How sharp can you get a knife with the sharpmaker??

Surfingringo

Surfingringo

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May 25, 2013
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Hey all, I've been using the sharpmaker the last couple of weeks with great success. It's really a great tool for maintaining an edge. If I have a really dull knife I use my diamond stones. I work a fairly acute edge (I'm guessing 25-30 degrees with the coarse stone then move to the fine. From there I go straight to the white rods on the sm. I only use the sm to put a 40 degree micro bevel on, but it does a great job at that. From then on I can maintain the edge with just a minute or two of work on the sm. And the edges I'm getting are way better than anything I have ever been able to achieve! I am able to place the flat of the blade on my leg and go over my leg without the edge touching the skin and treetop (pop)about half the hairs in one pass. If I barely place the edge on the skin it shaves as clean as a baby's butt in one smooth pass. I can slice and push cut news print. Plenty sharp for any task!

However....hehehe....I want more! :D of course i've watched some videos with guys pulling hairs off their head and whittling them and popping them in half just from the weight of the hair. I am aware that this is getting into the category of a "novelty edge" but I have to confess I'm always a little disappointed when I drop a piece of hair on my edge and it doesn't fall to the ground in two pieces. ;). Really, I'm just curious if anyone is getting this kind of result from the sharpmaker. Is it worth it to get the ultra fine rods? I think the results I'm getting are great for real world use and the 40 degree micro bevel makes for a good, long lasting working edge that's easy to maintain. I don't think I'm willing to go full on OCD at this point and buy tons of gear and spend hours and hours on my edges. I'm just curious if I can squeeze a little more out of my existing system. Curious to hear your feedback.

Thanks,

Lance
 
I use the ultra fine rods sometimes mostly to refine and polish an already sharp edge.The results you'll get from the ultra fine rods are (somewhat) similar to a strop imho.
 
I just got a new Sharpmaker yesterday and purchased the UF rods along with it. I was able to put a very nice edge on my Paramilitary 2 with 20 passes on each set of rods (3) on my first attempt. I did notice a significant difference after the UF stones. I also got a new strop that took the edge even farther. This was my first time to use it, and holding that perfectly vertical angle was a little challenging/awkward. I'm excited to see what kind of edge I can achieve after using it for while.
 
I thought of this when you were talking about cutting hair. lol

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With such results with the standard stones I'd say get the Ultra Fine. Its the next step to a "novelty edge" without breaking the bank.

I've been using one off and on for around six months now and still don't get my edges that fine consistently. I think I just prefer a flat stone instead of the vertical nature of the Sharpmaker. More practice for me.
 
Lance, I thin down my edge with my Norton India. I then use my SM. I have all 4 sets of stones for it. I can get some toothy edges, working edges, and polished edges, that will do what you are describing, but no whittling. I have been very happy with this purchase.

Have you tried to shrpen your SE Spydercos on it yet? How did it go, if so?
 
Hey, yep, I've used it a couple of times on my pacific salt se with good results. I kind of adapted my own technique that seems to work well. I found that if I tried to work the blade from heal to tip in one pass, I was kind of jumping over some of the serrations, even if I tried to go slow. So I break it down into thirds...heel, middle, and tip. By working these small areas I am able to go much slower and work my way into the individual serrations more completely. I hit each third a few times and then make one pass on the backside to remove the burr. I repeat that whole process 5 or 6 times and its shaving sharp again.

And yes, I'm getting my knives quite sharp and have absolutely no logical reason that I need to whittle a piece of hair, I just find myself wanting to push it a little farther! But I'm probably the only one in here who ever thinks like that right?! ;)
 
L2bravo said:
Have you tried to shrpen your SE Spydercos on it yet? How did it go, if so?
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You know, after writing my last post, I decided to pull out the sharpmaker and see if I could get the se a little bit sharper. I spent about 5 minutes slowly and carefully working the edge like I described and the results are frightening. The recesses will push cut any kind of paper and the tips draw blood at the slightest touch. Seriously, i have to be much more careful testing the edge with my fingers than i do on my pe knives. I'm really happy with this as its one of the reasons I bought the sharpmaker. I never even used to consider se knives cuz I figured it would be such a pain to keep them sharp. Not the case with the sharpmaker...at all! I never used to consider hawkbills either, so now that ive got the sm, a serrated tasman salt might be in order! ;-).
 
I definately need more practice and understanding with mine. I've been able to get some knives very sharp...but I'm new to this and am fairly certain they are not as sharp as 'you guys around here' are talking about. I think I'm going to pick up the UF rods...after a bit more practice. I'd like to compare in person with someone else that has one and see if we are doing the same techniques and stuff.
 
