Best way to remove lots of metal with a Sharpmaker

I'm looking for a stone to lay on my Sharpmaker rods so I can do some reprofiling. An hour on the gray rods last night wasn't enough. I could sit in front of the TV every night for two weeks and put in an hour's time, but that'll make me nuts. Until Spydie makes diamond rods, what's the best stone/rod/whatever to use in conjunction with the Sharpmaker (I want to keep the 30/40 angles for obvious reasons)? Was about to get an x-coarse DMT stone, but then I realized there might be something better, and I don't know which length to get.
 

Cliff Stamp

BANNED
Joined
Oct 5, 1998
Messages
17,562
While it is true that you need a fair amount of skill to be able to sharpen a blade freehand, reprofiling is a very different matter. This can be done easily even for those will little experience as there is no need for the level of precision that is required during the actual sharpening.

For heavy shaping I would strongly recommend you get a x-coarse Japanese waterstone. They are big green blocks of SiC. Also get some SiC lapping compound, the coarser the better. This is usually like 80 grit.

Now once the stone is well soaked spread a little of the lapping compound on it and sharpen the blade right on top of it. The combination of lapping compound + coarse stone will outcut an x-coarse DMT hone many times to one.

Once you have brought the edge down to where the bevels roughly meet then you finish on the Sharpmaker.

-Cliff
 
sounds good. Does anyone know where to get the Japanese water stones?

------------------
Brian
The first knife was probably used to cut stuff.
 
I use an x-coarse 6"x2" DMT diamond hone layed up against the sticks as Cliff describes. It works very very well. Haven't tried Cliff's setup with the x-coarse waterstone, I'll probably pick one up and try it as soon as I run across Japanese waterstones again.

Joe
 
-a while back i obtained a set of diamond coated steel sleeves for my sharpmaker- they cut extremely fast,removing a lot of steel to start the sharpening process on damaged blades or blades with a different sharpening angle.i dont know where i got them but you could look for a set of them. i use an Edgepro professional now and have no problems removing steel at any angle.
 
Lee Valley has a complete line of Japanese waterstones. They are on line and have outlets in Canada and the US.

-Cliff
 
Ooh...what about on my BM 710? Could I use the corner of the stone to sharpen the recurve, or am I out of luck when it comes to reprofiling there?
 
I wouldn't use the corner of a water stone--the stone is too soft and you'll gouge the corner off. For a lot less money you can buy an 8" combo fine/coarse silicon carbide bench hone at Sears or Home Depot. You can use the sides and corners of it. You can use it with water, oil, or dry. I like to use water some and dry some. The oil is real messy.
 
I reprofiled a Calypso Jr. last night with a piece of 60 grit drywall sandpaper. The blade ate up maybe 5% of the sandpaper's life but I splurged and threw the whole thing away. Probably cost me 30 cents, and it did cut fast!
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by chuckM:
-a while back i obtained a set of diamond coated steel sleeves for my sharpmaker-</font>

Please tell me where you got them!

--Bob Q
 
I like the sandpaper idea. You can get yourself a couple sheets of Wet-Or-Dry paper which is silcon carbide coated. You can cut it to about 2-3 inch wide strips. You can hold the strip around one rod and work just one side of the blade at your prefered angle till you are happy. Working the other side will be more awkward. You may want to clip the sandpaper to the rod with something (unless you are good with your off hand). I would use around 60, 90, and 120 grit for rough work. The 220 grit and up is good for semi-finishing.
 
Go to your hardware and get one of those extra coarse stone files for sharpening lawn mower blades ($5). Use a felt pen and your Sharpmaker to get an idea of the angle want, and hand file the edge on. If you get a flat one (recommended) you may be able to lay it on your sharpmaker rods, but like Cliff said, it really isn't necessary. You just want to get the edge thinner than the Sharpmaker angle, and the Sharpmaker rods can do the rest.

Put tape on your blade to prevent scratches where you don't want them. Once you have the edge profiled, sharpen on the medium Sharpmaker rods to polish the edge if you want it pretty, or just strop the wire edge off on some cardboard if you want a toothy edge. Works well, works fast, cheap as dirt.
 
Here is what the diamond rods for the sharpmaker look like:
View


View


That is what they look like on and off. I got my set about 12 or 13 years ago and it came with the slipcovers in the cordura pouch that is shown. It was about $75. I purchased a set of the slipcovers about 5 years ago for my dad a Smokey Mountain Knife Works in Sevierville, TN. They were $25. I have not found them on the web but they do everything you guys are describing AND the diamonds wrap around the corners of the stones so that they can be used on serrated blades as well. They are AWESOME!!

[This message has been edited by Jason Burns (edited 04-05-2001).]
 
The black sandpaper is usually silicon carbide. I like 3M Wet-or-Dry brand.

By the way, you could just go get AG Russell's v-block field sharpener. It comes with both diamond-coated and fine ceramic round rods. The angle is 15-degrees which is good for thinning. Then you can finish at 15 degrees on the Russell sharpener or 20 on the sharpmaker if you prefer.

http://www.agrknives.com/maintenance/index.html
 
Sorry to stray from topic a bit but what type of marker would you recommend in order to see what part of the blade is actually being sharpened? This was suggested to me but I forgot what type of marker people recommend.
 
Here's an idea: Tape some sandpaper to your sharpmaker rods. You'll half to go really light on the pressure so as to not cut through the sandpaper. Double sided tape may work but taping a large sheet of sand paper to the very top and bottom of the rods might be better. Hmmmm gonna try this idea out this weekend.
 
I don't know current brand names all that well. Just use a very dark color of permanent marker. A Sanford Sharpie would work fine.
 
Back
Top