Ease of use on sharpmaker.

[SURVIVAL&WEAPONS]

So i use a smiths 3-in-1 sharpening system for my sharpening needs. So far ive only been sharpening my Leatherman sidekick (420HC) and get it hair shaving sharp, i use the rounded part of the tear shaped rods after using the diamond hone. I tried using the flat side but my edge only made contact with the edge of the flat part (where it turns to the round portion or the triangle part of serrations). I wish to get a sharpmaker in the future, but my thoughts are i screwed up my ability to use a flat sided rod like the ones the sharpmaker uses. Is there a way i can keep more centered on the flat part if the rod? Am i doing something wrong? also when I'm using the rods sometimes my hand will lean to the side a bit and screw up the bevel, is there any tips or ways to prevent this? Im all ears, thanks guys.

 

[dkb45]

Honestly, the best way to not screw up is careful practice. Train your hands to keep the blade vertical and you won't have an issue with it in the future. When you decide to get a Sharpmaker I would suggest you get a beater knife and just rub away on your Smith's system (if it is the rod type system I am thinking of). Another method would be to find a dowel that fits in the Sharpmaker and rub away, using some type of marking on the edge to make sure you are keeping consistent (any marker will be rubbed off by the wood). Remember that you don't have to keep the blade perfectly at 15 or 20 degrees, you just have to keep it the same on whatever side (if you want to do 15 on the left and 2 on the right that is fine, just make sure you stay like that on all passes). There is a learning curve to the Sharpmaker, but it isn't bad. Get used to it and you will ask how in the world you could ever think it to be hard.