Keep your edge with the Work Sharp Guided Sharpening System.
Next to a knife on their wish list, knife owners and collectors are typically on the hunt for one thing — a superior sharpening system.
Finding the right solution to handle a wide spectrum of blade styles, grinds and material is more difficult than it sounds. As most knife aficionados know, what draws a sharp edge on one blade may struggle on another.
That’s what makes the Work Sharp Guided Sharpening System so exciting. This niffy and elegant sharpener has been designed to put a razor’s edge on every knife you own — from flat grinds to serrated blades.
At the heart of the sharpener is Work Sharp’s Pivot-Response system that allows the abrasive surface to follow the curve of the knife. This innovative feature permits the sharpening surface to tilt with the camber of the blade, thus allowing liner strokes to apply an edge. This takes much of the guesswork out of sharpening the entirety of a knife, making the process faster, easier and more precise.
The Pivot-Response, however, can be locked if a more traditional sharpening platform is desired. This makes the Guided Sharpening System ideal for novices and experts alike.
Making the system almost fool proof is the Angle-Guided Bench Sharpener. These guides — set at 17 and 20 degrees — are designed to ensure the proper angle is taken on each pass, thus guaranteeing a dynamite cutting edge.
Work Sharp Guided Sharpening System includes coarse and fine diamond plates, a three-position ceramic rod for honing, and two small diameter ceramic rods for serrations.
Work Sharp has also aimed to make this sharpener a life-long addition to your knife maintenance kit with a 42-year warranty.
The proper angle is key to a sharp blade. Here are the angle-guide sharpeners that ensure you’ll always get it right.
A big part of sharpening, aside from proper sharpener selection, is how to select and maintain the proper angle of the blade to the sharpener. In fact, the key to successfully sharpening any blade regardless of the grade of steel is being able to maintain that angle. Ever try sharpening freehand on a bench stone with little experience doing so? The reason folks get frustrated with learning to sharpen is they don’t keep the angles consistent. It’s all about the angles. You must take into account what use your knife will see and sometimes that determines the specific angle to use.
You probably know of the angle guide kits with a metal clamp that affixes to the blade and has uprights on either end with a series of holes that correspond to various degrees of angles. Such kits all help instill confidence and the ability to subtract guesswork at maintaining the desired angle.
SHARPENER TYPES
There are plenty of sharpeners capable of reproducing keen edges. Avoid the pull-through types that require you to drag the blade through. Those are set at one angle and use carbide to get the job done. These will ruin a blade in time, and I don’t recommend them. You need a sharpening kit that’ll help establish and hold a consistent angle. All you need to be concerned with is making the motions to get the edge sharp.
The Lansky Deluxe Diamond Knife Sharpening System is one of the oldest angle guide kits on the market. Four various grits of diamond-coated hones are featured, including extra-coarse for fast work of reviving dull blades. The sturdy aluminum clamp holds the knife securely.
Lansky’s four-stone Deluxe Diamond System Precision Knife Sharpening Kit is the best the company offers in angle guide clamp units. It includes an extra coarse hone great for reprofiling edge angles. It also has coarse-, medium-, and fine-grit diamond-coated hones for fine-tuning the edge once it’s been established. The aluminum clamp is sturdy and offers four edge angles: 17, 20, 25, and 30 degrees. The kit stores in a sturdy plastic storage case. MSRP: $114.99.
GATCO offers the Ultimate Diamond Hone Sharpening System, which is similar to the Lansky. Featuring coarse-, medium-, and fine-grit diamond-coated abrasives, the kit includes Ultimate Finishing and triangular-shaped serration hones, too. It works on plain, serrated, and partially serrated edges. The hones are wider and longer for more effective use and have molded-in integral handguards for safety. There’s also a plastic storage case. MSRP: $119.99.
To sharpen the CPM S90V blades with the SelectEdge 14 degree angle of its Hidden Canyon Hunter and Saddle Mountain Skinner, Benchmade offers the model 50082 14 Degree SelectEdge Guided Hone Tool. Designed in conjunction with and manufactured by Work Sharp, this compact sharpener incorporates a fine grit ceramic rod and a leather strap on the backside. Built-in guides set the blade at the correct 14-degree angle. The idea with this one is to apply frequent edge touchups. A premium steel, S90V is notoriously difficult to resharpen, a difficulty negated via frequent edge maintenance sessions with the 50082. MSRP: $25.
