I need help

[Ruffinogold]

Lately , Ive been holding a thin sharpening stone in my hand and keep the knife in a fixed position . For some reason I can see what my angle is holding th estone against the blade but not holding the knife to the fixed stone . Its like a sharpening dyslexia .

Im gonna give this thing another shot . Its true that Ive been trying it on cheap steel with no luck . Im fearfull of using it on better steel because I dont want to screw up the edge on a better knife

Honestly , I think the issue is my eyesight . Just today I was in my shop / barn doing a task Ive often done but couldnt see well enough to do it today . Gonna make an optometrist appointment . I think if I could see better the worksharp angle on the blade , I bet I could do it

[CoreyR]

Knife sharpening is one of those things. Either it comes easy to you and you're good at it or not.
Kinda like shooting a rifle. Either you naturally can or not.
Both can be taught but, if you have to be taught, beyond the basics, you may turn out where you can do it...sort of, but you'll never have that knack.

[Ronv69]

You probably just need some cheap reading glasses. You are at that age, even if you don't act like it.

[Mr Beardsley]

I'm eyeballing the WorkSharp ws3000 wood tool sharpener

[Ruffinogold]

I finally got it !!!! I bought a large stone today and it turns out I just needed more room .
It's a cheap coarse/fine stone I got at ace hardware .. 13 bucks ..made in China of course
It's one of those stones that suck up oil , not like the one my pop had , which I think was " more fine "

Anyway , I got these and a couple others pretty damn sharp .

I'm on the fence whether I should bother with that work sharp gizmo .

I don't have any wide leather, just an old skinny belt .. stropped them on that and it rocked pretty good

[Mr Beardsley]

I finally got it !!!! I bought a large stone today and it turns out I just needed more room .
It's a cheap coarse/fine stone I got at ace hardware .. 13 bucks ..made in China of course
It's one of those stones that suck up oil , not like the one my pop had , which I think was " more fine "

Anyway , I got these and a couple others pretty damn sharp .

I'm on the fence whether I should bother with that work sharp gizmo .

I don't have any wide leather, just an old skinny belt .. stropped them on that and it rocked pretty good

That's awesome Ruff! I'd recommend you keep screwing with the work sharp thing just because why not.

[Ruffinogold]

I finally got it !!!! I bought a large stone today and it turns out I just needed more room .
It's a cheap coarse/fine stone I got at ace hardware .. 13 bucks ..made in China of course
It's one of those stones that suck up oil , not like the one my pop had , which I think was " more fine "

Anyway , I got these and a couple others pretty damn sharp .

I'm on the fence whether I should bother with that work sharp gizmo .

I don't have any wide leather, just an old skinny belt .. stropped them on that and it rocked pretty good

That's awesome Ruff! I'd recommend you keep screwing with the work sharp thing just because why not.

I guess Ill give it another go . Maybe once they are actually sharp , then I can use it to get it freaky sharp . Afterall , all the videos of the thing that Ive seen are just that ... touchig upo an already sharp blade . I wish there was a video of the thing taking a knife from beat he hell up to razor sharp ... but it would maybe take hours ?

[Mr Beardsley]

I finally got it !!!! I bought a large stone today and it turns out I just needed more room .
It's a cheap coarse/fine stone I got at ace hardware .. 13 bucks ..made in China of course
It's one of those stones that suck up oil , not like the one my pop had , which I think was " more fine "

Anyway , I got these and a couple others pretty damn sharp .

I'm on the fence whether I should bother with that work sharp gizmo .

I don't have any wide leather, just an old skinny belt .. stropped them on that and it rocked pretty good

That's awesome Ruff! I'd recommend you keep screwing with the work sharp thing just because why not.

I guess Ill give it another go . Maybe once they are actually sharp , then I can use it to get it freaky sharp . Afterall , all the videos of the thing that Ive seen are just that ... touchig upo an already sharp blade . I wish there was a video of the thing taking a knife from beat he hell up to razor sharp ... but it would maybe take hours ?

Which model do you have?

[Mr Beardsley]

Okay I went back a few pages and saw what you bought. Make sure you have it clamped in proper and parallel. Set your angle. I use a digital angle gauge when I'm sharpening (which you can do) and apply sharpie to your cutting edge. If you knock it off the back of the cutting edge you're too shallow. If you knock it off the leading edge you're too steep. If you take it off perfect then continue on. But until you do the sharpie you're just throwing shit against the wall to watch it splatter

[Mr Beardsley]

Okay I have an extra couple of minutes and can explain some of the things in my previous post a little bit more. All of these systems, regardless of price tag, make you think that you can just use the marks / detent / whatever they have for an angle marker to go to town and get a killer edge on a blade. Doesn't work that way! Every knife is different. The part that these companies never tell you is that depending on the size of the blade, from the cutting edge to the spine, changes your angle. So sliding a gizmo to a 20 degree mark for a blade that's 1 1/2" tall vs a blade that's 3/4" tall doesn't work.

On my high buck wicked edge they should have left the marks and detent off and it would make the functionality even better. That's where the biggest flaw in the miracle sharpeners is. Get a digital angle gauge and a sharpie and I guarantee you will be able to make a dull blade razor sharp.

Another thing I always do is to run the sharpening stones into the cutting edge. On my wicked edge the blade clamps in facing upwards. So I swipe down and forward with the stones. When I get to the ceramic stones, I reverse that and swipe up away from the cutting edge. It seems to work better and it saves your ceramics from being gouged by a sharp knife.

Long story short, forget their marketing bullshit and get your angle correct on your own. Then it will prove to be more than a $50 paperweight