can you have a blade that will just not take an edge? UPDATED - Thank you forum crew!

[Ajack60]

That's good to hear Cody, there's nothing more frustrating than not being able to get a good edge on a knife.
That's the main reason I went to a guided system.

 

[PeteyTwoPointOne]

Terrific!

It is truly a great feeling when you achieve "scary" sharpness. :thumbup::thumbup:

As for the stropping...in my personal experience, I use it only very judiciously-- and very carefully.

Matter of fact, I get basically the same <or better> results on the Sharpmaker with very light downward strokes on the white rods...

Because you have absolutely no rollover of the ceramic onto your fresh apex-- that is, as long as you can maintain hand/arm angle for consistent strokes...but that's the topic for another thread!

 

[ChazzyP]

I'm glad you finally got that wicked sharp edge you were looking for, Cody. I think it's likely that the original edge on that knife was more obtuse than the 40 inclusive of the Sharpmaker, so you still had an apex, albeit a dull one, during your previous sharpening attempts. I've been-there/done-that and it can be confusing and frustrating when the old apex is just slightly off-angle and really hard to see. If it's just a little different than the Sharpmaker angle, the line is so fine it won't really show up if using a Sharpie.

I have both the Sharpmaker and an EdgePro and use the SM more--particularly for re-sharpening or touch-ups--as there's not so much set-up, water mess, and clean-up involved. I've gotten pretty good with it and can get excellent mirror-edges like the one in your pic. I've found, though, that while you can get good results starting with the brown hones, they don't remove steel at much of a rate. I picked up the diamond rods very early on (along with the extra-fine whites) and find them extremely useful when re-profiling, which is essentially what you were doing to get to a true edge. They were very much worth the investment to me, though one should use them lightly and carefully to avoid both heavy scratches on the edge and knocking the diamond bits off the rods.

Lastly, Petey2.1's counsel regarding clean rods and care while stropping are points well-taken. I lay my strop block up against my Sharpmaker rods to maintain the proper angle, alternating 5 draws each side, then 4, 3,2, and one. I'll do the same to bring back a blade that's had a bit of use but is not dulled.

Once again, I'm happy that your knife finally came out right, man. A lot of work with poor results is maddening.

--Steve

 

[gull wing]

Glad you got her performing as she should.

I have far less patience.

 

[Amoo]

in mass production heat treat, not all the blades get the love they deserve.

Well at least it wasn't this..... Here's my surprised face .

Glad you got it sharp bud, definitely a frustrating en-devour I'm sure

 

[kidcongo]

More good advice from everyone. Thank you. I think Petey and Chazzey are both correct, as is the earlier suggestion for clean stones. For certain, the brown rods do not remove as much material as it sounds like they are removing, if that makes sense.

Now I just need the courage to put this knife back in pocket. It's so nice to have it sharp, I want it to stay that way forever.

 

[Dangerously]

Wow! Attempting to use the medium rods on a sharpmaker to reprofile a Sebenza was what made me purchase a set of diamond stones in the first place. Takes forever.

I'm not sure if your patience is admirable, or if you need to be studied. Maybe scientists can make a cure for ADHD from your blood.

 

[kidcongo]

Wow! Attempting to use the medium rods on a sharpmaker to reprofile a Sebenza was what made me purchase a set of diamond stones in the first place. Takes forever.

I'm not sure if your patience is admirable, or if you need to be studied. Maybe scientists can make a cure for ADHD from your blood.

Haha. You might be on to something.

 

[Heirphoto]

Great thread and great advice!

Sent from my LGMS428 using Tapatalk

 

[Don M]

Just use it. Now that you have "your" edge on it it will be very easy to sharpen.

For future reference, diamonds are your friend for any reprofiling. I find my first real sharpening of a CRK takes a good bit more effort than subsequent times after I have established the edge angle I like. Removing any significant amount of metal takes a long time with the Sharpmaker, though as you have seen it can be done with a lot of patience.