DMT’s Magna-Guide angle kit includes a magnetic guide rod and sturdy blade clamp with adjustable angles. Use any model DMT Double Sided Diafold folding fi le and you have two sharpeners in one—a freehand fi le and an angle guide kit.
For knives without the SelectEdge technology, Benchmade offers the Edge Maintenance Tool, also designed with and manufactured by Work Sharp. It uses a fine-grit ceramic rod and a leather strop but in a more compact folding format with a pocket clip for easy carry. As with the 14 Degree SelectEdge Guided Hone Tool, built-in guides assist in achieving the optimal angle for edge restoration. The Edge Maintenance Tool works well with pocketknives, fixed blades, and tactical folders—pretty much any knife. MSRP: $50.
DOWNSIZED 2X72
For the more advanced sharpeners among you, Work Sharp offers the Ken Onion Elite Sharpening System, a variable speed motorized unit employing long-lasting flexible abrasive belts made by Norton Abrasives. It’s pretty much a downsized version of a larger and much more expensive 2×72 slack belt grinder used by many knifemakers.
The Work Sharp Ken Onion Elite sharpener is pretty much a downsized version of a larger and much more expensive 2×72 slack belt grinder used by many knifemakers.
Designed by BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member Ken Onion, the Elite makes quick work of bringing completely dull and/or damaged knife edges back to life and is fully adjustable for applying edges between 10 and 35 degrees. The abrasive belts measure 1 by 18 inches and make quick work of any sharpening task. Once you become comfortable with how the sharpener operates, you can consistently grind an even edge on your blades. (Author’s note: Motorized sharpening is best left to those with sharpening experience.) MSRP: $199.95.
Diamond Machining Technology (DMT) offers the Double Sided Diafold Magna-Guide Sharpening System centered around the company’s Double Sided Diafold folding diamond files. The Magna-Guide System features the Aligner Blade Guide clamp with integrated, adjustable angle guides. A metal guide rod affixes securely to the Double Sided Diafold file via a large rare earth magnet. Attached to an FWCX Extra Coarse/Coarse Double Sided Diafold, the manual system can easily reprofile an edge to any one of seven pre-set angles.
DMT’s Double Sided Diafold diamond files are built well, highly effective, and among the best compact sharpeners on the market. One of the best things about the Magna-Guide is you can use the Double Sided Diafold files as stand-alone sharpeners without the guide rod and angle guide clamp. Consequently, you get a guided sharpening system and a standalone sharpener for the price of one. The Magna-Guide Kit’s MSRP: $27.49 (works with any Double Sided Diafold file).
I’ve always been a fan of Ek Commando knives. They have a certain look that distinguishes them as their own entity, and now KA-BAR, a knife giant in and of itself, announces the acquisition of the Ek Commando Knife Brand.
Ek Commando Knife was created in 1941 by John Ek in Hamden, Connecticut. During World War II, Ek Commando Knives were restricted to military personnel. The knives featured serial numbers that were recorded and kept for tracking and identification. Luminaries ranging from Gen. George Patton, President Franklin Roosevelt and actor-turned-soldier Clark Gable owned Ek Knives during the Second World War.
Ek Commando Knives have served our military in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and countless other hotspots around the globe. Today, Ek continues to be a staple of the United States military.
It’s a sad fact: the BLADE Show comes but once a year. There is, however, a way to enjoy this incredible event long after all the knife makers and collectors have broken camp.
Official BLADE Show knives are your opportunity to own and enjoy a piece of the “World’s Foremost Knife Show,” for years to come. Of course, if you can resist making these gems your everyday carry choice.
That is a conundrum, because the BLADE Show seeks out not only eye-catching designs from some of top makers around. But it also hunts out practical knives that can handle nearly anything its owner can dish out. These knives are the marriage of form and function.
And each one has a unique aspect to them. Not only is the show’s insignia roll marked across the blades or handle, but each is a special edition with limited runs and individually numbered. This makes each one exclusive to its owner, not to mention gives the knife the potential to accrue value as the years pass by.
Here’s a look at this year’s Official BLADE Show knives.
Ken Onion perhaps summed up his latest creation for CRKT the best, defining it as “Somewhere between gentlemanly and tactical.” In short, the knife is a looker and a doer.
On the aesthetic end of the Outrage is its finely textured handle, which includes lateral cuts in the aluminum that mimics corduroy. The handle of the limited run of 300 knives also features ergonomic finger cuts, to give the user a better purchase on the Outrage, thus making it more responsive.
