Have I made a bad purchase?

A

Arson

Joined
Nov 20, 2011
Messages
51
I have to admit, as a noob to sharpening I'm a little nerveous about pulling the trigger on my two latest purchases. A spyderco sharpmaker, and a DMT Aligner deluxe. For the DMT I went ahead and bought the EEF and EC stones for it. For the spyderco, I also bought two of the ultra fine rods. I've been lurking around about sharpeners, and wanted something guided, and something a little bit freehand. all together it was $150. My thought process was that if I really get into sharpening, these would supliment a future larger purchase like an edge pro apex with chosera stones. I'm a bit OCD when it comes to things like this, and I'll always be wondering if there was a better path to "sharp". I would be interested to hear your opinions on the subject. Thanks.
 
Sounds like a good start. In the realm of sharpening it really is down to personal preference. I use many different methods of sharpening and may even use two to three on a single edge touch-up. If I were you I would think about getting some Arkansas stones (if you own carbon steel) and maybe even a translucent before the stock is all gone forever!

Kaleb
 
I find that an edge pro and the sharpmaker make a very good combination for a sharpening setup. I usually rebevel knives that I carry and use the sharpmaker to touch them up. I also have a DMT aligner. The DMT aligner works very well but needs some skill to use(as with all systems).
 
In my opinion the best thing to do is learn to sharpen with a stone. But in the mean time the sharp maker should help you to keep your knives edges maintained
 
I think you did okay for your first selection of sharpening media.

If I were you, I would have selected the Sharpmaker with the DMT XXC bench stone or double sided that included the XXC and a clamp to hold the bench stone. That way you could reprofile with the DMT and secondary bevel/sharpen or micro bevel with the Spyderco Sharpmaker.
 
singularity35 said:
The DMT aligner works very well but needs some skill to use(as with all systems).
Click to expand...

I don't have any experience with the DMT aligner, so I'm kind of shooting in the dark. What experience besides "following the included directions" should I be preparing myself for?
 
Arson said:
I don't have any experience with the DMT aligner, so I'm kind of shooting in the dark. What experience besides "following the included directions" should I be preparing myself for?
Click to expand...
In my expierence, you should prepare to use the spyderco sharpmaker much much more than the DMT aligner. I've tried the DMT aligner and I could not get it to clamp onto a knife reliabily. It is especially difficult on FFG blades and large blades. On the other hand the sharpmaker is stoopid easy to use.
 
Arson said:
I don't have any experience with the DMT aligner, so I'm kind of shooting in the dark. What experience besides "following the included directions" should I be preparing myself for?
Click to expand...

There's a trick to clamping FFG blades that's not in the directions. I can give you some via PM if you need 'em.
 
Well, I received both my Aligner and Sharpmaker today. I started out with a Kershaw Scallion on the aligner, and I was impressed. I went through all the stones and it cut phone book paper. The profile looked real even and nice as well. Then I took it over to the Sharpmaker and polished the edge even more. I was impressed. very sharp for a beginner with new tools. The Scallion was already sharp when I started, but after; it was REAL sharp. The same for my Persistence. Beautifully sharp edge that was nicely polished with the ultra fine stones. I then took a paring knife out of the knife block that was super dull. It couldn't even come close to cutting paper. I started with the sharpmaker, then realized I needed to switch to the ailgner when I wasn't making any progress. I was able to set a profile rather quickly, and get a good edge. I still need to work on it, but the combination of the Aligner and Sharpmaker seems to be working. I am really impressed with the Sharpmaker. It's a quality piece of equipment that will last a long time. I'm still not sure about the aligner. It's got a lot of plastic that can break and probably will, but the stones are nice, and I like the ability to set the guide and get agressive.
I'll keep everyone in the loop on how it progresses as I get better. Thanks to everyone who gave me advice.
I hope to someday be able to have other firefighters drop off their knives and be confident enough to sharpen them to mirror polish, razor sharp....
 
Regarding the supposed difficulties in clamping FFG (full flat grind) blades in the Aligner, here's how I've been going about it. Never had any troubles, and in fact, I prefer clamping to FFG blades, because there's a lot more flat & flush surface area to hold onto.

