Work Sharp Ken Onion Edition Review

This unconventional sharpening appliance has the capability to handle the widest range of blades we've seen so far. The Work Sharp Ken Onion Edition is a tool we'd recommend to those who have a growing list of blades in their kitchen, tool shed, and hunting/fishing kit that need to be sharpened. It can return your knives to factory-level sharpness if you are willing to put in the time it takes to get there.

Performance Comparison

Sharpening Ability

With a design akin to a belt sander, the Work Sharp Ken Onion comes with 5 interchangeable bands that each have varying levels of grit. The sharpening process involves working your way through from the extra-coarse 120-grit belt all the way to a fine abrasive belt with a 3000-grit. For serrated blades, bread knives, and gut hooks, there is a 6000-grit extra-fine belt that helps preserve the serration by not removing too much material.

We found the overall process to be a bit more time-consuming but extremely effective. The Ken Onion is one of the highest-scoring knife sharpeners we tested and one of the few that was able to restore factory-level sharpness after using it according to manufacturer recommendations. At the end of our test, we measured a sharpness level of 257 g, down from the 1042 g of cutting force that was required from our pre-dulled blade.

The use of flexible sanding belts creates a convex edge that leaves more steel behind the point of the blade for support and helps the edge stay sharper for longer. so hopefully, you won't have to break out the sharpener as often. The multi-stage grinding process produced a beautiful, mirrorlike finish on the edge of the blade, and when examined under the microscope, we could see the convex edge produced by the flexible sanding belt. All of this was backed up by excellent performance in our paper-cutting test. The knife sliced right through the sheet of paper and felt as sharp as it did straight out of the box.

Ease of Use

The Work Sharp Ken Onion scored just below average for ease of use. There is a bit of a learning curve to use this machine, and, as mentioned above, the entire sharpening process takes longer than other electric sharpeners. After setting the grind angle, running the knife through an adequate number of passes, and swapping out bands, when all is said and done, the whole process takes about 10 minutes for a single blade. If you just need to sharpen one knife, this isn't so bad, but if you have more than a handful, you better settle in for an afternoon of grinding.

The angle guide on the Ken Onion is spring-loaded, so if you put too much pressure on it, you may unintentionally change the degree of your bevel angle. Relative to an electric pull-through model, we found that it took a few extra practice rounds before we found our swing with this sharpener, and we appreciate the clear guidance in the manual for best practices. It still does not take as much skill as using a whetstone, and it has the potential to achieve the same degree of sharpness. Lastly, if you decide to use this Work Sharp model, be prepared for some cleanup afterward. In our testing, we found that the belt sander shed a lot of material and preferred to run the machine outside or in the garage, where cleanup would be a bit easier.

Versatility

If you need to sharpen more than just your kitchen knives, that is what this machine is built for. It can handle scissors, hunting knives, pocket knives, kitchen knives, and serrated blades. We even used it on a set of hedge shears. An additional attachment can be purchased for larger blades, like axes. We were hard-pressed to find something that the Ken Onion couldn't sharpen, and it earned one of the highest scores in this metric.

It has left and right-edge options for grinding and honing double and single-sided blades, and the angle guide is adjustable from 15° to 30° with 1° increments, giving you ultimate precision in your bevel angle. Worksharp has a handy sharpening reference chart that tells you how many passes you need on each belt depending on the type of blade you are working with, so there is little room for confusion.

Storage

Storage is the single downfall of the Work Sharp Ken Onion; it is one of the highest-volume sharpeners we tested. We think it would almost be a better option to store in the garage rather than in the kitchen. It definitely won't fit in the drawer, and with the amount of dust/debris it tends to shed, you probably won't want to keep it with your other kitchen appliances anyway.

It has a few extra belts to keep track of but comes with a storage bag to keep everything together. That said, if you are looking at a machine with the level of capability and versatility of the Ken Onion, we're guessing that if you have enough room to store a whole slew of kitchen, yard, hunting, or fishing blades, you're likely not super worried about storage space.

Should You Buy the Work Sharp Ken Onion Edition?

If you take pride in keeping your kitchen knives at elite-level sharpness, and have a tool shed full of work blades that could also benefit from a good sharpening, then we can't recommend the Ken Onion enough. Many will appreciate that the design gives you ultimate flexibility in bevel angle, grinding grit, and knife style. Although, for some users, all of this flexibility may be overkill. It all comes down to personal preference. If you only have a few kitchen knives that you take to a professional sharpener once a year and just want something to keep them fresh in between, then you might want to look at a simpler, more affordable model.

What Other Knife Sharpeners Should You Consider?

If you want top-notch results from your sharpener but don't love the idea of trying to master the sharpening technique, then the Work Sharp Precision Adjust might be a good option. This manual swing arm sharpener produces above-average sharpness with very little effort and is decently versatile as well. Our top choice for a compact, easy-to-use model is the Work Sharp E2, which is an electric pull-through model that we think will work well for most people.