Need some advise on sharpening

L

lalilulelo

Joined
May 26, 2008
Messages
104
Hi guys, sorry for another thread seeking for advise, as I mentioned in the other thread, I have acquired a SM recently, and have been sharpening like there is no tomorrow (8 hours of non-stop sharpening)

I am in love with sharpening now, it actually feels like a bonding process between you and your collection when you are sharpening them.

I could never sharpen freehand but understand that it's more or less about raising a burr on one side and getting rid of it on the other.

After experimenting with the SM using 40 degrees for the past few days , I realized that I could not sharpen most of my knives (usually big knives like Busses, Striders, Cold Steels) if I kept the blade perpendicular like the manual suggests

Instead I find tilting the blade slightly to the opposite direction of the rod which I am sharpening would produce the best result, like tilting the blade to the right when I am on the left rod.

This way I was able to feel the burrs on the edge, and get rid of them, most dull factory edges would become pretty sharp in less than 10 strokes per side on the flat whites.

So basically sharpening becomes a bit of a guessing game, as I would usually test with a few strokes to see I can feel the burr and adjust my angle from there.

Am I doing the right thing here by not following the manual?

I understand that not all factory edges are sharpened to 20 degree per side, but I am worried that I might screw up the edges instead of fixing them, despite the fact that my knives are now sharper than they ever were.
 
You've actually figured out something fairly early, in that many knives will have factory bevels wider than 40 degrees. It's real common on big, thick blades especially. Tilting the blade slightly, to get the bevel 'flush' to the rod, is the necessary thing to do, UNLESS you decide to completey re-bevel to an angle inside 40 (or 30) degrees inclusive. You've confirmed that you're doing it right, because you've formed and felt the burrs at the edge. You're essentially 'freehand sharpening' already, and that's not a bad thing. Even if it seems to go against the published instructions. The Sharpmaker is a breeze to use, as long as bevels are < 40 degrees inclusive. But, sometimes one needs to adapt to the task at hand.
 
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David, thanks for helping me yet again, it's nice to know that I'm doing something right instead of ruining my collections, as I have done so in the past, the sense of achievement of putting a nice edge on my favourite knives is just incredible.
 
I think the main downside to having to 'find' the existing bevel by tilting the blade is, if the bevels are asymmetrical from one side to the other (also very common on factory edges). