Product Review: Work Sharp Knife and Tool Sharpener

The Work Sharp Knife and Tool Sharpener is a unique belt sander that uses a half inch wide sanding belt of various grits to sharpen both tool blades and knives to keep your shop and kitchen tools at their peak performing edge.

Ease of Use/Performance: 5/5
Convenience/Storage 5/5
Appearance/Design 4.5/5
How much I enjoy 4.5/5

Total: 4.5/5

Work Sharp manufactures tool and knife sharpeners that offer a professional edge to your cutting tools using abrasive grit sandpaper either in a round disc or belt sander. The Work Sharp Knife and Tool Sharpener is a handheld sharpener that uses a half inch wide six inch sanding belt to sharpen tools and knives.

The Knife and Tool Sharpener is a small 120 volt .7 amp motor that runs the sanding belt used for sharpening that runs from the drive shaft on the motor to two other ball bearing wheels. The belt runs along the drive shaft to a fixed wheel and then to a wheel on a spring shaft to tension the belt that adjusts with a knob on the side.

The head of the sander called a cartridge including the two wheels rotates around the motor shaft so you can change the position of the belt in relation to the handle. The sharpener has a two position switch with one position being a temporary on and the other switching on until you switch it off.

The temporary on switch means you have to hold the switch to run the sander/sharpener so you can easily shut the tool off but you can also use the on position so you don’t have to hold the switch when sharpening. The sharpener is easy to use for knives, tools and scissors with the two knife and scissor guides with one guide having two slots on each side of the belt.

Simply put the belt runs along each side of a blade to hone and sharpen the blade but with the flexible belt you get a nice rounded edge on each side of a blade. This rounded edge for blades called a convex edge is a durable edge, Japanese Samurai swords or katanas use this type of sharpened edge.

The kitchen knife guide is used for 20 degree blades while the second guide has slots for 25 degrees and a 65 degree slot for scissors as well as a spot open enough to sharpen serrated blades. Sharpening both 20 and 25 degree knives as well as single edged blades is simple by holding the knife edge against the guide and drawing the knife across the belt.

To sharpen a serrated knife you only sharpen the side of the blade that does not have serrations or the flat side so you don’t hone down the serrations. If the blade of a serrated knife does not have a flat side the Work Sharp Sharpener is not designed to sharpen it but it does work well on flat sided serrated blades.

The belt sharpener works easily on common garden, folding blade, work and kitchen knives as well as other tools like scissors, chisels and planes. The belt can be used to sharpen chisels, single sided blades and other tools simply using at as a belt sander and guiding the edge along the belt at the appropriate angle.

You can even use the sharpener to sharpen the blade of a lawn mower, shovels and other larger tools with the guides off as a simple hand held belt sander which is handy due to its handheld nature. I have used the Work Sharp Knife and Tool Sharpener for all kinds of blades and this makes the best sharpener I have used in my entire life.

My father used a regular grinder and belt sander to get our knives as well as his work tools sharp and he did a great job but it usually took him several minutes for each blade. The Work Sharp Knife and Tool Sharpener can do the same job in easily half the time but it is also easier due to the guides and consistent angle for your blades.

The problem with sharpening with a regular belt sander is the angle of the blades on the belt and keeping it constant between not only the sides of each blade but with each knife. The angle is the key to getting a sharp edge along the entire length of a blade for an overall sharp knife and tool which is not ony safer but easier to use.

The Work Sharp with its guides ensures you have the correct angle every time you pass a knife through the sharpener and across the belt for an easy way to sharpen. If the belt does not stay centered on the ball bearing wheels or the motor end the simple correction using the tracking adjustment knob is easy to perform.

When you first start using the sharpener you ensure the belt is centered on the wheels without the guides, a simple squeeze of the trigger will show how centered the belt is when you start. If the belt starts to move one way or the other you adjust the knob and get the belt centered again to continue using the sharpener.

The only other adjustment of the sharpener is the ability to rotate what they call the cartridge or belt assembly of the sharpener for best positioning of the belt. You can slide the locking mechanism back and rotate the belt assembly or cartridge to the desired position to make setting the tool on a work surface or table easier.

When changing belts the tension wheel has a temporary position that holds the wheel out of the way and turned but snaps back into place simply by turning the wheel back. This temporary position allows you to change the belts easily for quick changes while sharpening.

To set the sander for large tools or when the tool is held in place with a vise or even a lawn mower blade you can rotate the cartridge to the desired position that allows you the easiest access to the belt. The entire cartridge comes off the handle and motor so you can clean the unit or replace the whole unit which only costs $15.

The Work Sharp Knife and Tool Sharpener is now my weapon of choice for keeping knives and other edged tools sharp and ready for use all the time. The Work Sharp Knife and Tool Sharpener costs about $90 while sets of belts are about $10 for an easy to use and always ready sharpener.

I highly recommend the Work Sharp Knife and Tool Sharpener for any household and workshop use for a handheld sharpener that is extremely easy to use.

Work Sharp Website