Work Sharp WSGFS221 Guided Field Sharpener

This knife sharpener is pretty amazing! Its the most thorough sharpener I've ever seen, with five sharpening surfaces, which are described as 5 levels of sharpening stages - and provides the help needed when sharpening a knife with the angle guide, in order to obtain a sharp edge.There are 2 sharpening plates, one is coarse for really dull knife edges, and the other is fine, for getting a better edge than the coarse plate provides. The coarse plate is 220 diamond grit, and the fine plate is 600 diamond grit (the sides are not marked, but its obvious which side is coarse and which is fine when running your finger along the plate). And along one side of the sharpener is a ceramic rod, used to obtain an even finer edge after using the 600 grit plate. It also has a ... MoreThis knife sharpener is pretty amazing! Its the most thorough sharpener I've ever seen, with five sharpening surfaces, which are described as 5 levels of sharpening stages - and provides the help needed when sharpening a knife with the angle guide, in order to obtain a sharp edge.There are 2 sharpening plates, one is coarse for really dull knife edges, and the other is fine, for getting a better edge than the coarse plate provides. The coarse plate is 220 diamond grit, and the fine plate is 600 diamond grit (the sides are not marked, but its obvious which side is coarse and which is fine when running your finger along the plate). And along one side of the sharpener is a ceramic rod, used to obtain an even finer edge after using the 600 grit plate. It also has a coarse and fine setting (via rotating the red knob), and a fish hook setting (I have no use for that).So the method I use to obtain a super sharp knife edge - first holding the knife against the 20 degree angle guide, stroke the knife in a forward cutting fashion along the plate a few times. Then flip knife over, hold against the angle guide, and complete a few more cutting strokes. Do that first on the coarse plate, then fine plate, and then move on to the ceramic rod. It has an angle guide too, and repeat the same type of cutting stroke on it a few times, both sides. First with the knob set to C (coarse), then turn to F (fine). Finally drag both sides of the blade along the leather strop in a reverse fashion (opposite of a cutting direction) to finish the process. The knife blade should then be razor sharp.Yes, this is definitely better than any whetstone and ceramic rod combination sharpener I've ever used. And the angle guides help any newbie to knife sharpening to hold the blade in a correct position for maximum sharpening possibility.

I purchased this sharpener to help me visualize and train my hand to the proper angle at which to sharpen a every day carry knife. Up until using this sharpener, I have been successful at getting my blades 'very' sharp. With this setup, my blades are 'extremely' sharp. I bought a new Benchmade Bushcrafter 162 just prior to purchasing this sharpener. The knife (out of the box) was very sharp, but it would not shave hair off my arm. I sharpened said knife with this sharpener and it will now shave the hair off my face. I highly recommend this sharpener to anyone looking to get a very sharp knife with relative ease. The hidden compartment and broadhead tools are very useful as well. This sharpener is big enough to fit your hand without cramping and small enough to pack ... MoreI purchased this sharpener to help me visualize and train my hand to the proper angle at which to sharpen a every day carry knife. Up until using this sharpener, I have been successful at getting my blades 'very' sharp. With this setup, my blades are 'extremely' sharp. I bought a new Benchmade Bushcrafter 162 just prior to purchasing this sharpener. The knife (out of the box) was very sharp, but it would not shave hair off my arm. I sharpened said knife with this sharpener and it will now shave the hair off my face. I highly recommend this sharpener to anyone looking to get a very sharp knife with relative ease. The hidden compartment and broadhead tools are very useful as well. This sharpener is big enough to fit your hand without cramping and small enough to pack in your day bag to keep your knives sharp in the field. If you have read this review all the way to this point- buy it.

I got the Work Sharp Field Sharpener because I wanted a more all in one tool that was easier to use for someone with little experience. The best feature of the sharpener is the sharpening guides. You just align the item to be sharpened with the guides and move it along the sharpening surface for an easy to learn method of sharpening for beginners. The sharpener has a diamond coated fine and course side that are magnetic, and can be popped off for easier access for cleaning. There is also a compartment under one you can use for storage if you like, but it comes with the instructions inside, which is always nice to reference if you don't use it regularly. There is a ceramic rod with 3 sharpening options, fine, course, and fishhook. There is also a smaller ceramic rod ... MoreI got the Work Sharp Field Sharpener because I wanted a more all in one tool that was easier to use for someone with little experience. The best feature of the sharpener is the sharpening guides. You just align the item to be sharpened with the guides and move it along the sharpening surface for an easy to learn method of sharpening for beginners. The sharpener has a diamond coated fine and course side that are magnetic, and can be popped off for easier access for cleaning. There is also a compartment under one you can use for storage if you like, but it comes with the instructions inside, which is always nice to reference if you don't use it regularly. There is a ceramic rod with 3 sharpening options, fine, course, and fishhook. There is also a smaller ceramic rod for use with sharpening serrations in serrated knives. On top there is a leather strop, which is used for honing your edge to perfection after sharpening.The Work Sharp Field Sharpener is a great tool, and especially for beginners. It's much easier to learn than your average sharpener that requires you to master the sharpening technique without any assistance. I've used most of the features of this tool and everything works really well. I especially like the fine ceramic rod as it allows you to start off sharpening something without doing any real damage to the edge due to lack of experience. I have used sharpening tools a number of times prior to this tool, but I am by no means an expert, or even good at sharpening using a tool like this. This is actually a really great tool, good for beginners, easy to use, easy to clean, and the price is reasonable. 5 stars as I don't really have anything negative to say about it.