KME vs Worksharp Precision Adjust PRO

[SteadyD]

These two models are basically in direct competition considering they are now equivalent in price (~$250). I have had a KME for quite awhile and have sharpened a variety of knives with it. I’ll put it against the PA Pro and see how it shakes out.

I will get started on some knives soon and give my impressions here in case it helps anyone decide between the two systems!

 

[SteadyD]

First up is a Case Stockman. As I figured, by the time I adjusted the rod to sharpen at below 20 dps the stone was contacting the clamp. This is also a problem with the KME system and Wicked Edge. They don’t like to play nice with smaller blades.

The KME has a replacement clamp to use on smaller blades. The small clip point on a Case be be taken down to below 17 degrees with the clamp, and around 20 degrees with smaller pen knives.

The Wicked Edge has an adapter that is much less effective than KME’s solution to this issue. The main reason I bought the new Worksharp was to see how they get around this issue. That will be my next report.

 

[SteadyD]

Brief update. The “small knife table” worked excellent on the clip point and produced excellent looking bevels that are super slicey.

I ran into trouble on the spey blade, however. The tip is so much higher and the rest of the blade is so short that it doesn’t hang off the end of the table as the clip point does.

See pics: the first two are the spey. Pic one shows how the blade tip is sitting on the table. Pic two shows the tip sitting off the table after adjusting the fine tuning knob. It’s the round silver piece pushing on the spine of the blade. It’s VERY hard to hold the blade study with so little table to rest flat upon. There is an art to this that I’ve not perfected.

The final pic is the clip point which sits perfectly.

 

[SteadyD]

The pen knife was much easier to sharpen than the spey. The spey is sharp enough to slice paper but that’s about it. Doesn’t shave well and the scratch pattern looks awful. The pen meets all of my tests! It isn’t quite a mirror finish but getting close!

 

[SteadyD]

Next up I will do a modern folder in the v clamp, as that is likely what most folks would use it for.

 

[Valkman]

Nice job! I love my WE but small blades are a pain.

 

[ms6852]

I have the workshop precision elite and the original motorized one. The precision elite is what I used to sharpen all my kitchen knives and some of my folders if they are large enough. As you stated the clamp gets in the way of the smaller ones, but I have whet stones for those. Love the workshops sharpeners. The motorized one is basically designated for garden tools like lawnmower blades, axes , and such. I normally do not use the leather strop that comes with the kit, even though it does a great job on the kitchen knives I use a Lavoda leather strop I bought on amazon and is fantastic at polishing the edge a lot faster. Thanks for posting.
https://www.amazon.com/LAVODA-Doubl...d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&psc=1

 

[SteadyD]

I couldn’t resist taking one more stab at a traditional. This time a GEC 86 Angus Jack in medium rare. The “pen” blade turned out excellent on the small knife table and the main blade (sheepsfoot) fit the v clamp perfectly and turned out excellent as well. The v clamp is very solid with minimal to no play. It’s a major upgrade. The much larger stones sped things up quite a bit as well.

I sharpened both blades to 18.5 degrees and it is VERY sharp. I have been meaning to list this one for sale so I think I’ll wipe it down and get some photos up on the sale side of the forums.

 

[Spats McGee]

Thanks for all of this info, @SteadyD. FWIW, there's a guy at BladeForums (called 777Edge, I think), who posts plans for attachments for the KME & the Worksharp at https://www.thingiverse.com/.

 

[SteadyD]

I’ll get on a modern knife soon. I’ll pick a middle of the road “super” steel and see how the low grit stones do

 

[SteadyD]

Today I sharpened up my Buck 112 in S30V. The lower grit stones removed material fast and this knife finished with a slightly cloudy mirror that is impressive.

You can see in one pic that despite taping up the thumb studs I still bunged them up.

 

[SteadyD]

So KME vs PA Pro?

The KME has more stones and strops in more grits available. It goes up to 1500 grit in diamond and has blank kangaroo strops available to add any strop compound you choose.

The PA Pro has a more stable system. It handles traditional knives well, both in the clamp and on the small knife table. It goes up to 800 grit in diamond. It has a 1200 grit ceramic hone and a strop preloaded with .5 micron compound.

I would recommend the Pro over the KME. If the secondary market adds additional grits for the Pro it is even more lopsided.

If you want mirror finishes on the super wear resistant steels like Maxamet, S110V, S90V, etc then you might need to purchase supplemental strops to load with diamond compound and you would want diamond stones beyond 800 grit.

For your normal super steels (S30V, S35VN, M390, XHP, etc) the PA Pro seems more than capable.