Hey adubbz, I'm certainly no expert either, but I think the whole trick with the sm is having a good edge bevel (set at or below 30 degrees, and a good apex. I think once you have those two things, the sharpmaker works like magic. Fast, accurate and efficient. Again, I'm just speculating, but I think that folks who are grinding away for hours with the sharpmaker are either working the shoulders of an edge that is too obtuse, or working an edge that has not already been brought to an apex. I guess that will work eventually, but you can skip all that and very quickly prep the knife on a coarse diamond stone. Then 2-3 min to put an accurate micro bevel with the sm and youve got yorself a folding razorblade. From then on its just a quick touch up on the sm now and again.

I'm new at this, so take all that with a grain of salt, but I've been getting great edges with very little work on the sm employing that technique. Any of you pros out there feel free to correct me if I gave any bad info.

Lance
 
I have the UF benchstone and it definitely takes an edge to whole different level. I'd get it man. The UF stones AND a strop(check out the stropman hd compact). I actually really like what my strop with the white compound on it can do to an edge. Then to make it pretty the green compound.

I have an edge on my ZT0200 with these tools that scares me and makes me pay very close attention to what I'm doing when I use it.
 
There are some pretty useful clips on YouTube about the Sharpmaker. You'll see techniques demonstrated there, and ideas explained, that you won't get from Spyderco. I love my Sharpmaker, must get the UF rods soon!
 
minimalist said:
I have the UF benchstone and it definitely takes an edge to whole different level. I'd get it man. The UF stones AND a strop(check out the stropman hd compact). I actually really like what my strop with the white compound on it can do to an edge. Then to make it pretty the green compound.

I have an edge on my ZT0200 with these tools that scares me and makes me pay very close attention to what I'm doing when I use it.
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Nice! And this is the same guy who sent his pm2 back to spyderco a month ago because it wasn't sharp enough! (Poke poke) ;-). Now your WISHING you had a dull knife to play with aren't you??! Glad we're both having good success. Keep at it and we'll compare notes down the road.
 
Here is my second blade to sharpen on the sharpmaker. I ran through all three sets of stones, on the corners and the flats, 20 passes on each side... once to set the back bevel, then the same exact process again on the 40 degree side to set the microbevel (That's 480 passes, if I did my math right.). Then I ran it over a strop about 10 times on each side. This is the best result I've ever had sharpening anything. It took quite a while, but it was worth the effort. I can slice through phone book paper, shave hairs in one stroke, and I even wittled a few hairs. Now, I think I'll run the s30v PM2 back through with the same process. What I'm really curious about is how it will go with the s90v Military. I'm wondering if I'll have to double up the passes to get the same results. Does anyone have any sharpening experience with s90v?

 
asmith001 said:
Here is my second blade to sharpen on the sharpmaker. I ran through all three sets of stones, on the corners and the flats, 20 passes on each side... once to set the back bevel, then the same exact process again on the 40 degree side to set the microbevel (That's 480 passes, if I did my math right.). Then I ran it over a strop about 10 times on each side. This is the best result I've ever had sharpening anything. It took quite a while, but it was worth the effort. I can slice through phone book paper, shave hairs in one stroke, and I even wittled a few hairs. Now, I think I'll run the s30v PM2 back through with the same process. What I'm really curious about is how it will go with the s90v Military. I'm wondering if I'll have to double up the passes to get the same results. Does anyone have any sharpening experience with s90v?

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Wow that is a lot if work and it's only 440c steel! Can't imagine what s90v will take
 
It only took about 45 minutes, or so. It didn't seem too bad, but there's also the possibility that I over worked it, too. I don't have much experience with sharpening. I'm just happy that I can get an edge like this with the sharpmaker. At this point in my "knife world", I can't imagine ever forking out the cash for an Edge Pro or Wicked Edge. If I can get results this good for a small fraction of the price, I don't mind a little extra work.
 
Surfingringo said:
Nice! And this is the same guy who sent his pm2 back to spyderco a month ago because it wasn't sharp enough! (Poke poke) ;-). Now your WISHING you had a dull knife to play with aren't you??! Glad we're both having good success. Keep at it and we'll compare notes down the road.
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Yeah, and it took about a month to get back. I should have just kept it because I ended up getting all my sharpening stuff a week or so later. Oh well, lesson learned.
 
With some practice you can get an edge off the medium stones that will whittle head hair. The white stones and a 0.3 um lapping film will give a face shaving edge, though I wouldn't call it comfortable.
 
Off of the brown stones. Of course, I rebeveled on the EP to around 26° inclusive and microbeveled on the 40° sharpmaker setting.

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