Confession: I’ve been amassing knives since the early ’00s and I never perfected the art of sharpening them.
Whether it was stones or rods or leather strops, I never had the patience nor the sticktoitiveness to get a hair-popping edge. I can touch up a blade or fix a rolled edge, but restoring one to its pristine factory edge or even taking it beyond that (which is sometimes necessary as some factory edges are duller than a butter knife) was always a struggle for me.
This meant that when a knife became dull I had only two options: send it out for sharpening (usually back to the manufacturer) or buy a new knife. Based on the size of my current collection, it becomes rather apparent that I found the latter option most appealing. But buying a new knife every time your old one gets dull is unsustainable unless you have unlimited resources, which I do not.
The Work Sharp Knife Sharpener is the best solution on the market for lazy guys like me. In 2021, the company launched the Work Sharp Knife and Tool Sharpener Mk.2.
As the name implies, it’s the second gen. model in the lineup. The original Work Sharp has been around for about a decade, with over 1.5 million units sold. Suffice it to say, the creators hit it out of the park.
Upgrades
There are three upgrades over the original Work Sharp.
The first is the Mk.2 comes with two-speed options. The original only had one. This is probably the biggest improvement. The lower speed setting gives the user more control when sharpening finer cutting tools, mainly knives. The higher speed is still there for those heavy-duty tasks like lawnmower blades, axes and other edged implements.
The next upgrade is that the user has two angles on one guide. I think the first gen. model, the user would have to switch from one guide to the next when he or she wanted to go from the 25-degree angle to the 20-degree one. Now both options are on one guide. Fewer parts to keep track of. The new, two-angle guide also has a leather lining to prevent marring.
Finally, they added a front-edge guide. This helps to keep the edge on the belt as you’re pulling the tool through.
How to Use It
The most exciting feature of this device is that it is super easy to use. The designers break it down into three easy steps. 1. Place. 2. Power 3. Pull.
Place the edge you want to be sharpened against the belt with the opposite side along the guide. Power on the sharpener. And pull the tool through. Go three to five passes on one side until you raise a burr. Then, repeat the same process for the opposite side.
Change out the belts to the finest grit. Repeat the process. You may need five to 10 passes on each side, and you’ll have a hair-popping edge.
A few extra things to consider. First, if you’re sharpening a knife, you want to end with the tip of the knife in the middle of the belt. If you pull the knife all the way off the belt you can damage the tip.
Second, practice makes perfect. Start with your cheaper knives and get the hang of it before you move on to your higher-priced blades.
Cons
The downside to the Work Sharp is for those knife owners who want a very specific edge angle. Because the guide only offers a two-option solution: 25 degrees or 20 degrees, those who have a factory edge on a single bevel knife of say 15 degrees, they may be forced to re-profile their edge to one of the two higher angles.
Or, they can free-ball it and try to do it by eye with the edge guide removed. I did this with one of my cheap paring knives for fun. It didn’t turn out too well.
Work Sharp does offer a more expensive product, the Precision Adjust Knife Sharpener – Elite, that delivers precise edge angles. But it’s a hand-sharpening system. So for me, I’ll pass on that!
Conclusion
To me the Work Sharp Mk. 2 is a no-brainer. For an MSRP of $99.95, you get a quality two-speed motorized knife sharpener that’ll handle pretty much every edged tool in your kitchen, hunting cabin, garage, or barn. It comes with a three-year warranty to boot.
Click HERE to learn more.