Calling All 204 Owners....

VampyreWolf

VampyreWolf

Joined
Feb 12, 2001
Messages
3,415
I recently bought my 204 this week, and have the basics down from using the one over at my supplier(Cutting Edge). However, I would like some hints and tips you may have figured out on your own.

Took me 12 swipes:eek: to get my Delica to a shaving edge... very little work:cool:

I already saw the one about using sandpaper and binderclips to take off more metal... should come in handy when my 4" fixedblade tanto needs to be sharpened(used the 200 grit benchstone last time).:D

Any tips would be appreciated.

Cleaning(supplies, frequency, etc)
pressure(too much, too little)
# of strokes(each side and total)
Recurve and Reverse-S blades(Cricket, fully serrated)

anything...
 
That tip from Schmackey about using heavy grit sandpaper and binder clips works well for reprofiling the bevel. I tried it and it works. Aside from that, I find that it doesn't take long for enough steel to accumulate on the ceramic rods to affect sharpening performance. Frequent cleaning helps considerably.
 
Yeah. One big piece of advice. Don’t let the tip slip off the edge of the hones while sharpening. This slipping tends to round off the tip of the blade.
 
Glad you like the sandpaper trick. As well as it works for me, I eagerly await the diamond rods.

Use very little pressure on the white rods.

Clean all the rods with a gritty cleaner (even Bon Ami is good) and a green scrubber.

Use the entire length of the rods--not just the middle.

For knives with good steel (which is probably all of your production folders--just not cheap paring knives), try the 30-degree angle first. It's noticeably better, and inappropriate only if you tend to damage the thin edge.

You can alternate swipes on the rods--like in the video--or you can raise a burr on one side first and then switch to the other rod. I usually get a burr, switch to the other rod, and then finish up with the alternate-rod swiping. The fundamental thing to know about sharpening is that you need to raise a burr across the entire length of your blade.

I don't worry too much about letting my tip slip off the end. It does round off this way, but then I focus on the tip later, freehand, with the rods placed in the bottom like a normal stone.

If you're only going to have one sharpener, the Sharpmaker is far and away the best. For everyday uses, the only shortcoming it has is the fact that the "medium" stones are rather fine, and it's hard to remove lots of metal from truly dull blades. Hence the need for the diamond rods, which I hope are truly coarse and not just medium rods that happen to have diamonds.

Nothing makes a decent edge truly sharp better than the 204.
 
shmackey, i'm sooo with you, to have diamond rods that didn't remove material much faster than the grey stones would be a huge letdown. With diamond rods you wouldn't need anything else to sharpen even your dullest blades. as it is benchstones are needed for reprofiling.

- Pete
 
Shmackey, why don't you just write a booklet to add with the 204 packages... maybe you'll get a new spydie out of the deal:eek:

nice tips, I'll have to try them all.

I know before I hadn't really been getting the burr(aka wire) when I used benchstones, and can tell!

Why call it "scary sharp"? This is "God Damn m'fo sharp"! the hair just runs away.
 
i find that SOS cleaning pads clean the 204 stones SO well, much better than those green scrub pads.
 
I have a couple of tips. If you havent already done so, go ahead and "break in" the corners of the brown stones like on the video. I didnt do this for the longest time because I thought it would damage the stones. No damage, and the corners cut a lot faster.
Related to recurve blades, make sure you have the edge at a right (90 degree as opposed to "proper") angle to the stone. This requires some tricky wrist movement until you get the hang of it. I reprofiled the edge on my Outdoor Edge Impulse. It took some time, but it worked. I recently started to clamp the 204 to a table or bench or something. I can use just one hand and keep the other out of danger.
 
I put stick on rubber feet on the bottom.
Gives it a solid feel on the table.
Available at any hardware store.

Alex
 
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