchen knives and touch up our pocketknives. The instructions are extremely easy, this is possibly why people are making mistakes and feel they can just gloss over them. I would say there are 3 sets of instructions on how you can sharpen a blade; I prefer the ones located on the cardboard table. This system has already paid for itself since my husband and I did not need to buy new kitchen knives and or take them in on occasion. The construction is very solid and can turn the most novice knife sharpener into a pro if judging the blade edge. If you want to have razor sharp knifes on a moments notice this will exceed your expectations. Only thing I warn is yes the old saying is correct “A dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one”. However, I would add a razor sharp blade is not as forgiving as a sharpened blade. After sharpening with this system be very careful your knives, they will be scary (in a pleasant way) sharp; more so than from the factory! Some tips below I've picked up that have helped me sharpen my blades quick, precise and without mishap: 1. Tape the Blade Up: I place some masking tape on then peel it carefully over the edge to cut a silhouette 1x per side. I peel off then place it aside then with both silhouettes I place them back on just revealing the blade where is will make contact with the belt. This protects the blade while learning efficiently without having to fatting up the knife with tape. 2. Practice With a Cheap Knife: The real skill is when to let go of the trigger so that is does not grind more on the tip of the blade than the recommended "1 inch per second" and following the contour of the knife edge while maintaining proper contact with the belt. 3. It Can Make a Mess: After sharpening 8 or so blades I noticed my dining table (live in an studio so no man cave garage here) covered in shavings and whatnot. I later noticed it was all to the right of the sharpener. So I placed it to the left of my kitchen sink after making sure there was no water and whatnot on my counter. This made most of the shavings fall in the sink making for easy cleanup. 4. Wear Eye Protection: I noticed (thankfully while wearing eye pro) that left grind shoots debris shoots straight up in your face if you're like me watching closely if the knife is properly being inserted and pulled. It would really suck to get that in your eyes and looking back after sharpening 14+ knives. I also wished I had a face mask for the first marathon since you will be looking and making excuses to sharpen every blade in the house to make it pass the paper test. 5. Master the Marathon: I noticed that the main difference between say a kitchen knife and pocket knife is the angle since they both use the same main 3 belt grits (coarse, medium and fine). If I’m going to have a sharpening marathon I separate my kitchen and pocket knifes yet use the same belts instead changing the belts per group of knives. The only thing I change is the angle degree. This helps speed up the process instead of changing everything out for each pile or worse per knife. 6. Check For Crooked Burrs While Keeping Count: I’ve noticed the best way to ruin your edge is losing count or what side went in last, thus causing an annoying crooked burr. My method is the right side is “odd” numbers while the left is “even” to help with remembering where to start. I count to the total number of strokes ie if it calls for 10 I count to 20 total. This also means I go to right to left until I reach 10 which would be 5 per side and good time to check for burrs. Then 10 more starting at 11 so the “right” side of the system. With this method I have yet to notice burrs ever occurring thus speeding through the process precisely. Thank you I hope this helped, I wouldn’t have spent the time to write this if I didn’t feel this Worksharp didn’t impress me as it did.

Buttwr knife sharp

This thing is super easy to use, doesn't remove to much material if your careful, and takes a while if your not to mess up a blade. Wouldn't use it for making a knife edge, just restoring one. Took about 30 min to sharpen both sides of a butter knife to hair shaving sharp. My roommate is a bad ass with stones, and while his knives come out just a little bit sharper, mine are way quicker to make. Overall would recommend if your like me and just can't quite get stones down, this is the next best thing.

If your looking for a sharpening system just buy this one

Well after a few hours of playing with it in my garage . It is down right amazing what you can do with this . It's worth every penny but is much smaller in size then I expected. Feels very well made . I no longer have any hair left on my arms from testing my knives . It's very easy to use my 12 yr old can put a flawless edge on a knife . If your looking at it just by it but definitely buy extra belts you won't be able to not sharpen everything you own . I also bought it with the blade grinding attachment when I ordered it and it's amazing well worth adding it . I looked at probably every sharpening system there is and this is best value for what it does and saves a ton of time .

Best/fastest sharpener I have ever used or owned. Never going back to the stone.