The blade is a modified drop point — Onion describes it as a semi skinner — with a big belly and a fine point for detail work. The 3.19-inch blade is made from 8C12MoV stainless steel, which hardness helps it take a precision edge. The Outrage features a deep-pocket clip and a locking liner. And the flipper has a smooth-as-silk action, facilitated by its IKBS ball bearing pivot system.
The Inkosi can be summed up in one word — overbuilt. Chris Reeve Knives has outdone themselves with this petite folder, outfitting it with a number of features not often found on a knife its size.
To start off, the Inkosi has a large pivot — a first for the company on one of its small knives — which makes the knife as solid as a rock when open. It also features oversized washers, which eliminates nearly all the play in the blade and increases its lateral strength. And finally, the knife has a ceramic ball end lock that virtually ensures the Inkosi stays open once the blade is deployed. The 2.8-inch blade has a hollow grind, a design choice that helps add life to the knife, given it more readily maintains its edge after repeated sharpenings.
Chris Reeve has taken the Inkosi’s resiliency to the next level with the handle and clip material, opting for lightweight and robust titanium. Uniquely, the BLADE Show logo and run number appear on the handle. And Chris Reeve has made the knife easy to manipulate, giving it a pronounced thumb stud. The Inkosi not only has the makings of a fine and functional knife, but it has looks to boot. Truly, this limited run of 25 knives for the BLADE Show is attractively Spartan.
Named for the Greek goddess of horror, the Phrike has everything to send chills down a knife aficionado’s spine — in a good way. It is tactical, yet attractive and as an Official BLADE Show knife, exclusive.
Only available at ShopBlade.com, each one is made upon order at Spartan Blade’s North Carolina manufacturing facility. But there are some special features that come from buying the BLADE Show Phrike. It comes outfitted with a carbon-fiber handle only found on this special edition.
And, of course, it comes with the BLADE Show logo and serial number roll marked on the blade. The 4.25-inch blade itself is a swedged drop point, giving it a robust aft for heavy-duty jobs that winnows down to a fine tip for precision work. The Phrike comes with a nylon sheath and is completely made in America. And while it has the ability to tackle any job put under its edge, it is truly made to be a collector’s knife.
There’s a chapter in the new KNIVES 2016 book called “Some Class Tacts,” and it’s chock-full of color images of the finest handmade, high-end, dressed-up tactical folders in the world. Knifemaker Ken Onion uses the term “Genticals” for such knives (Gent’s Tacticals), but in this case, Class Tacts seemed to sum them up. Whatever you want to call them, whether “Sunday Go To Meetin'” knives, dress tacticals, Genticals or Class Tacts, today’s versions of tactical folders using high-end materials are gorgeous.
And it’s amazing how many different configurations can be made, different versions of dress tacticals. No wonder they remain so popular. It’s no trend, it’s a movement, and Class Tacts are here to stay.
Want to See More?
See them all in the brand-new KNIVES 2016 book, and enjoy!
Brent Vaccaro of Black Widow Knifeworks & Tactical Gear left high school in his junior year. He already knew carpentry inside and out. But it was when he turned to knifemaking that he found a way to identify himself that had eluded him during his other business attempts. This dropout knifemaker is a master at marketing.
Brent Vaccaro of Black Widow Knifeworks & Tactical Gear attended high school in New Jersey where he was born and raised. He excelled in woodworking, banging out projects that those two years ahead of him struggled through. His teacher helped him, Brent said, but perhaps most by giving him the freedom to do his own thing. Brent grew up building houses. His family lived in the middle of an open subdivision field and every day after school Brent would work on the other eight houses that needed to be constructed. In his junior year, bullying got too much. He left school and became a carpenter. Over the course of 15 years he worked in construction, running his own business and working for others. He also started a tactical gear company, and he dabbled in beard accessories during the height of facial hair resurgence. He never could quite establish an identity for himself in any of his three businesses, he admitted, but when he started making knives, everything came together. Now, no matter how different Brent’s knives are from each other, when you see a Black Widow knife, you recognize it immediately. The dropout knifemaker is a master of marketing.
Model: H.E.R.L Blade Length: 4.25 inches Blade Steel: CPM-S30V Blade Finish: acid wash with spider web etch Scales: Voodoo Resin’s Purple Haze with KS Carbon bolster Overall Length: 8″ inches Maker’s list price: $250-$350 shipped with Kydex sheath and Tec-Lok Contact: Message Brent Vaccaro on Facebook at Black Widow Knifeworks & Tactical Gear. (Additional contacts at end of article.)