 

[tomsch]

Very nice! For all my CRK knives that I intend to use the first order of business is to reprofile and get rid of the weird convex edge. Not only does it cut so much better it also makes touch-ups very easy. I tend to reprofile on my Wicked Edge which makes the process rather straightforward. Once again it's great to see you found a solution!

 

[PeteyTwoPointOne]

Very nice! For all my CRK knives that I intend to use the first order of business is to reprofile and get rid of the weird convex edge. Not only does it cut so much better it also makes touch-ups very easy. I tend to reprofile on my Wicked Edge ...

WE is great if you want a true Vee-edge...I really like the WE's diamond hones...overall a great system!

But I think <IMhumbleO> that one reason CRK recommends SharpMaker-- besides readiness of use-- is that the SM sharpening technique lends itself to a somewhat natural convex-like edge finish.

At least that's the way it turns out for me in my usage and experience.

 

[ChazzyP]

WE is great if you want a true Vee-edge...I really like the WE's diamond hones...overall a great system!

But I think <IMhumbleO> that one reason CRK recommends SharpMaker-- besides readiness of use-- is that the SM sharpening technique lends itself to a somewhat natural convex-like edge finish.

At least that's the way it turns out for me in my usage and experience.

That's a really interesting point regarding the Sharpmaker, P2.1. That thought has occurred to me, although somewhat more vaguely. In a sense, the SM is actually a free-hand system as it requires one to establish the bevel angle by maintaining verticality with one's hand against the fixed angle of the rods. At least for me, this is not 100% possible/probable either from side-to-side or stroke-to-stroke. I have indeed become quite proficient with the SM and am careful to hold the knife as consistently as possible, but do find the resulting edge to be slightly convex with no detriment (and perhaps an advantage) to cutting capability.

I had always thought that CRK recommends the Sharpmaker as they seem to set their edges at right around 40 degrees inclusive, but your point is well-taken.

As a side-note, I often favor a compound edge on my knives--15 p/s secondary bevel with a 20 p/s micro-bevel--as it is both easy to touch up and approximates a convex edge as well. I have used this with great success on many knives, but have had no luck with it on my most-used work EDC which is a KnifeArt large 21 CF Seb. Its birthdate is June, 2014, so I expect the knife post-dates the hardness upgrade, but I find that the steeper edge chips pretty easily, even with a larger-than-micro 20 p/s tertiary bevel. Has anyone had similar experience with CRK's S35VN?

 

[Amoo]

That's a really interesting point regarding the Sharpmaker, P2.1. That thought has occurred to me, although somewhat more vaguely. In a sense, the SM is actually a free-hand system as it requires one to establish the bevel angle by maintaining verticality with one's hand against the fixed angle of the rods. At least for me, this is not 100% possible/probable either from side-to-side or stroke-to-stroke. I have indeed become quite proficient with the SM and am careful to hold the knife as consistently as possible, but do find the resulting edge to be slightly convex with no detriment (and perhaps an advantage) to cutting capability.

I had always thought that CRK recommends the Sharpmaker as they seem to set their edges at right around 40 degrees inclusive, but your point is well-taken.

As a side-note, I often favor a compound edge on my knives--15 p/s secondary bevel with a 20 p/s micro-bevel--as it is both easy to touch up and approximates a convex edge as well. I have used this with great success on many knives, but have had no luck with it on my most-used work EDC which is a KnifeArt large 21 CF Seb. Its birthdate is June, 2014, so I expect the knife post-dates the hardness upgrade, but I find that the steeper edge chips pretty easily, even with a larger-than-micro 20 p/s tertiary bevel. Has anyone had similar experience with CRK's S35VN?

I'm used to running 17/22.5 on all my knives. In playing with the S35vn I've found it's not a fan of the 17, so I'm backing out 1 dps per touchup until I no longer get micro chipping or rolling. Haven't used it enough on 18 yet to know if this is a good spot or not. I'll add my micro-bevel once I find the sweet spot on the primary with this steel.