Took me a few tries and two different blades to get the hang of it. I have always used stones to sharpen my knives, and could get them to shave hair but not keep the edge very long. Adopted the "convex" theory of Work Sharp and wanted to see if it could make my knives beyond razor sharp. I followed their directions to the "t" but could not get my knife right. After about an hour trying to sharpen one of my EDC knives, I took to youtube where I watched some younger kids demonstrate the sharpener. I was all wrong with my angle and speed. I was going by what the directions suggested, but it was too wide for my blade. Made an adjustment and began to reprofile my blade. Within 10 minutes I had the edge polished and slicing paper (which it had never done before). I made the conclusion, rougher the belt grit, faster the motor speed, and it worked beautifully. I then brought out 9 kitchen knives from Wulsthof steak knives and chef knives, to cheaper Emerald kitchen knives. Within 30 minutes I had all of them shaving paper like nothing!!! Moment of truth was how well the edge would hold up. I used one of my chef knives to cut a water melon up into 1inch chunks, bell peppers, chicken breasts, trimmed fat off of a rump roast and processed an onion. After that...was still shaving paper like it had never been used. I highly recommend this sharpener for all your knives, just start on an older/cheaper one until you find the right method. Love this thing.

Ken Onion Edition Rocks!

I held off writing anything about this system as I really wanted to make sure that it actually worked for me. I'm happy to say this sharpening system is by far the best I have ever used! I have gone through tons of sharpening systems over the last 25 or so years, and nothing has come close to working as well as this! I took out old beater knives that I have never been able to put a decent edge on and managed to get them RAZOR SHARP using this tool. Now granted, I'm not mister expert with sharpening systems. Every system I have used was by hand. Arkansas Whetstones, Spyderco Sharpmaker, Japanese Whetstones, Diamond Hones, Razor Edge System, Steels and Strops. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking any of them, all of those systems worked for me on most of my knives. This system though was the only one I have ever used that could put a professional factory looking razor sharp edge on every knife I own. For example, I have two Chef Knives that I purchased from Costco a few years ago. They were purchased sharp, but like every kitchen knife, they got dull. I tried honing them with whetstones, tried ceramics, tried diamond hones. The end result was always the same, could barely cut butter! Same with my Old Hickory Knives. I could never get them as sharp as a kitchen knife needs to be. With this system, first time I tried it, I was able to get those knives hair popping sharp! After that I got bold, and busted out my old Windlass Steelcraft Kukri that I bought when I was a teenager. 30$ big hunk of made in India steel that I could never get sharp if my life depended on it. It took longer to sharpen than the kitchen knives, but the end result was the same. You can shave with it! I even took a piece of junk folding knife "Made in China" gas station 5$ special and turned it into a razor sharp piece! That to me is an impressive tool! I have sharpened at least 30 different knives with this so far and have not replaced the original belts yet just to give you an idea on how long they last. For those of you considering buying it, I have this advice for you. Watch the YouTube videos about it! I can't stress this enough! The included directions are good, but it's not the same as watching someone actually using it. Start off with a beater knife! Do not try and sharpen your prized possession knife with this on your first try. This tool can remove alot of steel very quickly and you can ruin your knife if you don't know what you're doing. Practice with a knife you do not care about. You will notice the first couple of times that it can get tricky when sharpening towards the point of your knife. Again watch the YouTube videos for instructions. You can blunt the point of your knife if you're not following the instructions. Just like with any sharpening system, it takes practice, but once you get a feel for it, you will not regret it! Good luck!

Works well as advertised!

**UPDATE** The company promptly and completely took care of the issue. Turns out it was the drivetrain, and they offered a no-hassle resolution to my complete satisfaction! Within a week, I was back up and running and all my knives are sharp once again! This is within my expectations, and I'm very satisfied with the unit and the wonderful customer service I received. The tech assigned to me was superb. The replacement works beautifully! ----- I went to use the sharpener today for the first time in a couple months and noticed one of the plastic rollers that holds the sharpening belts is broken. I've had this unit less than a year and have always been gentle, and given it very light use in that year. Very poor design to put breakable plastic parts where they can get warm and brittle. Abysmal longevity on this otherwise decent sharpener. I've always just used the weight of the blade I'm sharpening, and have never applied pressure or used it contrary to the instructions. There is no reason this should've broken the way it did. I have submitted a warranty request with the company. It is my hope that they'll honor the warranty on this never abused, always treated with care product. I will come back and update my review after the company responds to my request - whether positive or negative. See photos for representation of broken part. I tried to get a couple angles so you can see what this did for no apparent reason. I otherwise like this unit. I've never been able to really get the knack of sharpening my knives on a stone, which is always the superior way of doing it. I just can't seem to get my knives sharp that way. I know it's me, and I don't have the patience to practice to get it right. I'm 44 and never got the hang of it, even as a boy scout or a scoutmaster in my adult years. This is a great "cheater" tool to sharpen my knives quickly and easily. But it's an awful design to use so many plastic parts that break - especially in the moving areas such as the rollers.

Fortunately I had been to a Cabela's and saw this ...

