Welcome Tsuki no Hirari,
+1 on everything rookie4real just said.
Sorry if this is too much detail, I just feel like writing this morning.
The Sharpmaker is a great little tool and I like it for touch ups too. It all comes in a convenient little kit, storage is well thought out, it is nice for holding a consistent angle when sharpening especially where you are not experienced with free hand sharpening and holding angles accurately. The major advantages of the Sharpmaker are that it is easier to judge what vertical is, hold a knife vertical, and sharpen it then to judge a given angle and hold it on a stone.
There are some drawbacks when compared with free hand sharpening on stones or sand paper, or using some of the guided systems like a
Lanksy,
Gatco,
DMT Aligner, and the
Edgepro systems. Most of the draw backs have to do with how long it takes if you are doing anything but a touch up. Free hand sharpening starting with coarser stones or diamond plates, and the
Edgepro are going to be the much faster methods.
The Sharpmaker has two angles 15° and 20°. You pick the angle by which slots you put the sticks into in the base. These are good angles for most common knives. The 15* is good for harder knives like western style Japanese knives and is also good for the back bevel when thinning (reprofiling) a blade including keeping up with a double bevel edge. The 20° setting is good for most softer (normal) kitchen knives and utility, hunting, etc. knives for the finish cutting edge.
Examples of types of edges from
Chad Wards article.
You said your knives are all normal, meaning V edges, I assume. The Sharpmaker should be good for keeping them up if the angles match. The Sharpmaker will work on the first two types of edge above if the angles match. It would also work on a chisel edge but you would lay it on the flat of the edge not vertical. Not so great for convex edges.
The problem with the Sharpmaker is that sometimes your knives aren’t sharpened to one of those angles (15° or 20°) or one of the first two types of edges above. If you need to change the angle or thin the blade to make the edge thinner (add a compound edge, etc) then the Sharpmaker takes forever. This heavier work falls under the term “reprofiling” which is part of the blade geometry subject. It includes setting and changing the edge angle, thinning the blade, adding, or changing the back or relief angle, adding a compound edge with a micro bevel, etc. You can get diamond sticks, which are a little coarser and faster, but they are not coarse enough for any serious work. Once you get your knives to match the angles on the Sharpmaker things go pretty fast though (touch ups). When sharpening free hand, or with one of the systems mentioned above, you usually match the angle on the knife and don’t have to take off as much metal. If you do need some heavy removal you go for a coarser stone.
One reason you might want to reprofile is as follows.
(Excerpt and pictures from Chad Ward’s article in link below).
The back bevel also solves one of the great problems with V-edges, the fact that the metal behind the edge gets progressively thicker as the knife is sharpened over time. The knife doesn’t cut as well and becomes harder and harder to sharpen. The answer is to grind the shoulders off the edge at an acute angle, i.e. add a back bevel, then reestablish the primary bevel.
To solve this you thin the edge with a back bevel (reprofile, thin, etc)
I recommend reading this web article by Chad Ward. It is extremely well written and discusses all the major sharpening methods, systems (including the Sharpmaker), blade geometry and profiles, reprofiling, finish angles, types of knives, steel, etc. It is a great tool for deciding which route to go in learning to sharpen and how to sharpen in general:
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=26036
I suggest learning to free hand sharpen if you think you have the mechanical aptitude. It is not that hard. Start with some stones and some junk knives and practice. If you must have some guided system (I have a EdgePro and have tried most of the others) the EdgePro is the ultimate in guided systems but expensive. The accuracy achieved with systems like this don’t required as much ability because the angle is set by the machine (after you pick it).
I also suggest you get a Sharpmaker to start with anyway. If your knives are in pretty good shape and the angles match, it could do a really good job by itself. It just isn’t the end all be all, but it is a good start. One or two freehand water stones (or diamond plates) for the more coarse stuff followed by the Sharpmaker (and then finishing by stropping if you want to go that far) can make a pretty good system to start off with. I got one and test-drove it for a while then gave it to a fiend for Christmas. But, I have a lot of other sharpening systems to keep me busy.
If you have any questions about any of this or any of these systems just ask. Folks here are ready to help you. After you pick a system keep asking about that one for more detailed information.
If budget is an issue bring that up too. A few pieces of wet or dry sandpaper in various grits glued to pieces of glass, metal, or wood are very effective tools for free hand sharpening, give excellent professional results for normal V edges, and allow you to try free hand sharpening for only a few bucks (like less then 5 or $10). Each sheet costs only a couple of bucks and much less then a water stone. Add a section of mouse pad in between and you are forming convex edges. The options are endless. Just ask. Chad Ward discusses this as well. There is all kinds of information available on all this.
Sharpening is a lot of fun and very rewarding. Sharpen something every day.
Gary
