How do you all sharpen?

I use a wicked edge to set bevels on a new knife, after that i mostly freehand and strop.

I have yet to encounter a new knife with perfect symmetrical bevels. So my guess is that you have a bevel that is slightly off. Say one side is 17 degrees and the other 25. you will run into a problem with the sharp maker. As it only does 15 and 12 unless you manually adjust your angle.

Do the sharp trick, and watch some video's i learned a lot from doing that. Happy sharpening.
 
Until recently I used Spyderco Benchstones and couple of strops. One charged with black compound and one with green compound, both from Bark River Knives.

Lately I have been using a Ken Onion edition of the Worksharp belt sander with the speed turned down as slow as it will go. I am impressed with the Worksharp sharpener.
 
I reprofile using a Wicked Edge and touch up using my Sharpmaker. Not all of my CRKs have been reprofiled since they have a bevel that is < 20 degrees per side. My Mnandi and small Insingo were > 20 degrees per side which meant the sharpmaker was not hitting the apex of the edge.
 
Used the new small Insingo this weekend to process a fair amount of cardboard. Attempted to touch up on the Sharpmaker, mainly to see if I finally got one <20 dps, and no luck. I stropped it to get a little more mileage out of the factory edge, but looks like this one's gonna require a reprofiling too. Still have yet to own one that would touch up on a Sharpmaker out of the box.
 
Just went through using the DMT Magna Guide Kit on my small Insingo and 25. I just opted for the XX-Fine board and it did a wonderful job bringing that edge back after some use. I admit, a diamond exposed edge will not give you that pretty mirrored edge, but it does give you a very effective working edge, which is what I am after anyways.

I have a strop, but I still find myself rolling some edges. My technique and approach definitely need more time before I exclusively use a strop for edge upkeep.
 
Last few years, the Ken Onion WorkSharp to reprofile, and the Spyderco Sharpmaker to maintain
 
I'm considering pickup up a KME set to perform a clean, even reprofile of my Umnumzaan. My Sebenza has shallow enough bevels, so I just maintain it freehand on a Spyderco DoubleStuff and occasional strop for now. I have and enjoy the Sharpmaker, but the DoubleStuff is extremely convenient and quick to use anywhere.
 
I use a Wicked Edge. For my 25 I keep the profile at ~18 degrees per side according to an angle cube. Easily cuts hair after sharpening but will not cut hair right before I sharpen which is 2 - 3 times a year.
 
Purchased some Lansky Leather Stropping Hones and a Guide Rod to use with my DMT Aligner. Will try my hand and getting a proper polished edge. The Diamond in XX-Fine, still is quite toothy.
 
I would love to get a guided system and get the proper angles set into the blade. That way i'd know i could hit it on my sharpmaker and get it done right. For now, i can sharpen it, but i would still love to do the edge properly.
 
SuzukiGS750EZ said:
I would love to get a guided system and get the proper angles set into the blade. That way i'd know i could hit it on my sharpmaker and get it done right. For now, i can sharpen it, but i would still love to do the edge properly.
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On a previous Sebbie the 40 degree angle on the Sharpmaker wasn't getting to the edge, so I reprofiled first to a 30 degree (inclusive) by leaning a DMT diamond stone against the Sharpmaker rods. Then re-sharpened with the sharpmaker stones at the 40 degree setting. Worked great and made for easy touch-ups on the SM. I've done the same 30/40 degree combo with several other knives. You could also wrap the SM stones with sandpaper for to more aggressively re-profile.
 
Ajack60 said:
I use either a Lansky or KME with diamond stones and ceramic stones. Finish up with a strop.
I use the sharpie to ensure the apex is reached, once the sharpie marks are gone, that tells me I have the correct angle. I will continue to sharpen until the edge starts to form a burr. Then, I'll switch to the other side and do the same thing. I use the ceramic stones to remove the burr and I've gotten into the habit of stropping to finish up.
Just because the sharpie mark is gone doesn't necessarily mean the apex is sharp.
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I'd love to get either the KME or the Lansky clamp/mount next. Holding the DMT clamp is fine for smaller blades (3.5 or less), but it's a little too cumbersome for larger blades.

I also don't rely upon a sharpie to ensure my apex is sharp. I usually do equal passes and go by touch and checking the blade on old receipt paper.

I've used the Lansky Strop hones with my DMT and I honestly feel for everyday edge maintenance, that is all that you really and truly need. Trues it back up and is less abrasive than any other medium.
 
Wicked Edge Gen 3 with all factory stones , 2 sets of ceramics and 2 different strop compounds (one 5/3.5um standard strop and finish with the roo strop impregnated with .25um CBN and .125um CBN)

Does the job for me &#128527;
 
NJBillK said:
Strop. If that isn't enough, I use my ceramic rod. I have yet to need anything more abrasive than that.

Is it possible that your not hitting the apex due to the slight factory convex?
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This. First sharpening was re-profiling with the sharp maker. Now I usually strop on the cardboard back of a note pad. If it's more dull than usual I'll swipe it a few times on a lansky ceramic rod and then strop it. Gets razor sharp pretty quick and stays that way for a while.
 
Lately I have been free hand sharpening with a White SM rod if it needs a good touch up, but I Primarily just take it to My Loaded Strop about once a week or more as needed.
 
Edgepro if needed to reprofile. Under normal use, a ceramic rod and a strop with black and green grit.
 
I've had extreme issues shapening my Sebenza.
I did the sharpie trick, and I could tell that mine was HEAVILY convexed.
Left right left right left right left right Ad-naseum.
Nothing.
I'm talking HOURS on the sharpmaker with the stock stones.
Nothing!!
Today I spend about $50 and got a "Smiths" diamond stone and a "Norton" Crystolon stone.
About an hour-and-a-half later, I got it sharp.
Finished up with the white Sharpmaker stones and light stropping on an unloaded leather strop.
I can see marks on the shoulder and the edge that correspond with each other now.
It's pretty much "V".
The main reason I stopped is because I was sick of sharpening the darn thing.
But IMO, I had to grind a ton of steel off just to get rid of the convex.
Blade shape is still the same, though, luckily.
 
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