anyone ever use a sharpmaker like this?

[SeeTOPh]

i was having a hard time with my medford micro praetorian on it so i just did this. i measured the heighth of the blade and then marked the distances where the tip of the stone should hit if i wanted to sharpen at various angles. it may seem complicated to some but it works for me. because the stones are fairly heavy i dont have to put any pressure and by simply allowing the stone to "Fall" on the blade it creates perfect contact, its flush on the blade. ive been getting great results this way. not something i think will work for everyone, but for me it did. and its not hard to hit the points, ive been more accurate this way than by trying to keep the blade at a perfect 90 degree angle to the surface the plate is on. thats it, just wondering if anyone has tried anything like this and the results they got. if i really wanted to get tricky i could of drawn a curved line to follow the path of the tip of the blade, ill try that next, see if it helps

 

[HoosierQ]

I do something like that. I measure the width of the blade. Then I plug it in to a trigonometry calculator on the Internet (Google will suffice) for the angle I want. I use millimeters. Then I bend and carefully cut a paperclip to the height. I set that on my stone and use that a guide to how far to hold the spine off the stone to achieve the angle I want. Works surprisingly well. It is not precise but hand sharpening never is and my result is a very mildly convex edge. I usually make it a little less that I ultimately desire, like 12 degrees, so that I can use a 15 degree SharpMaker for touch ups or even finishing the edge with a micro bevel. Math, as it turns out, does have a use in the real world, even geometry and trigonometry.

 

[SeeTOPh]

I do something like that. I measure the width of the blade. Then I plug it in to a trigonometry calculator on the Internet (Google will suffice) for the angle I want. I use millimeters. Then I bend and carefully cut a paperclip to the height. I set that on my stone and use that a guide to how far to hold the spine off the stone to achieve the angle I want. Works surprisingly well. It is not precise but hand sharpening never is and my result is a very mildly convex edge. I usually make it a little less that I ultimately desire, like 12 degrees, so that I can use a 15 degree SharpMaker for touch ups or even finishing the edge with a micro bevel. Math, as it turns out, does have a use in the real world, even geometry and trigonometry.

haha, yea, need to tell some HS geometry teacher about this so when a kid says "man, im never gonna use this!" theyll have something to say

i just like doing it this way because the weight of the stone gives the right amount of pressure and causes it to sit flush against the edge of the blade. when im holding the blade and doing it like normal i feel like im rarely holding the knife in the right position to get perfect contact. like ive been getting a better edge on the right side vs the left side. i like your idea of the paperclip, can you explain it more or take a picture, id like to try

 

[Wowbagger]

Nice one.
I do turn the edge up toward me and use one stick to "strop / "steel" " very minor edge problems back into shape.
I have not tried this sort of layout for sharpening.
Thanks for the info; both : paper layout AND paper clip.

 

[SeeTOPh]

Nice one.
I do turn the edge up toward me and use one stick to "strop / "steel" " very minor edge problems back into shape.
I have not tried this sort of layout for sharpening.
Thanks for the info; both : paper layout AND paper clip.

yea man, hope it helps. it really has done wonders for me when it comes to sharpening blades that i was having problems with. its either me or the blade (probably me) that makes it difficult to make consistent, flush, contact at the proper angle sometimes and theres just something about this that really helps. i think its the fact that youre just relying on the weight of the stone and gravity, all i have to do is make sure i hit that line with the tip of the stone and im good!