Best and WORST powered sharpeners I've ever tested⬇ Possibly the best?⬇ amzn.to/42uqvCC The WORST⬇ amzn.to/493qwjj Affiliated links As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is NOT sponsored, I purchased everything in this video with my own money. And I am free to link to anything I want.

As a longtime viewer it is interesting to watch your inner showman coming to the surface.

He makes his videos look like fun. Obviously, they're actually tremendous work, but, they're pretty awesome for just a knife-sharpening dude.

I have the Ken Onion version. At $140, it's great and a better value than the Mk.2. More robust, better motor, 4 angle settings, and 5 belts: 120, 220, 1000, 3000, 6000. I'd argue that the jump from 220 to 1K is still a bit too big, so I can't imagine skipping grits like the Mk.2 does. Thanks as always, Alex. Great video!

Love my Work Sharp Ken Onion Edition knife and tool sharpener. After two years, no issues and easy to use.

I have one for several months now. I think it works pretty well. After the 6000 belt I use a leather strop with green compound and the edges are way sharper than anyone really needs. It's not as fun as using all the stones I have, but if you''ve got an edge in really bad shape it beats tons of grinding on stones. I think it's best use could be just getting a good edge that you could finish on stones? It is also really great for quick touchups. Just a few swipes on the 6000 and then strop!

So this is not just a wonderful review, that goes in-depth on not just what it does or doesn't work for, but why, and how it could possible be fixed, but it's also laden with fantastically sincere movie references that are hilarious but don't distract from the subject matter. The editing and sort of cheesy green screen use is exactly up my alley. Your Agent Smith is fantastic, it was legit so good that I want to watch the Matrix again now. Thanks for the time and expertise you put into both the review and the videography, it's been a blast watching your stuff and learning so much! Cooking is 100x more fun with sharp knives, and you've helped me a lot with that.

I used to sharpen my blades by hand, but carpal tunnel and arthritis took that away. The old Work Sharp device sounded good, so I tried it. Almost as sharp as manually, and without the pain. Good buy, in my opinion.

It's crazy that an actually functional and good value product actually exists at this price point when there are super shitty stones on amazon for like 55 bucks or more which are soul crushingly awful and most people just think it's their own fault. This is great for all of those people that don't want to go down the rabbit hole, that's what these systems are for and I'm stunned that there's actually a good one out there for 90% of people.

"Oh, I'm dead serious, and please, dont call me Shirley."

I have watched your channel for some time now and I have learned so very, very much. I am an accomplished chef and learning from you how to have truly sharp knives has improved my knife skills so much resulting in even better standards in my food preparation. This was hilarious and is I think the most “production” I have ever seen you put into your videos. Not by way of the technical but certainly in pure entertainment.

If you get one of these don’t tell anyone. I made that mistake and now sharpen all the knives for all my coworkers and family.

I love that you're slowly putting more cinematics in it again. I remember in the time when your workshop was this unheated shack in the woods, you sometimes made these huge cinematic cuts that were both cool and hilarious! I know it's not your core business, but it was a signature trait with an optimal sense of humor... I'd say, better humor than that of a Burr... (which is already up there)

You would LOVE the Ken Onion edition of this sharpener with the blade grinding attachment. It is easy to use and the angle can be whatever you want it to be. The WS Ken Onion edition is my go-to solution when doing any "Heavy Lifting" to repair a knife or establish the secondary bevel on a knife that is in need. Thanks for the video!

agent smith, your review rocked!

Ken Onion edition solves all the issues 😀 In fact it has to be a default version.

4:37 "Surely you can't be serious." "Stop calling me Shirley!" (Yes, I noticed the background.)

I would watch these videos without the added entertainment value, but it’s a great bonus😁. I think I’m going to watch the matrix tonight…

I normally don't watch the whole video for stuff like this but the editing kept me hooked

Like the extra entertainment skits you are adding.

I purchased one maybe 2 years ago now and at the time it was impressive as hell because of the speed to sharpen compared to stones and it removed a lot of the skill issue on getting a perfect angle. This video was extremely informative because i dont have any of those super cameras you have to tell the difference! Thanks.

I friggin love how much fun you're having with your videos. It's awesome!

