A Comparison of Other Sharpeners

 

The Loray, Lansky System

In this set up, the blade and clamp are held in the hand, and the small sharpening stone is moved into the blade at the end of a long rod.

1. Any knife longer than 4" must be moved in the clamp to do the whole edge, thus changing the bevel.

2.With filet or skinning shapes, as one nears the tip of the blade the geometry of the system causes the bevel to flatten out. What you are left with is no tip but a bevel to the edge.

3. The clamp will not hold large spine knives or very small blades.

4. Each rod is different. None are the identical straightness. The bevel will be slightly different with each rod.

5. The angle slots are sloppy and inaccurate.

6. The stones are small and wear quickly. The units tend to be poorly made, and of lower quality materials.

The Clamp on System

This system was introduced by Buck and is used by Razors Edge as well. The clamp is attached to the blade and the blade is moved across the stone.

1. Poor to impossible with small knives.

2. Complicated set up. Ruler measurements and 4 screws must be aligned. To double bevel ruler must be used to move clamp forward and lower.

3. Poor on thick spined knives. After the clamp is used several times, the shoulders wear unevenly and the bevel will never be identical

4. Most importantly, you are limited to the angle set on the clamp (usually 20 deg.) No potential for different angles.

 

Automatic Hones

These were designed for the food industry. They will quickly sharpen your average 1/8" kitchen or steak kives. Howevere there is no provision for changing the angle. It does a very poor job on small pocket knives. They usually do a "butcher job" on your good knives.

 

Magazine Reviews
The SKARB in Action
SKARB and the Double Beveled Edge
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