Here's how I do it:

Place the blade in the clamp, with the blade spine all the way back to the stops in the clamp. This is most easily done with the clamp's forward end UP, and the back of the clamp resting on the table/bench.

Pinch the forward-most end of the clamp to the blade, making sure the clamp's inside faces are fully flush to the blade's sides. If the forward adjustment screw is too snug to allow the clamp to close fully flush to the blade, loosen the forward adjustment screw until there's enough freedom of movement in the clamp to allow it to fit fully flush.

While pinching the clamp fully flush to the blade, very gently turn the forward adjustment screw until it JUST BARELY encounters resistance to tightening, indicating the clamp is set to match the width of the blade's spine. It's VERY IMPORTANT to make sure the clamp is still held fully flush to the blade's sides, while doing this. It's relatively easy to over-tighten the forward adjustment screw just enough to pull the clamping faces away from flush.

Now tighten down the rear adjustment screw, as tight as you can make it. Check for blade slippage or other movement in the clamp. Also check to make sure the blade isn't rocking back & forth, which would indicate that the blade is not fully flush to the inside faces of the clamp.

The boldened text above is my not-so-subtle way of emphasizing how important it is, to make absolutely sure the clamp is fully flush to the blade. That makes all the difference in the world, in minimizing slippage or other movement of the blade in the clamp. This also applies to any of the other clamped systems, such as Lansky and Gatco.

Other tips:

For blades that are a bit more 'slippery' in the clamp, some masking tape or painter's tape, on the blade, can sometimes help with that. If it's still moving a bit, I've had very good results using a piece of med/fine grit wet/dry sandpaper (maybe 400+ grit), with the abrasive side to the clamp (paper backing to the blade). For me, this has actually worked better than tape, in preventing slippage of the blade in the clamp. Obviously, putting the paper backing to the blade is preferable, to prevent scratching the blade.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Regarding the supposed difficulties in clamping FFG (full flat grind) blades in the Aligner, here's how I've been going about it. Never had any troubles, and in fact, I prefer clamping to FFG blades, because there's a lot more flat & flush surface area to hold onto.

Here's how I do it:

Place the blade in the clamp, with the blade spine all the way back to the stops in the clamp. This is most easily done with the clamp's forward end UP, and the back of the clamp resting on the table/bench.

Pinch the forward-most end of the clamp to the blade, making sure the clamp's inside faces are fully flush to the blade's sides. If the forward adjustment screw is too snug to allow the clamp to close fully flush to the blade, loosen the forward adjustment screw until there's enough freedom of movement in the clamp to allow it to fit fully flush.

While pinching the clamp fully flush to the blade, very gently turn the forward adjustment screw until it JUST BARELY encounters resistance to tightening, indicating the clamp is set to match the width of the blade's spine. It's VERY IMPORTANT to make sure the clamp is still held fully flush to the blade's sides, while doing this. It's relatively easy to over-tighten the forward adjustment screw just enough to pull the clamping faces away from flush.

Now tighten down the rear adjustment screw, as tight as you can make it. Check for blade slippage or other movement in the clamp. Also check to make sure the blade isn't rocking back & forth, which would indicate that the blade is not fully flush to the inside faces of the clamp.

The boldened text above is my not-so-subtle way of emphasizing how important it is, to make absolutely sure the clamp is fully flush to the blade. That makes all the difference in the world, in minimizing slippage or other movement of the blade in the clamp. This also applies to any of the other clamped systems, such as Lansky and Gatco.

Other tips:

For blades that are a bit more 'slippery' in the clamp, some masking tape or painter's tape, on the blade, can sometimes help with that. If it's still moving a bit, I've had very good results using a piece of med/fine grit wet/dry sandpaper (maybe 400+ grit), with the abrasive side to the clamp (paper backing to the blade). For me, this has actually worked better than tape, in preventing slippage of the blade in the clamp. Obviously, putting the paper backing to the blade is preferable, to prevent scratching the blade.
Click to expand...

This, and thanks for typing it out. :D
 
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