Five strokes on Sharpmaker. What can be going on?

D

denny crane

Joined
Apr 18, 2018
Messages
4
First of all, thanks to the folks on this forum for all the good info as I just started sharpening EDC knives for fun.

So I got a Sharpmaker first. I like the rods, but I can't get a uniform bevel like I wanted. So I got a Wicked Edge GO (yes, I must have gotten into some cool-aid). I use the stones up to 1500, a very nice even pretty edge, but not so spectacularly sharp, really.

After sharpening almost everything I own on the WEG, I tried 5 strokes per side on my cheapo knife, on the Sharpmaker fine rods, just to see. Wow! It is sharper than anything else I have done. So I went ahead and did every other knife that way ... 5 strokes per side on the Sharpmaker. Same results.

Am I just honing, or what? Why is the resulting edge so good?

Thanks
 
The resulting edge is good because the sharpmaker rods are angled a bit steeper than your bevel, so you're hitting the very apex of the edge The part that cuts. So yeah, you were just honing in a sense The higher angle makes quick work of the apex.

With the edge pro, you were doing a fine job of polishing, but you had never fully sharpened the metal all the way down to the very apex of the cutting edge.

With any system, make sure you create a burr along the edge to guarantee you've ground enough metal. Remove it. Then move on to finer stuff!
 
denny crane said:
First of all, thanks to the folks on this forum for all the good info as I just started sharpening EDC knives for fun.

So I got a Sharpmaker first. I like the rods, but I can't get a uniform bevel like I wanted. So I got a Wicked Edge GO (yes, I must have gotten into some cool-aid). I use the stones up to 1500, a very nice even pretty edge, but not so spectacularly sharp, really.

After sharpening almost everything I own on the WEG, I tried 5 strokes per side on my cheapo knife, on the Sharpmaker fine rods, just to see. Wow! It is sharper than anything else I have done. So I went ahead and did every other knife that way ... 5 strokes per side on the Sharpmaker. Same results.

Am I just honing, or what? Why is the resulting edge so good?

Thanks
Click to expand...

That's exactly what's supposed to happen with the Sharpmaker and similar V-crock sharpeners, IF the edge is properly set up for it. Many have said it'd be more accurately called a 'SharpKeeper', as it works very well at maintaining edges that aren't allowed to get too dull in the first place. And by similar reasoning, a newly-created and fully-apexed edge from the stones can be further refined pretty quickly on the SM.

The SM and similar tools are at their very best when used minimally, i.e., with a very, very light touch and a minimum number of passes. They tend not to be as effective if one needs to grind away for a long time in using it. It's a great finishing & touch-up tool, but not nearly as good if one has to rely on it for complete beginning-to-end sharpening. Other tools with larger and more aggressive hones are better-suited to that sort of work.
 
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It's either creating a small micro-bevel or you're knocking off the remaining burr.
 
denny crane said:
First of all, thanks to the folks on this forum for all the good info as I just started sharpening EDC knives for fun.

So I got a Sharpmaker first. I like the rods, but I can't get a uniform bevel like I wanted. So I got a Wicked Edge GO (yes, I must have gotten into some cool-aid). I use the stones up to 1500, a very nice even pretty edge, but not so spectacularly sharp, really.

After sharpening almost everything I own on the WEG, I tried 5 strokes per side on my cheapo knife, on the Sharpmaker fine rods, just to see. Wow! It is sharper than anything else I have done. So I went ahead and did every other knife that way ... 5 strokes per side on the Sharpmaker. Same results.

Am I just honing, or what? Why is the resulting edge so good?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Alot of people new to the wicked edge or other guided systems don’t do the last step of raising the angle by a couple of degrees. (So if you were sharpening at 20 degrees per side raise angle to 23 per side) and do one very light no pressure stroke from the heel of the knife to the tip first on the opposite side of the last side you finished then flip over again and do that on the other side.

Important for this last step is to use no pressure just the weight of the stone and don’t use “scrubbing” strokes do one long stroke from the heel to tip on each side. Sometimes a few times on each side to knock the burr off.
 
Lapedog said:
Alot of people new to the wicked edge or other guided systems don’t do the last step of raising the angle by a couple of degrees. (So if you were sharpening at 20 degrees per side raise angle to 23 per side) and do one very light no pressure stroke from the heel of the knife to the tip first on the opposite side of the last side you finished then flip over again and do that on the other side.

Important for this last step is to use no pressure just the weight of the stone and don’t use “scrubbing” strokes do one long stroke from the heel to tip on each side. Sometimes a few times on each side to knock the burr off.
Click to expand...
Hmm, I don't do this on my last stone..
I should try this out.
 
Lapedog said:
Alot of people new to the wicked edge or other guided systems don’t do the last step of raising the angle by a couple of degrees. (So if you were sharpening at 20 degrees per side raise angle to 23 per side) and do one very light no pressure stroke from the heel of the knife to the tip first on the opposite side of the last side you finished then flip over again and do that on the other side.

Important for this last step is to use no pressure just the weight of the stone and don’t use “scrubbing” strokes do one long stroke from the heel to tip on each side. Sometimes a few times on each side to knock the burr off.
Click to expand...

These are all great responses, thanks a lot! I have not tried the last no-pressure strokes either, now I am curious. I did notice that very light pressure on both the finer stones and the Sharpmaker was very effective, after all the hard work was done.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
That's exactly what's supposed to happen with the Sharpmaker and similar V-crock sharpeners, IF the edge is properly set up for it. Many have said it'd be more accurately called a 'SharpKeeper', as it works very well at maintaining edges that aren't allowed to get too dull in the first place. And by similar reasoning, a newly-created and fully-apexed edge from the stones can be further refined pretty quickly on the SM.

The SM and similar tools are at their very best when used minimally, i.e., with a very, very light touch and a minimum number of passes. They tend not to be as effective if one needs to grind away for a long time in using it. It's a great finishing & touch-up tool, but not nearly as good if one has to rely on it for complete beginning-to-end sharpening. Other tools with larger and more aggressive hones are better-suited to that sort of work.
Click to expand...

Obsessed ... one thing I did notice is that if I applied any pressure at all with the "5 strokes" on the SM I could feel a tiny tiny burr roll from side to side, so I had to use a very light touch to keep that from happening.
 
denny crane said:
These are all great responses, thanks a lot! I have not tried the last no-pressure strokes either, now I am curious. I did notice that very light pressure on both the finer stones and the Sharpmaker was very effective, after all the hard work was done.
Click to expand...

If your edges are being done under 20 degrees per side you could put the fine sharpmaker stones in the the 40 degrees slots of the sharpmaker and do a few no pressure strokes on each side.

That should knock the burr off.
 
denny crane said:
Obsessed ... one thing I did notice is that if I applied any pressure at all with the "5 strokes" on the SM I could feel a tiny tiny burr roll from side to side, so I had to use a very light touch to keep that from happening.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:
That's the thing with these types of sharpeners; due to the narrow contact area on the rods, pressure gets focused & magnified against the edge (laterally). And the ceramic is very dense & hard as well, and won't buffer pressure at all. So burring is more of an issue if the applied touch is even a little bit heavy. Takes some getting used to; but it teaches good technique in learning it, which will improve results on any other tool you might use down the road.

In the finishing touches, my mindset for use of pressure on ceramic rod-type sharpeners is to imagine I'm using the fine, thin edge of the blade to gently brush dust from the surface of the rod. No heavier than that.
 
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