Bought this for a friend. Let me start by saying I'm a professional knife maker and am no stranger to any sharpener out there. While I personally have my own set up on a belt sander with various grits and a leather stropping belt, along with a Spyderco Sharpmaker, plus all the other devices I've accumulated over time. So, my friend is the produce manager at a local grocery store. They cut a lot, and I mean a lot of vegetables with all kinds of cutlery devices. So when he came to me asking to try my equipment, I did not decline. I did however offer him some advice. We all know a sharp knife is a safe knife. Get something all in one and automated so as to make your sharpening easier. Fortunately I had been to a Cabela's and saw this product demoed there and knew exactly what would help him out. After a little research, we bit the bullet and haven't worried about sharpening since. He had me demonstrate how to use its various nuances for five minutes then we ran some knives through it. Man did they come out sharp. We stayed with just two grits to give his knives that nice toothy edge that bites into veggies so well. He was very pleased and immediately went down to the neighbor's house to sharpen his knives. This is a good product for anyone needing a quick automated way to sharpen all types of cutlery. It had various angles adjustments, down to the degree. The roller to keep your knife steady is a nice feature but can be moved so as to do knive with guards on it. The belts slip on and off with ease and their tracking can be centered with a sliding button: great features! Two thumbs up (while I still have them - ouch, sharp)!

I crossed the "Line", I'm and glad I did!

The Worksharp Knife & Tool Sharpener Ken Onion edition...For 7 months I debated w/ myself over and over about "biting the bullet" and getting a power tool to help me sharpen knives more efficently. Im almost 48, and since age 12 I have used my grandfathers' tried and true stone & ceramic methods to put a razors' edge on a cutting tool. And the old methods WORK. Period. But I cant see quite as well as I used to, and if you get off count sharpening and stropping, it causes big problems that you have to be able to SEE the edge to correct. I swore up, down, and sideways never to "go powered". But w/ the WSKTS systems, my edges seem to true up faster...way faster. I chose the WSKTS-KO because of the options it has available over the standard... My personal favorite?? A slow speed mechanism that keeps me from skrewing up a good blade. I can watch the process as it unfolds. Slow on the WorkShap systems is still "jack-rabbits' ass on fire!" fast compared to almost any hand sharpening rigup. I particularly like the medium and fine "white surface" belts. They sharpen and hone like Spyderco ceramics, and still leave the door wide open for me to finish by hand w/ leather strops. They have a "gunmetal" lookin' deposit as you use them, just like a ceramic rod. You can clean them w/ a white gum eraser on slow speed too, or the standard cleaning "stick" widely available for belt abrasives. The angle adjustment guide is a stroke of genius. If the weight of the knife is all the pressure you use, the blade can easily be "leaned back" and hovered past the belt and the sharpness you seek comes faster. Now, "leaned back" sounds like a relaxed term. Thats' the idea. Set the knife into the sharpener, and REST it on the angle guide, using JUST enough pressure to keep it sliding against the guide. The tool motor in and of itself has more than enough power to handle almost any job, if you use the right belts in succesion and TAKE YOUR TIME. This is a great tool for beginners, and a Godsend for experienced sharpeners, but it doesn't possess the power of an angle or bench grinder Remember that sharpening isn't a race, and if you don't feed your family doing it, its far better to proceed SLOWLY and watch what youre doing. Pay Attention. Don't crank this baby to max on your Sebenza, and then give this tool a bad review if you are foolish enuf to do that. You can and WILL RUIN a very expensive knife in a heartbeat!! Read the directions. Watch Youtube. Call Worksharp, ask questions. Read the directions again. Find some old user knives to practice on. NEVER drag the tip of any knife blade more than 1/2 way off the belt. Start w/ tool OFF, set blade into the angle guide, and using the weight of the blade, and GENTLE guidance, manuver the blade toward the tip, following the shape of the blade. If you are using the "crossbar" blade guide, DO NOT press the knife edge into it, that will dull your knife, defeating the purpose. This IS NOT a bench grinder you just turn on, and leave it that way 'till you finish. Its rated for 1hr. before you need to let it cool completely off. Then when you get good, and I mean good enough to feel that edge and say "Damn!, now that's freakin' sharp!", THEN its time to "Dress up your babies for school". In less than 45 minutes, you can turn a butter knife into a razor w/ the WSTKS-KO, and you can bleed easier than you think. Keep the tool clean and free from sharpening residues as much as possible w/ a dry bristle brush, air compressor nozzle etc. The coarser belts will produce loads of fragments that can gum up the sharpening guide, cassette workings etc. This produces scratches on surfaces you don't want them on. Use masking tape if necessary to stop that from occuring. Put the masking tape in a single layer on the guide "sliderpads" too, if you can, stop and clean often. I sharpened a RUSTY old HC steel butcher's knife, started w/ the coarsest belt I could find, established a "working edge", and went from there. That rustbucket Old Hickory will now SHAVE hair. Tnere was rust and metal frags/sanding matl. all over that cassete. KEEP it squeaky clean. If you think that this tool can be mastered in 5 mins. w/ no practice etc. you will need to take your knives to a professional edgemaker!! All belted abrasive tools need time/patience to get good, but it'll be less time than with stones!! The "medium grit" belt is normally used for sharpening a well-cared for blade on occasion as needed, the fine grit for semi-regular honing, where you want something more aggressive than a steel, but less than attempting to adjust a primary grind to facilitate sharpness. EDIT: 2/24/14 I used the 6k purple belt to polish away the tiny imperfections from the back of my Spyderco H1 Salt Pacific, and now it shaves hair! Make sure you polish AWAY FROM the edge if you do that...or you'll cut the belt! Also, if you have a combo edge knife, each portion of the edge must be sharpened INDEPENDENTLY. Sharpen the plain edge parts as normally done and then follow the directions for sharpening the serrated parts the way you would a fully serrated blade. Tantos must be VERY carefully done, because the flat portion on the nose needs to be treated as if it is a seperate small blade, otherwise you will ruin your knife. My suggestion is the Spyderco TSM for these, unless youre REALLY good on the WSKTS-KO. I will update this review as I go along, but as for now, this is a "TD Essential Sharpening Gizmo List" chart-topper. Highly recommended. Edit 6/19/15 Still well satisfied----just keeps getting better!....I'm thinking about snagging the Wskts field kit to complete the lineup!.....May consider a 1 by 30 too. Everything comes full circle.

