Knife Sharpener

[44 bbq]

Spent about 1.5 hrs on two knives, beginning with the P120 and progressed through the X4. Majority of time was spent on the P120 at 17.5* angle. Made about 30 passes on each side. Felt a burr on each belt but still not sharp enough. Rough cut on paper.
Not what I expected after reading the reviews and watching YouTube video's and definitely not worth $140.
Actually feels the X4 belt was not sharpening the blade but actually making it duller.
I'm at the point where I am not satisfied with the product, both due to my inability and also the product.
I'm sure the product works fine but just isnt working for me.

[44 bbq]

I played around with this thing for almost a week, using the guide, freehand, changing the angle (15*) and still could not get a satisfactory sharp blade. About the only thing it did do was eat up my knives.
Guess I am the only one who was not satisfied or could not get it to work for my needs.
Now I need to figure out what's next and need to fix my blades.

[HawgHeaven]

Sorry it went to shit on ya' 44. Been honing by hand for many years, and found the JewelStik at a car show of all places. Bought it. Tried it. Loved it. Like anything else, it takes practice.

[PitRow]

Dang, sorry it didn't work out for ya. I hate it when things don't live up to their expectations. Can you return it and at least get your money back?

[44 bbq]

It's already on it's way back.
Probably going to get some stones.

[dcarch]

To me, the foundamental problem with the Ken Onion sharpener is that it sharpens your knife with the sanding belt goes in one direction, and it sharpens the other side going the opposite direction. This will create an unbalance edge, I think.

dcarch

[AJ]

Yeah man, sorry it did not work out for you.

[44 bbq]

Guess I don't have the skills to sharpen knives LOL.
Honestly, I just wasn't sold with the set up of the KO. Changing the angle to 15 did help quite a bit but I just could never get the knives hair shaving / paper slicing sharp. On top of the that, the belts started showing signs of wear, which I'm sure was user error.

As an update, I did order a set of whetstones to try. Hopefully these will be the answer. Good thing is I have a friend who uses whetstones so he can provide some advice if needed.

I've watched a lot of video's on stone sharpening but that doesn't mean I'll be able to make them work for me. I thought I would be able to get the KO to work.

[Snarlingiron]

Sorry for your experience and hope my advice didn't steer you wrong. I really like the Ken Onion unit and get great results with it. Really sorry it didn't work out for you. The stones will definitely work. Folks have been doing it that way since the dawn of time. Well since the dawn of metal tools anyway. For me, I can get similar results to using stones with the KO unit in far less time. Obviously, YMMV.

[44 bbq]

Sorry for your experience and hope my advice didn't steer you wrong. I really like the Ken Onion unit and get great results with it. Really sorry it didn't work out for you. The stones will definitely work. Folks have been doing it that way since the dawn of time. Well since the dawn of metal tools anyway. For me, I can get similar results to using stones with the KO unit in far less time. Obviously, YMMV.

When I first started looking into sharpening options, I had planned on getting a set of stones as I always wanted to learn how to use them. But as I started reading about the KO, I felt that would the easier route. Unfortunately, it wasn't for me. I'm sure it was 99.9% user fault but I just had enough with trying to figure it out and didn't want to order new belts.

I appreciated all the input I received from everyone. I really thought the KO would make sharpening less time consuming. And to top it off, my better half said it was too loud. I need a man cave. LOL.

I should have the stones by Wednesday or Thursday so I'll have some time to attempt another round of sharpening over the weekend.