Chisel Grind Blade Sharpening with a Sharpmaker

[PartialSerrations]

Fellow Forum Members,
I own 2 Emersons with the chisel grinded blade. There will come a day when it's time to sharpen them and I would prefer to use a Spyderco Sharpmaker because of its ease and simplicity in using. There are two angles on it; 33 degress and 40 degress as well as 2 types of hones; medium (brown) and fine (white). If you turn it over, you can insert the ceramic hones in the bottom if necessary. I watched the video and maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention because I didn't see them mentioning anything about sharpening chisel grinded blades, just a regular chisel. Has anyone used a sharpmaker to sharpen their Emerson chisel grinded blades and had success in achieving an edge capable of shaving the hair off the back of your hand? If any of you have, can you share your experiences with me. If you used a benchstone, I would love to here from you as well. I have a fine and medium grit benchstones as well. Can you give me the fine details and angles you used and how you went about achieving success. Any stories of sharpening success would be greatly appreciated regardless of what you used. I would love to here from all of you. Thanks for reading my forum.

IF WAR IS HELL, TAKE A BETTER PITCHFORK THAN THE DEVIL

 

[droopy170]

Robert,
Do a search on sharpening on this particular forum you should get some good info. Also check the FAQ's and learn about raising a "burr".Best bet if using a Sharpmaker is use a sharipe type dry erase, marker on the edge. Use the 40 degree holes,and white flats to start. Lean the blade out from the stone till you are close to the right angle, take some light strokes you will see where the marker is coming off, adjust the angle appropriately. I say start with the white flats and real light stroke as this should not mess up the angle(takes off minimal metal). When you feel reasonably comfortable use the marker on the blade again, and depending on how dull start with the appropriate stones. IE just a touch up white flats, need a bit more white corners etc. Be real careful with the tip or you may round it off. To remove the burr I gennerally use the gray corner and draw the edge straight across. With the corners you can really minimize the back of the blade affected. Remeber the chisel or v-grind from Emerson only gets sharpened on one side. As an alternate you can use the Sharpmaker stones freehand, as they use the diamond rod on the Emerson site. Take your time and use smooth controlled strokes. You can most definatly get shaveing sharp.
Droopy

 

[Leathal Edge]

I have sharpened a few of my Emersons on the Spyderco sharp maker. With great success on the Spec War models and my CQC7 a and b models.
However with my Commanders I have not been able to get a really great edge. I tend to do those by hand. Overall I would say I mostly sharpen Emersons by hand thats the only way I feel I truly get that sharp hair shaving edge.

The following is my process:

Use the 40 degree setting on the Sharpmaker. Use the marker on the edge so you can see where you are taking off metal when sharpening this is a GREAT tip. (I did this at first and now can just feel the right angle by hand)

Start with the white ceramic rods unless your edge is WAY gone then use the brown rods.

Tilt the Emerson do not hold it straight up and down. Most of the time when I see that rounded edge the knife has been held at a weird angle or rolled on the stone.

Keep sharpening until you feel the burr with your fingernail (TIP the Emerson web site has a great illustratin of all of these tips and shows several methods of sharpenign your emersons.) www.emersonknives.com Click on sharpening tab bar.

Once the burr is there I tend to lightly kiss the stone to the non sharpend side to break the burr off.

Then I strop on an old leather belt I tacked to my work bench where I sharpen. Stropping adds the extra bit of sharpens that I like.

I have even skipped going to the stones on some of my Emersons in favor of just stropping and they come right back to shaving sharp. This is usually what I do with my Commanders as finding the right angle and getting a Commander REALLY sharp is an art form in my eyes.

Sharpening Emersons I believe will lead most people to a graeter understanding and love of the Emerson in your hand.
The method is different than most knives but the effort is worth it. When someon takes that Emerson to borrow it and says after holy s**t that knife is sharp!

 

[Medic1210]

Not to contradict what has been said, but the grind on the Emersons is somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 degrees, which if it was a v grind would be around 50 degrees. The 40 degree setting on the Sharpmaker is too narrow to sharpen the Emersons properly. They need to be sharpened by hand, or using something with an infinitely adjustable angle like an Edge Pro. The best way to sharpen one is use the Sharpie marker as listed, and color the grind, then sharpen to remove the color.

Mike