Diamond rods for Sharpmaker: Worth $70+ ?

steve-in-kville

steve-in-kville

Joined
Dec 25, 2001
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1,139
Anyone have the Sharpmaker with the extra diamond rods? Does they make a big difference over the regular rods? Would like to get them, but would like some feedback first. Thanks.


steve
 
I don't have them yet, but I intend to get a set. They will make re-profiling a snap, which will, in turn, make the Sharpmaker a far more useful device than it already is.
 
they are a lot more agressive than the regular rods. good for putting an edge on a really dull knife saves a lot of time.you can get them for less than $72 at www.newgraham.com thats where I got mine.
I believe they are less than $60
 
Not worth $70, but definitely worth the ~$56 or so that I paid for them (New Graham). They help out a lot in the re-profiling, but if you can't find it for $60 or less, I would suggest getting a DMT or some other coarse stone to do the re-profiling and then use the Sharpmaker for the finer stuff.
 
I plan on buying some if I can ever get the money together. If you have ever tried reprofiling, or sharpening a very dull knife with the standard "coarse" stones, you will appreciate the extra speed the diamond rods should give you. :)
 
Or you can buy a 1"X30" belt sander for less than $85.00 from Delta. It will reprofile AND sharpen with the appropriate belts.(Lee Valley, or from Knifeandgun.com.)
For more info please see Joe's Sharpening FAQ.

BTW, its hard to hurt yourself with a Spyderco 204 and diamond sticks but easy to do with a belt sander. Be careful.
O. Neman
 
This is difficult question to answer with clear cut, probably everyone should decide for him- or herself...
But they are definitely worth to work with, especially taking into consideration that the time is the most valuable thing in the world. It is the only item what once wasted you can’t save, win, find or steal anymore. If you are comfortable with Sharpmaker and satisfied with its performance – adding diamond rods you can practically close your list of required sharpening devices.
To use DMT or another coarse diamond abrasive is good idea if you could match free-hand obtained reprofiling angle to this one preset at your Sharpmaker. If you can’t – all your reprofiling would be inaccurate and requiring one reprofiling more with Sharpmaker brown rods what is pretty tiring and time consuming.

BTW, belt grinder can hurt not only man’s hands. Inexperienced user more than likely could badly damage an edge overheating it. Please remember that the very edge is the thin foil of the steel what can be overheated instantly.
 
I received mine a couple of weeks ago. I think the money was well spent. They are really nice for re-profiling. A real time saver.
 
Sergiusz Mitin :

To use DMT or another coarse diamond abrasive is good idea if you could match free-hand obtained reprofiling angle to this one preset at your Sharpmaker. If you can’t – all your reprofiling would be inaccurate and requiring one reprofiling more with Sharpmaker brown rods what is pretty tiring and time consuming.
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You don't need anywhere near the precision when shaping an edge that you do when sharpening one. Yes you will waste some time from the angle variance, but a 220 grit waterstone with 80 grit lapping compound will out cut the Shrapmaker diamond rods by easily 10x, so the net effect will be a huge gain. If the visual effect of sloppy shaping grinds bothers you, use the suggestion that Joe had of leaning the x-coarse hone against the ceramic stones, or quite frankly nail two pieces of board together to make a quick stand. You don't need any great precison, just set the angle lower than what you intend to finish on the Sharpmaker.

ienced user more than likely could badly damage an edge overheating it. Please remember that the very edge is the thin foil of the steel what can be overheated instantly.
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It also releases the heat very rapidly to the surrounding metal and air. With modern air hardening alloys, the tempering temperature is often very high, for example 515 C for D2 (~60 RC), it is near impossible to overheat such alloys unless you don't stop to cool the blades and wear heat resistant gloves. The real problem is with the plain carbon steels as they can be tempered really low, <150 C. It is a problem, but not nearly as bad as it is often made out to be. The solution is quite simple, take it one pass at a time, cool after each pass, and use sharp coarse belts for the shaping.

-Cliff
 
Cliff, I can sharpen my knives without any dedicated sharpener at all. As well as you can too, I guess. My statement was addressed to folks who probably want just to sharpen and to obtain reasonable results at reasonable cost and effort. Not to make some homemade equipment and to experiment with boards, different stones, lapping compounds and another similar stuff. Or to experiment with cheap and primitive belt grinders because only such item you can buy in the price range comparable with the cost of diamond rods for Sharpmaker.
 
