Base To Use Sharpmaker Rods As A Bench Stone

tomhosang

tomhosang

Joined
Feb 17, 2017
Messages
262
I was thinking today about how awesome it would be to have a base made that holds the Sharpmaker rods next to each other to use sort of like a bench stone. I know that the Sharpmaker already kind of already supports this, but I don't like the space between them. I might just try to make a wooden base with some slots to hold the rods. Before i do though, I'd like to hear your thoughts on such a product. Maybe even sell it as a Sharpmaker add-on Sal?

I appreciate any input that you folks have. Thanks!

Tom
 
I also would like that.

The actual SM can be used for chisels but for knives it's not ideal.
 
Personally I think having two next to each other would be problematic since they will have some small variance to where it's unlikely they'll form a perfectly flat surface. So if you only use one stone, the backside of the sharpmaker would be a lot more usable if each stone was on the extreme edge of it instead of in the middle.

I tried to use my SM to sharpen a Mora Companion this way, but since the stones are in the middle and are not raised very high, the blade handle comes in contact with the SM base. So it's not possible to sharpen like the first inch or two.

It might be that the rounded edges of the base become a problem though, since pressure on the stone might cause the whole thing to roll/flip. And there probably isn't room for any channel for the stone to lay in, since that's where the stone storage is on the opposite side.

I guess I agree with you that the current solution is not ideal. I'm not sure I'd buy a standalone thing though. How much would it cost? If I did much freehand sharpening, I'd probably spend that money on a stone instead.
 
Use rubber bands to attatch 3 rods into a bundle. If you look at the bundle end on it should look sort of like ^V^ if you get what I mean.
 
Lapedog said:
Use rubber bands to attatch 3 rods into a bundle. If you look at the bundle end on it should look sort of like ^V^ if you get what I mean.
Click to expand...

That's pretty darn slick. I just tried that and it seems like it'll work fine for what I want. I still might try to make a base to hold the rods, but this might work if I fail miserably.
 
tomhosang said:
That's pretty darn slick. I just tried that and it seems like it'll work fine for what I want. I still might try to make a base to hold the rods, but this might work if I fail miserably.
Click to expand...

It only has you sharpening on the flat of one rod but it works.
 
The bottom of the sharp maker has slots to use two stones as a sharpening flat.

Flip it over and take a look.

tomhosang said:
I was thinking today about how awesome it would be to have a base made that holds the Sharpmaker rods next to each other to use sort of like a bench stone. I know that the Sharpmaker already kind of already supports this, but I don't like the space between them. I might just try to make a wooden base with some slots to hold the rods. Before i do though, I'd like to hear your thoughts on such a product. Maybe even sell it as a Sharpmaker add-on Sal?

I appreciate any input that you folks have. Thanks!

Tom
Click to expand...
 
Spyderco sells bench stones which may be a little faster. They are 2”X8”X1/2”.
 
tiguy7 said:
Spyderco sells bench stones which may be a little faster. They are 2”X8”X1/2”.
Click to expand...

Yeah they are the Spyderco 302 Benchstones and they come in medium, fine, and Ultra-fine. I have 2 sets of them and have owned and used them for well over 15 years and I love them for all kinds of different sharpening jobs. The other Brother is right about turning the base unit of the 204 Sharpmaker upward and there is a slot for putting two of the Sharpmaker stones and it works well on plane blades and several other applications as well. But everyone should check out those 302 Benchstones because they will last you a lifetime. The only gripe I've got against Spyderco's ceramic sharpening stones is that they load up pretty quickly. I usually clean all of mine after sharpening no more than 2 blades. I find that the abrasive bite on them is much better and more uniform the cleaner you keep them.

You can even use the 302 Ultra-Fine stone to sharpen straight razors with. There is a pic on the 204 Sharpmaker instructional video that shows you how to do it. I'm not sure if that really informative instruction type book still comes with the 204 Sharpmaker but I do hope it does because it's just as valuable as the video in my humble opinion. I learned a lot of different sharpen tips by reading the book and watching the video at least 3 times. Also there are several YOUTUBE videos that give you tips on the 204 Sharpmaker.
 
I have only seen a few knife sharpener folks who were really good using bench stones and could hold a really consistent angle on the knife edge. For most using the rods and preset angles on the Sharpmaker is the way to go IMHO. I sharpen my knives (EDC a Gayle Bradley 1) to be used for things around the shop and yard, not to shave hair on arm to show off highly polished edges to the friends and neighbors.
 
kniferelatedname said:
Try to sharpen a knife that has a handle though. The handle will hit the base, so you can't sharpen the first 1" of blade or so.
Click to expand...

Ok
I just know it's there. I don't use it.

I hold one stone in my hand to carefully sharpen.

Plus I bet 50% of owners don't even know it's there.
 
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