More sharpening questions...

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drjones

Joined
Sep 6, 2000
Messages
913
OK. So I need a sharpener. I do not use my blades that much at all, so I only need something for VERY, and I stress, VERY little EDGE MAINTENANCE only. No major sharpening or anything. Just touching up the edge occasionally. I've been eyeing the Spyderco Sharpmaker, but also saw the EZE-FOLD Sharpener It is inexpensive, portable, and seems like it would suit me quite well.

My question is: How difficult is it to use one of these successfully? Having no experience sharpening, I'm concerned about doing it freehand. I don't want to screw up the finish on any of my blades.

Opinions and suggestions please!

ALSO: What exactly is "reprofiling" and "angle changing"? Sorry 'bout the simple question...

Drjones:)
 
drjones, the Sharpmaker is what you need!!! I don't use my knives to the extent where they go dull, however, occasionally when I come home at the end of the day, I will apply a few swipes with the 204 to keep my blades razor sharp.

The most important thing is--DO NOT let your knives go dull! If you let this happen, you'll be sharpening all night, to reprofile the edge, unless you have a diamond stone or the diamond triangles for the 204.

Reprofiling means working the edge until you have achieved a somewhat sharp edge. Once this is obtained, you can use the medium rods, followed by the fine, and work your way to a razor edge. As far as angle changing, say you have a knife with a 30 degree angle(15 degrees on each side), and would like to sharpen it to a 40 degree angle. You would need to reprofile the edge to 20 degrees per side from the 15 degree angle, this would give you the 40 degree angle(20-20). Don't worry, it's not as difficult as it sounds. The 204 has slots in the base for the rods to ease in sharpening at both the 30 and 40 degree angles.

Maintaining the factory edge(or better) on your knives will be no problem with the Sharpmaker. (The flats of the rods are used for plain edge blades and the corners are for serrations.) Along with the 204, you'll also receive the instructional video and book explaining in detail on how to use this system. I was also a novice when I started out(I'm still learning), but with the Sharpmaker I achieve professional razor results everytime. I highly recommend it.;)

Good Luck.
 
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