Curved rods

M

Marblo

Joined
Mar 21, 2014
Messages
45
Hi,
I use to maintain microbevels ceramic rods and also Spyderco Sharpmaker. I noticed, that all of my ceramic rods are not 100% flat and the same goes for all the sharpmaker rods. Did you notice it too on you sharpmaker rods? Is this a big problem? I guess this sharpening wont be that precise but it is not a big deal, is it?
Thanks

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Don't worry about it. If one were to examine most any hone using a straight-edge and the 'light-through-the-gaps' method, it'd become obvious that almost none of them are truly flat. They don't need to be anyway, for knives. Flatter hones are more important for some woodworking tools like chisels & plane irons, which need edges that are as near to dead-straight as possible, and bevels & backsides which need to be as flat & smooth as possible. Therefore they need to sit flush to a flat surface when sharpening. Most accomplished woodworkers already know to lap or flatten any stones that aren't up to par. But for sharpening knives with curved edge profiles which only contact a very small portion of the hone's surface at any given moment, it's not important 99.9% of the time.


David
 
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I have noticed that my Sharpmaker triangle rods are not perfectly flat on a couple of their surfaces, but it's a very minor gap and I dont worry too much about it.
 
Okay, I wont worry about it. But still. I just was experimenting with angle cube and the range of error because of the not flat rods surfaces can be up to 0,4deg. Isnt that too much..?
 
Marblo said:
Okay, I wont worry about it. But still. I just was experimenting with angle cube and the range of error because of the not flat rods surfaces can be up to 0,4deg. Isnt that too much..?
Click to expand...

There's more error in the 'freehand' technique used with the sharpener; likely 1-3° or more, for most who use it (assuming Sharpmaker or equivalent, or rods used like a sharpening 'steel'). The curvature of the hone could make some difference if it was used on a guided setup (with a slotted clamp & guide rod), where the hone travels along a fixed plane; but even then, the error would be very minimal, unless the curvature was grossly extreme.

If knowing the curvature is there, a skilled sharpener could actually compensate a bit with the hands in the stroke. At greater skill, it's more about feeling the flush contact with the bevels and intuitively adjusting to maintain it. Master sharpeners using deeply dished stones make this look easy. :)


David
 
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