I’m getting into professional sharpening myself and I’m SO glad that people like you exist. Cause I’m just starting out and I never would have thought about details like how skipping too much in grit can make burr removal more difficult and lead to a less sharp product 🤯

I use the free grinder attachment. Never go back. A "uniform" belt system cant handle all blades. Thats impossible. But for someone who just needs sharp knives in the kitchen its ok. My 70 year old mum can handle this, and she has REALLY cheapo knives which have to be sharpen very often (and they work hard in her kitchen. Porcelain cutting included). But a few rotations on that thing and she can work without the fear of one of these "blunt knife" injuries. For my spyderco and other more expensive blades the ken onion free belt system is better. But you have always to consider.....you will round up the tip of the blades if youre not really careful. But on the other hand i managed to get some very old knives of my grand grandfather working. They are made of nice steel back in the days and are pre 3rd Reich (im german), with no akward symbols on it. Also his tools and files are better than anything you can buy today.

I have the 'ken onion' edition of this sharpener. I absolutely stand by this sharpener. I'm not a professional knife sharpener, and don't intend to spend hours on end sharpening a knife. The results it provides are more than adequate for the 2 minutes it takes me for one knife. Because it's that quick, I am able to keep all my knives and tools sharp consistently. As for longevity of belts, I own the sharpener for over 2 years, using the same belts it came with on a by-monthly basis. I sharpen on average 5 knives per session and the belts still work fine. This tool is by far the most fun to use on my axe.

Just absolutely love your editing style and way of story telling!

I watched one reviewer on You Tube who said that he noticed less edge retention with the Work Sharp compared to sharpening with stones. He attributed the loss of edge retention that he noticed to a weakening of the metal due to increased friction. He agrees with you that the added friction from the Work Sharp is not anything extreme, but assumes that it is still present to some degree and therefore weakens the metal, resulting in a reduction in edge retention. As you continue with testing this product in the future, it would be interesting to see if you get a similar result or not. Always look forward to your posts. Great content and very entertaining,

Hi. Just want to say......I LIKE KNIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love using this to sharpen lawn mower blades. The rotating head is so much control vs a bench grinder. That's all I have on this.

Wow really appreciate the the work you put into this video. well done.

Your production value is way higher that we deserve ^^

VERY ENTERTAINING. Seriously, a great review that never got boring

Video quality, editing, pacing and sense of humor was really, really good! Amazing content as usual

One thing I really like about this premise of knife sharpener is that it is fairly cheap and easy to experiment with different grits and grit progressions.

I absolutely love your videos. Your video editing and writing skills are on par with your sharpening skills, very creative. Looks like you have fun while also being educational. And I actually am learning!! Thanks.

So much artistic effort put in a sharpener review. Standing applause.

Great review man! Very informative!

I just found this channel recently. This is by FAR the most in depth explanatory, comprehensive guide to sharpening a knife. I've only known about this channel for less than a week and I now have the first, literal, hair-whittling edge (on a cheap, old Japanese- style Ginsu chef knife that was left in my apartment from the previous tenant who apparently liked knives even more dull than a spoon) I've ever even come close to getting. Using nothing but a Husky dual sided 400#-600# diamond plate and a leather strop with the cheap green wax compound. (Waiting on my DMT diamond plate set and DMT stropping compound, although I don't see how it could get any sharper. Can anyone recommend a test to see if it gets even sharper than hair- whittling?) THANK YOU SO MUCH! You have a new subscriber.

I really appreciate all the great editing and production value! You really go above and beyond! Thank you 🤩

Awesome. Way more informative than any other reviews of this system. Most say that rounding of the tip is a big danger for beginners but it sounded like your brother mastered that problem pretty quick.

Instruction and a show. I fkn love it. I have one of these. Works good for high use edges that you don’t have time or want to spend time sharpening. Can’t replace a good set of stones but is quick and easy.

Plz make an update video when you get the other belts plz

Highly entertaining and informative too! Great job with this one!

Great Video and review. I liked the humor and the close up shots that you added❤👍

Your best video yet. Entertaining and informative.

You have a great sense of humor; you should use it more often in your videos. Your impression of Mr. Smith is spot on.

