Is sharpmaker angle too steep for most knives?

I've tried the triangle rods for pivots as well. Just let the base rock on a rod you're not using. It wont roll around like a round rod. It will have different angles than those mentioned above, since they are 1/2" face triangles
 
I bought the diamond stones for the Sharpmaker but was not impressed. I would not recommend them.

I now use a coarse benchstone laid against the flat of one of the Sharpmaker stones at 30 degrees, followed by the flats of the white stones at forty, followed by some stainless steel polish in the palm of my left hand, stropping in my palm. This gives a hair popping edge.
 
Here's what I do:

Use only one rod, and lean a diamond or x-course stone against it to re-profile your blade to the sharpmaker's angle. Work one side until you get a burr, then raise a burr on the other side of the blade.

Remove the stone off the sharpmaker, put in your second rod and swipe away. Finish up with a good stropping.

From start to finish, 10 minutes and all my blades are scary sharp.
 
Buy the edgepro and use the sharpmaker for touch up. I did and I am very happy with this system!

Marthijn
 
Newbie question: If I get a sharpener like Gatco or Lansky to reprofile and finish and maintain with Sharpmaker, what angle should I use with the Gatco/Lansky and then with the Sharpmaker? Thanks
 
I tried going the thinner/shallower route for a while. In the end, I found it too much trouble. Some knives I'm really picky about, and for these I'll keep going with sharpening on a belt sander at about 12 degrees per side and touching up on the Sharpmaker at 15. For knives that get used frequently in a variety of places I've basically gone back to sharpening on the belt sander at about 17 degrees per side and touching up on the Sharpmaker's 20 degree slots. When this doesnt work, I go to the honing films at 22 degrees per side. When that stops, I go back to the sander. My goal is to keep a quickly sharpened edge as long as possible through microbevels, and only going back to the sander once every 6 months or so, when damage or bluntness are not removed by the other methods. On my Delica, the 20 degree Sharpmaker slots sharpen a micro bevel so narrow that its difficult to see without good light.

Basically, I recommend an angle 3 to 5 degrees lower than the 20 degree slots, chosen from the available ones on the system you have. This allows quick touch ups at 20 degrees, which will produce hair whittling edges with the standard white stones, and sometimes the brown ones. Shallower angles cut better, but take longer to sharpen because you have to remove more metal. As the microbevel angles go higher, the slight decrease in cutting is barely noticable. You could always try the same thing by sharpening at 10-12 degrees and touching up on the 15 degree slots. If you dont like it, its easy to go up to 20.
 
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