$3 DIY Ceramic Kitchen Knife Sharpmaker

Moxy

Moxy

Joined
Oct 30, 2011
Messages
1,648
Here is my latest cutlery related afternoon mini project. I don't know if this is common knowledge but Blade HQ has these Arkansas 8-1/2" Ceramic Honing/Sharpening Rods for only a $1.35. So I figured they'd be perfect for a cheap DIY Spyderco Sharpmaker style sharpener for kitchen knives.

I had a scrap bit of 1-1/2 x 1-1/2 inch red oak that I cut down to 8-1/2 inches in length. I drilled a couple adjacent 3/8 inch at 12.5 degrees off vertical giving me a final inclusive angle of about 25 degrees. Rubbed it with a little citrus wax, done. It works great. The Arkansas rods work quite well at both straightening rolls and removing metal. It's not going to give you a 20k waterstone edge. It's just a microbevel. But thats good enough for me when it comes time to make dinner. For a few bucks and a scrap piece of oak I'm pretty happy with it.



Sorry for the rubbish cell pic, but you get the idea.
 
That's a nice-looking sharpener. :thumbup:

Sort of curious about the naming of the rods ('Arkansas' ceramic); makes me wonder if the 'ceramic' is made with base material coming from novaculite (of which natural Arkansas stones are composed). Contrast with 'alumina' ceramics from Spyderco, Lansky, etc., which would likely be much harder.

All that aside, I think I have a small 4" rod-shaped version of what may be a similar material (the vendor mentioned shows one at 4-1/2" as well). Bought it years ago at a gun/knife show, and it reminds me of a soft Arkansas stone; never been sure what it actually is. Grit sheds pretty easily from it, so I've only used edge-trailing strokes on it (edge-leading digs into the rod, leaving divots). It works well enough on simpler steels like 420HC and garden-variety kitchen stainless, leaving a somewhat toothy bite.


David
 
I have a Shun 7in Santoku but lately I've been using this as my go to kitchen knife.




That blade used to be a KAI Pure Komachi Santoku. It was beginning to rust under the handle and the finish on the blade was chipping. So I stripped the blade, ground it very thin, textured the blade, and added a Cocobolo handle with Carbon Fiber bolsters. This thing sharpens up really quickly. The VG10 on the Shun is noticeably harder on the Arkansas. The Pure Komachi doesn't hold an edge as well, but it cuts so much better since it's less than 2mm thick at the spine.
 
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