I've gotta say, whether you're outsourcing your videos to an editor, or doing all of this yourself, the production value of the last few months, and of this video specifically, is top-notch! The cook can always throw more into the pot, but more/better ingredients or seasoning doesn't necessarily make a better stew. (This analogy got away from me...) From a technical perspective, you *_could_* upgrade your hardware to some studio-quality setup, like an obscenely high megapixel professional camera, or professional digital video editing rig replete with all of the requisite subscription software...I'm not sure where I was going with that... Oh right! All of those tools would be effectively worthless in the hands of a novice, whereas a pro can make even subpar or defective tools look "good enough". A lesson you've illustrated, and I keep learning from all sorts of KZfaqrs more generally, the quality of tools available do little without the skills to use them properly or effectively. A fitting example just came to mind (which I subsequently spent an hour fine-tuning before scrapping entirely.) I think the difference between talent and skill is important here. While it's certainly possible that anyone *_could_* be naturally talented in any number of things, abilities which took others a lot of practice to achieve, the same can't be said in reverse about skill. Developing a skill from beginner or novice, up to subject matter expert requires commitment, the ability to admit you have more to learn, and the willingness to actually learn. I've known plenty of examples of these, specifically in the tradecrafts. People who've been in a particular field for decades, widely regarded as experts, but they'd just been coasting on their initial talents, never actually honing skills. So high on their own supply that they couldn't learn anything from anybody, and it showed in their work... I'm sorry, I'm not sure why this became some esoteric argument, when I was originally just complimenting you on something impressive I'd noticed (which I still haven't done...) It's become clear to me you're intrigued by contrasting what's in focus with what's out of focus, and I'm here for it. I've seen many microscopic extreme closeups of sandpaper grit in the past, but this was the first time I've seen it illustrated with such care and precision! (This also showed through in your memery.) And it was gorgeous Anyway, I don't assume you'll read this comment, but I hope so, and that it makes sense through my rambling...

I came here for the review, but the production quality is much better than what I expect from KZfaq reviews. Well done.

….also, I love taking this when we go to friends places. Cabins and such. Fun to put a keen edge on all of the knives, tools, etc.

I really like my work sharp ken onion edition. I have sharpened more knives than i could count with it. It works great. Love your videos 🙂👊

Thanks .... been using a harbor freight 1x30 belt sander .. for fish cleaning knives... and after watching your channel I was wondering if I was missing out compared to your diamond stone approach... I learned a lot and I will keep the belt sander with reasonable grit steps to get 'good enough ' edges .. And keep watching your vids ! Thanks !

Great video, keep up the great work!!

U da man. Thx for alllll your content. Im learning FAST.

I bought the full belt kit with my Work Sharp. I have no skills when it comes to free hand sharpening. So this tool works great for me. Worth the money for the extra belt set...

Man thanks for bringing up the left handed part. We definitely live in a right handed world.

Thank you for reviewing this! I have one and always questioned how good it was when compared to someone with a mountain of skill. Watched through to end and am happy. Thanks for what you do !

Keep em coming brother! Probably your best video yet. So cool.

This is for me. I've bought it and I love it. I've tried stones, I've tried those guided system, I've tried them all and honestly I suck as sharpening. However, with this thing, I could actually sharpen my knives, my Ax, my putty knives, even my woodworking chisels (gasp, I know I'm a heathen). Honestly I don't want to shave myself with a knife, so slicing a tomato is the hardest thing I want to do or chop wood.

I have the original Work Sharp and the Ken Onion special edition; they're both great and get incredible results, but you are absolutely correct---there are gaps in the grits, and getting some extra belts takes it to that next level you're looking for. I ordered one extra set of belts for each, and I've been using them for years---they still have plenty of life left in them, so these belts, and the tools themselves, will last a very long time. They'll sharpen machetes, axes, katanas, and all kinds of edged tools really nicely and quickly. Never had a knife that didn't get a lot sharper out of the box after a few seconds on my Work Sharp, and I have a lot of knives. And we haven't even started talking about convexity...

Really enjoy your videos and I have learned so much!

OMG the references! Love the Agent Smith bits! 😂

Never thought I'd be this guy and probably not the first to point this out but... you're not supposed to use the 80 grit green belt on knives. In the instructions it says something like it will make to deep of scratches and blah blah blah. Maybe that information was only in the videos I don't remember. But that's probably why you had those pesky micro burs. Oh and side note this thing absolutely kicks ass for sharpening swords! I have a couple of double edged swords and I sharpened both of them to damn near shaving sharp in like 5 mins. Just skip the green belt. You're 100% right with everything you said. This system does kick ass but it's not exactly... exact. Edit: swords I have are each 30" double edged. That's roughly 120" of high carbon steel in about 5 minutes.

This was really informative and fun. Thank you.

I didn’t expect to watch this whole video but it was so educational and entertaining! Great fair overview

The amount of work, effort and art you have put into this video is amazing.

Great video, always wanted to see more info on these things. I like knives!! ❤

Beautiful Alex, great!

I absolutely love mine. The production value is what made me subscribe. Cheers!

You're a fantastic Mr. Smith!

as a left handed person, i love the fact that you pointed out that this tool can be really hard for a lefthanded person to use, alot of the time when i see tool reviews or anyother kindof review often left hand use is not pointed out at all. This is also in my opinion a huge problem especially since most products are not designed to be used with the left hand, which is also why most left handed tools for example scissors or rulers are often more expensive than the right handed counterpart

Love the editing bro great video !

Good stuff man,too funny! Loved it!

