Frustrated - Sharpening

prisoner6

prisoner6

Joined
Aug 7, 2003
Messages
470
Previously I had asked about how to get started with my sharpening. I bought a Sharpmaker and did fairly well with the first few knives I used it on.

However, I have a GEC knife that came to me very, very dull. I followed instructions, did the same on the Sharpmaker and....still dull.

Am I missing something? Given how dull it was should I do the process but double the number of strokes?

I'm tempted to send it off and get it sharpened and then just maintain it, but I really want to be able to do this myself.
 
The biggest thing that helped me was using a Sharpie/Magic Marker on the edge to see where the true angle is and maintaining it. Not all knives are the same in angle.
 
Yup that's probably one of the best tips on sharpening no matter what you use. Use a sharpie.

Could also be that the GEC has an very obtuse angle and needs to reprofiled to better fit the sharpmaker angles, so when you use it your not actually hitting the bevel. Solution to that is to reprofile it, or use the sharpie trick and see where your hitting it and adjust the angle your holding it at to fit with the sharpmaker. You should be doing #2 no matter what in my opinion though.
 
watch these. Video 2 especially.


[video=youtube;t7H9Kux4TAE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7H9Kux4TAE[/video]

[video=youtube;LKZPyJenYus]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKZPyJenYus[/video]
 
[video=youtube;GYFjbwjzK_E]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYFjbwjzK_E[/video]

[video=youtube;vShJbhM0VDo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vShJbhM0VDo[/video]
 
This young guy is really good at sharpening

[video=youtube;-MHe_8wTHmg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MHe_8wTHmg[/video]
 
Yes, Sharpies are your friend. Perhaps you are not at the blades profile and while removing metal you are not removing metal at the edge thus the "still dull" knife.
If you don't have a loupe get one...they are also a great aid to view the edge and how the stone, etc. is affecting the edge. The beauty is a loupe is generally very inexpensive...Amazon had tons of them in the five bucks range. Mine is a 15 power by 25mm lens width I bought at the Syracuse gun show for around five bucks.

Depending on the angle the knife came with and the angle you want you may be in for a lot of metal removal...or not so much. It also helps to achieve a matching angle on both sides.
 
I agree with everyone on the Sharpie, which is now one of the most important tools in my sharpening bag of tricks. Otherwise, yes, if you need to reprofile an edge or your knives don't match the angles on the Sharpmaker you're going to need something more aggressive, or spend "a lot" more time with the medium stone. I got the diamond rods for my Sharpmaker and they really helped a lot, especially if you use a Sharpie. Once the edge and the angle are set the Sharpmaker does a great job of keeping your knives sharp.
 
Occasionally with a very dull new blade I have re-profiled the edge with a fine metal file. That speeds up the process considerably.
 
I suggest you don't follow the directions that come with the sharpmaker. Work on one side until you build a burr then go to the other until you do the same then do alternating strokes.
 
Chris_S said:
I suggest you don't follow the directions that come with the sharpmaker. Work on one side until you build a burr then go to the other until you do the same then do alternating strokes.
Click to expand...

This is good advice. No bur, on both sides, all later work on lower grits is for nothing. I check for burs on each side change, and each grit, but smaller and smaller grits leaves pretty hard to distinguish burs. In real good light, surgery grade spotlights, you can see the bur with the naked eye. Easier for me to see a very small bur, than feel it.
 
Thank you all for the good advice. Please forgive my followup questions.

With the Sharpie, I see what you mean. Does the sharpie leave behind markings on the blade?
 
prisoner6 said:
Thank you all for the good advice. Please forgive my followup questions.

With the Sharpie, I see what you mean. Does the sharpie leave behind markings on the blade?
Click to expand...

You mark the very edges of the blade with the Sharpie. As you sharpen this will tell you where metal is being removed from. If you can see metal being removed either above or below the mark you made the angle of the blade does not match the angle on the sharpmaker. After some time, maybe a very long time, all the black will be gone and your knife will now match the angle on the Sharpmaker. As I said a little higher in this post, the diamond rods help you get there a lot faster. The Sharpie will not leave marks that can not be removed on the blade. You can either remove the marks by sharpening, the whole idea of using the Sharpie, or just about any solvent will remove the marks.

The biggest problem with most sharpening systems, like the Sharpmaker, is your knives have to match the angle built in to the sharpener, or you have to make them match. Don't rush or expect instant success. It just takes awhile to get used to any new system, including the Sharpmaker. It is a very good sharpener.
 
Sharpie will come off with soap and water for any left over from sharpening, from normal use when you cut through objects like paper, cardboard, etc. Or you can do it my way and use a alcohol swab.
 
For one thing, the so-called Sharp-Maker is misnamed.

It is actually a Sharp-Maintainer

It's great for keeping s sharp knife sharp. As long as the knife has a 15 or 20 degree bevel.
 
I've had a sharp maker in my amazon wish list for several years. I just haven't been able to push the add to cart button! I do have several Spydercos, do they all have the "right" bevel for use on a sharp maker or does spyderco use different bevels. It definetly lessens the appeal if you can't set the angle for whatever bevel you want/need.
 
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