Yes, Serg has the correct context here.

I can barely find the time to touch-up my folders and kitchen knives on the Sharpmaker white stones let alone jerry-rigging a profiling set-up.

Sharpmaker diamond stones are on my Xmas list.
 
Originally posted by Cliff Stamp
a 220 grit waterstone with 80 grit lapping compound will out cut the Shrapmaker diamond rods by easily 10x, so the net effect will be a huge gain.
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Where can I find this 80 grit lapping compound? Hardware store?
 
Hi Steve,

I have the triangle diamond rods and find them very useful when sharpening a knife for the first time with the Sharpmaker. I recently received one of the new models (204 I think). I previously had one of the original "deluxe" ones that came with diamond-coated sleeves that slipped over the regular triangle stones. I had used that a bunch and so was willing to purchase the new diamond rods to go with the 204.

--gordon
 
ZENGHOST :

Where can I find this 80 grit lapping compound?
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Lee Valley sells it, they are on line.

Sergiusz Mitin :

Not to make some homemade equipment and to experiment with boards, different stones, lapping compounds and another similar stuff.
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You speak of this like it is some tremendous effort. We are talking about making a v-shaped object it doesn't require a finish carpenter. You cold just prop open a hard cover book, it isn't a complicated issue.

The experimenting with hones, lapping compound and the like is also completely optional. Quite simply, instead of buying the sleeves you buy a very coarse benchstone that is all that is required at the minimal.

The mintute it takes you to craft the rest for the stone will be far outweighed by the extra time it takes on the Sharpmaker sleeves. Not to mention of course that you could simply lean the stone against the Sharpmaker rods as Joe noted quite some time ago and I mentioned in the above.

Or to experiment with cheap and primitive belt grinders because only such item you can buy in the price range comparable with the cost of diamond rods for Sharpmaker.
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Belt sanders start out at around 75$ Canadian. This is for a one inch, low torque model which includes tool rests, disk sander, angle guides, etc. . Not what you would want for making a knife, but easily far in excess of what is needed for sharpening.

For someone starting out though I would recommend paper wheels for a power sharpening setup. Belt sanders I see more for altering the geometry which you should look into as soon as you start spending any serious amount of money looking for cutlery performance.

-Cliff
 
While I use the old "slip over" diamond sleeves for my Sharpmaker, they're still slower than the larger, coarse bench stones. This is especially true as the length of the blade increases. As you would expect, length of the sharpening stroke and the amount of blade in contact with the sharpening surface play into this.

It's not that difficult to set up a jig of sorts to hold a large bench stone at a desired angle. I've done this with a couple pieces of scrap wood and some nails to prop up a 12 inch Norton stone to match the angle of my Sharpmaker. It saved tremendous time turning a wedge of a Gerber Bowie into a blade that would really cut.

Once you establish the angle, simply maintain it with the Sharpmaker.
 
I am probably one of just a few guys who thinks the sleeves are overpriced. I looked other diamond systems that sell for a lot less. I think that just cause they fit the spyderco they figure they can charge a lot more. I bought a gerber diamond hone for 6 or 7 bucks. I taped the ends to the flat of the triangle sharpener and went to town. It sharpen a really dull Cold Steel SRK.
So my answer is no its not worth it. Buy a DMT or Gerber or Lansky.
Diamond is diamond
Good Luck
jack
 
From the number of views this thread has, I'd say there are a lot of people who want to know if the diamond rods are worth the coinage.

When I see someone posting a thread asking about the Sharpmaker, I usually speculate that it's someone who doesn't know how to sharpen by hand. Count me as one of those people. Maybe it's that I'm too lazy to take the time to learn how, but I've never been able to keep an angle when sharpening by hand. The Sharpmaker may take longer, might not be able to get steel as sharp, and might cost more than your basic Arkansas stone, but it's a heck of a lot easier for the average Joe to use.

By the way, those diamond rods do look like they'll make things that much easier -- if you're only willing to part with the cash.
 
Anyone know if the CeraHone stones will fit in the sharpmaker? May have been covered before, but reasonable stones for the price. Indestructable and all.
 
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