I like your videos, you put some extra effort and I can see it every time. Bravo

I bought one recently and whilst I'm not a huge fan of it [keep rounding off my points but its a skill issue] it has been a godsend since I've started getting pains in my hands/wrists from non powered sharpeners which turned it from therapeutic to agony. Still recommend it though when it's on sale.

For that price you could get a 1-in belt sander that can do that and a lot of other things. And the belt replacement cost is equal to if not cheaper for most grits. That's a bit of a uni tasker

LOVED the Matrix references! Awesome as always. And that sharpener was better than I was expecting..

Been around since about 10k subs and I've never seen you do this much effects and showmanship, please continue. As for the sharpener, I have the Mk1 and I use it as you said, on kitchen knives I don't really care about but I just want a quick sharp edge. The fact that you can take the guide off and take the thing to an axe or sheers is great. I've been running the same belts on mine for about 5 years and they still work, so longevity isn't a problem, they just need to include some additional belt grits.

Man, your videos are getting more and more entertaining. Now, even though they are gettting more and more entertaining, your content is still top notch. Great combination and I am looking forward to getting more education on knife sharpening and having my side hurt from so much laughing. Thank you for your great videos!

Your videos are getting better, been a long time sub and your efforts and humor are awsome. To this day, your Damascus video cracks me up.

i realy enjoyed the editing!

holy lord the editing is next level, absolutly well done :D

You do a great Mr. Smith! I threw away a tabletop (powered) sharpener like the one you discarded. I'm NOT an expert, but at least I fully agreed with you on that one!

I love your videos!!!! You did a great job on this one. Can't wait for your review on the work sharp professional precision adjust 😂

Love the editing, my man. That was a fun video.

I lost it at “THIS IS - WORKK SHARRPPP!!! “ 😂 🤣 I’ll never unsubscribe

Always enjoy your videos! I have the older version of this tool and love it to death for my kitchen knives. My edc I use stones and strop, because the one that may save your butt needs the extra 10%. 😉

Awesome video on many levels. And a great knife sharpener review also.

I like knives. Great video! I enjoy your comprehensive testing and analysis. Have a blessed day bud.

What a video! Excellent work 😊

Very good cinematics on your vids. Informative, educational and entertaining.

You nailed it man, loved the matrix theme. I have one of these and i love it for getting my knives and tools "almost there". I still finish on a high grit stone or diamond plate, then ceramic and finish with stroping. Its great for saving time and elbow grease. Especially for tools like shovels, axes, lawnmower blades etc.

i just love your videos, man)

This channel gets more epic with every video!

Dead serious. Your channel is insanely good. Geniusly edited. Makes my videos look extremely amateur. I don’t think there is another knife channel that even comes close to this one. So good man. So so good.

always informative and entertaining! I'm committed to learning on a stone, I'm currently at the terrible stage

Entertaining, and informative Thankyou

Thanks for this review! I recently purchased the Worksharp Professional Precision Adjust Sharpening System and I absolutely love it, but it is quite expensive and more involved to use properly but the results are amazing. It comes with an angle meter, pocket knife jig, and a 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, a Fine Ceramic and a Leather Strop plate. It makes all my knives scary sharp. I use 17 degrees for my Damascus Slicing and Chef's knives, and 20 degrees for all the German Steel knives. Oh, and it's ambidextrous.

@5:11 you do a killer Agent Smith impersonation, haha. Great vid as always!

Found the Work Sharp Ken Onion edition at flea market couple weeks ago priced at $20, ordered belt kit for it. Had some issues where an old belt had gotten stuck onto the lower drive pulley. Sent email to customer service and the reply told me how to repair it myself and adjust the belt tracking. I've been practicing with it on a box of cheap Chinese pocket knives and kitchen knives. So far I'm impressed with it. Arthritis is making my sharpening on stones and diamond plates more difficult. Wouldn't say it is getting them "shaving sharp" but that isn't what I use my knives for anyway. Good info on this video, thanks.

I have the Ken Onion Edition(KOE) with Blade Grinding Attachment. Now the regular KOE has the same size belts as the MK2, but you can adjust the grind angle anywhere between 30-15 degrees and you have an adjustable speed setting and you can also lock the the power button down, so you do not have to hold the handle while sharpening. Now the big upgrade to all of this is the Blade Grinding Attachment(BGA), sold seperately round about $80, and the first thing you'll notice is that the belts are much larger. MK2 and KOE both use 1/2in x 12in belts. The BGA uses 1in x 18in. And you'll notice there is no "guiding tool" for the knife, you're basically free handing it at this point. Cant wait to see if you ever get the KOE with BGA and compare!