Hands down best knife sharpener ever.

To begin with, let me give you some background. I live to hunt and fish. I learned to sharpen knives on a wet stone 40 years ago. I’ve used a lansky sharpener, and stones for the past twenty years. I saw this electric sharpener and thought it was a gimmick product. No self respecting woodsman would use something electric to get a great edge on their blades. I’ve always prided myself on have sharp knives, my pocket knife can shave the hair off your arm. Fast forward to this purchase...holy moly, who knew knives could get this sharp? Now every knife I have is sharper than surgical instruments. I can split hairs with every knife I own. I’ve thrown away my razor blades for shaving. This thing can put an edge on a blade that would make a ninja smile. A few times in your life you will invest in something that truly revolutionizes your life. This is one of those products. It’s like braided line to polymer lines, it’s like Blu-ray is to vhs. This will take your knives from 8-track to Bose surround sound. Buy it, it’s fricken amazing.

The Work Sharp WSKTS-KO is simply awesome.

The Work Sharp WSKTS-KO is simply awesome. Since receiving it, I have sharpened at least 40 separate knives, from expensive 12" bull-nose slicing knives to cheap 2.5" paring knives. I took the guide off, rotated the belt and it sharpened my ancient Craftsman hatchet that's been sitting dull in my fire tools box for 40 years. I carry the small Victorinox classic with me to work ( I have several ) and it put a brand new edge on them and that blade is only 1-3/8" long. It will ( given a little time and patience ) repair a badly damaged edge, but I found that although it will sharpen regular scissors, it will not repair ones that very damaged - ones that have lost their "set" on the cutting edge by either being slightly bent or are loose at the pivot. Not a real problem with me - I bought it mostly for knives and it really shines there. Yes, I know there are some expensive and extravagant, manual contraptions out there that might put a more competitive edge on blades, but I don't want to spend $700+ on something I have to sit there and work manually for at least a half hour per blade. This thing takes less than 10 minutes to reshape and fine edge most knives and much less time to refresh a blade once it has been reshaped with the Work Sharp convex edge. This is what I've been looking for - out with all the cheap and not-so-cheap sharpeners I have laying around. One more thing: we received a full set of Gerber stainless kitchen knives for our wedding, a long long time ago. I have really never been able to get a decent edge on these. I have taken them to a professional to have sharpened and was very disappointed. Believe me I tried through the years, but they were relegated to a box in the garage. The Work Sharp put an edge on this old set of knives that they never had before. This did take a little time, but they are now "kitchen worthy" knives that can match up to our expensive set. The sharpening of these old problematic knives sold me then and there. Five stars all around. BTW - I purchased two extra sets of belts when I got my KO Work Sharp. Guess I'll have to will those to my kids - the belts just keep working and working...

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