Around the time that Brent was struggling with being in school, when he was 16, his father gave him a pocketknife. It was a now-discontinued Kershaw model. “I still have it. I loved that knife,” Brent said. But he never had the money to collect knives, and some days he gets a mock scolding from his wife, Megan for forgetting to carry a blade on him. He was getting disillusioned with the diminishing level of artistry within carpentry, the lack of appreciation from the customers and the sense that the industry was solely focused on money. Although the skill sets are similar in woodworking and metalworking, it took some time to transition. Now Brent loves metalworking. It’s not months or years to finish a project with barely a handshake and never a thank you. It’s the instant gratification of seeing a knife come to completion over a course of days, sending it out and having the customer write him that they have no words for how impressed they are with his knife.
Model: BW Tac Tanto Blade Steel: CPM S30V Blade length: 3.5 inches Blade Finish: dark acid wash and stonewash finish with aggressive gimping Scales: Voodoo Resins’ Bloody Hulk with KS Carbon Fiber bolsters. Overall length: 7 inches Maker’s list price: $230-$330 shipped with Kydex sheath and Tec-Lok Contact: Message Brent Vaccaro on Facebook at Black Widow Knifeworks & Tactical Gear. (Additional contacts at end of article.)
And therein lies his mastery. Brent is fulfilled by that appreciation for his craft, and he knows exactly how to represent his knives to the world in the best possible light—literally—without ever crossing into exaggeration. It means a lot to him that he has created an identity for himself that is true to him, celebratory of his knifemaking and honoring to the client. “It’s an extension of self,” Brent said, adding that he wants his knives to be passed on as a part of his and his client’s heritage. You only have to look at a photo of a Black Widow knife to get the “feel” for the candied richness of the colors, the smoothness of the handle and the badassery of the blade itself.
“I don’t keep them,” Brent said. So each night he takes the time to shoot exceptional photos of each piece, a running catalog of his work, for him to remember by and for the client to share. He takes 10 to 15 photos of every knife and picks the best ones. And that’s because he’s found a system that works for him. At first, you’ll need to shoot far more to find the right lighting and angles. “You have to take the time to do it. It’s part of marketing,” he said.
If you want to take great photos of your knives, upgrade your cell phone, make yourself a lightbox, buy some handheld lights and take the time to learn how to make your knives look, not OK, but fantastic.
Building A Lightbox That Works
Brent invested $50 in his lightbox. At The Home Depot he bought 1-inch PVC and eight 90-degree T connections. With those he made his two squares for the box ends. He also got alligator clips. At Walmart he bought a king-sized white sheet and clipped it taught to the PVC frame. The whole thing is collapsible so that he can move it out of the way when he’s working. And, of course, the white sheet is no longer white.
The Backdrop
Normally, light boxes are made with white construction paper on the floor that bends up the back. Not Brent’s. He does a lot of Kydex. He was heating up a 2-by-4-foot sheet of carbon fiber one day and as it bent, it occurred to him to use it in the lightbox. He had to buy more Kydex, but he likes the look of it. That was probably anther $50, but wouldn’t be necessary for everyone since every knifemaker’s style is different. Brent strives to build tough knives that military and law enforcement can respect, while still appealing to the civilian population with his Candy-Crush-like handles. He mostly uses Matt Peterson’s Voodoo Resins scales, but he’s also using some of J Hue Customs’.
Model: Recluse Neck Knife Blade Steel: CPM-D2 Blade Length: 3.25 inches Blade Finish: acid wash with American flag etch on both sides Scales: Voodoo Resins’ Chameleon Overall length: 5.5 inches. Maker’s list price: Price range: $165-$200 with Kydex neck sheath Contact: Message Brent Vaccaro at Black Widow Knifeworks & Tactical Gear
Lights! Camera! Action—No Really, Move Around!
For lights he purchased round Utilitech LEDs that he can hold while he shoots. “The light is never stationary,” he explained. He waits until complete darkness because he has two windows in his shop and he wants total control of the lighting. Because the LEDs are very white lights, bluish even, he adds a 60-watt lightbulb to add a yellow hue to balance out the lighting. He moves around with his iPhone 7 Plus (“There is a difference with the Plus,” he notes.) and his light and gets exactly the angle and lighting he wants. Not only are the knives well lit, especially for mood-inducing vignettes, for which the majority of a knifemaker’s photos will be used, especially online, but they are in crystal clear focus. Brent does not use the focus feature on the phone. That will only cause the camera to focus on one point on the knife, when the objective is to show the entire knife in full focus, even if you have the point or butt stylistically in the background. He also does not use the flash, which only washes out colors and overexposes the image.
