aaargh! cant get the same result with sharpmaker

[alwyn]

I bought a sharpmaker a few months ago and got great results. My knives were hair cutting sharp. Thing is I find it very hard to get the same sharpness now and I wash the rods in abrasive powder and always backbevel after every 5th sharpening.

What could be wrong?

Al

 

[kelbro]

Maybe your backbevel is not enough. The 'sharpie' trick will tell you very quickly if you are sharpening the edge or the bevel.

 

[singularity35]

your edges are getting to obtuse to hit the edge with the 40 degree angle setting. Do a good job on you backbevel on the 30 degree setting.

 

[dsmegst]

I bought a sharpmaker a few months ago and got great results. My knives were hair cutting sharp. Thing is I find it very hard to get the same sharpness now and I wash the rods in abrasive powder and always backbevel after every 5th sharpening.

What could be wrong?

Al

Since your micro-bevel is growing, it will take longer to take off enough metal to give you a new edge. The surface area of the bevel is increasing and that is adding to the amount of work needed.

Thinner back bevel will increase the slicing ability of your knife but not change how sharp the edge is, since you're talking about getting "hair cutting sharp." Of course a thin back bevel will decrease the amount of work you need to do in the future so that will help but in a different way.