Model: The Carnage Blade length: 4 inches Blade Steel: CPM S30V Blade Finish: acid/stonewashed with American flag etch on both sides Scales: J Hue Customs’ hybrid red, white and blue resin with maple burl Overall length: 8 inches Maker’s list price: $320-$500 shipped with Kydex sheath and Tec-Lok Contact: Message Brent Vaccaro on Facebook at Black Widow Knifeworks & Tactical Gear (Additional contacts at end of article.)
Props Never Steal The Scene
Brent uses all kinds of props in his still-lifes. Because he also produces tactical gear, like custom Kydex sheaths, you will often see pistols, ammunition and other gear as accessories in his pictures. Chain, motorcycle gloves, even Halloween webbing have been used in Black Widow images. His artistic eye is always at work, not only in the making of the knives, but in his ability to let the knives do the talking. They are always center stage. They are the first things you see in the picture and the props are there only to compliment the knives, never upstage them.
Editing
Brent uses two apps to edit his images: PicLab and Aviary. He bumps up the saturation until the image represents what you see in person. It’s important not to overdue saturation because then your customers will be disappointed that your knife doesn’t live up to how it was displayed online, all back-lit by the computer screen. It’s equally important, though, that the knife not appear duller than it is in real life.
Creating An Image
Brent is one of those men who is smart, learns quickly and follows directions. He is also a good man, turning away from an industry that couldn’t fulfill his creativity and abraded his integrity. He has been rewarded with great success. “I’m outgrowing my shop,” he said. Brent knows he’ll have to return to carpentry to build himself more space. He can’t believe it sometimes when he thinks how far he’s come in his year of knifemaking. Metal work comes easier to him. “I don’t get nearly as angry as I used to get doing carpentry,” he said. He’d be thinking artistically and make a little strip of wood for something and it would break. Sometimes he’ll find a scratch in a knife handle and he’ll have to go back and grind it out and re-sand—normally, he goes all the way from 150 to 2000 grit—but it’s not nearly as frustrating as woodworking had been.
Model: The Patella Recurve Blade length: 4 inches Blade Steel: CPM S30V Blade Finish: acid wash Scales: Voodoo Resins’ Red Honeycomb with KS Carbon bolsters Overall length: 7.75 inches Maker’s list price: $380-$500 with Kydex sheath and Tec-Lok Contact: Message Brent Vaccaro on Facebook at Black Widow Knifeworks & Tactical Gear. (Additional contacts at bottom of article.)
Brent takes great pride when someone in the industry tells him they recognize his work right off. He has been an apt student of life. The years of entrepreneurship that didn’t work, prepared him for the one that would work. But no matter how much marketing you apply to your knifemaking, the knife must still cut. It must still hold up to wear and perform as expected upon arrival and for generations to come. Time will tell, but sometimes dues get paid behind the scenes and a meteoric rise is well-earned.
Meanwhile, Brent will have to break away for the birth of his first child, a son, Blake—due any day—and at some point, he’ll need to expand his shop, but he never closes his books for long. He doesn’t think it reflects well to just drop a knife. He refuses to do it. He respects reliability in the people he does business with, so he holds himself to that standard for his customers. Just get in touch, but be aware if you do, you’ll get caught up in the Black Widow web.
Contact: Brent E. Vaccaro by email at [email protected] or Message him on Facebook at Black Widow Knifeworks & Tactical Gear. He also has a website at www.blackwidowtac.com. If you need to call, Message first, otherwise he might not hear you over the machines, 908-328-2049.
It’s All In The Grind
Mastering this one skill will improve your craft immensely. For less than $5, you can add an essential to your knifemaking library.
Author R.J. Martin instructs on flat and double hollow grinds. He discusses chisel grinds, tip shaping, the two-hand pass and lots more in “Knife Grinding Secrets.” Most importantly the finesse of grinding will be covered so that you can master the skill. Downloadable version availabe for $4.99.
CRKT Outrage (Run of 300 for the BLADE SHOW)
Spartan Blades Phrike (Made upon order)
There’s a chapter in the new 
See them all in the brand-new 
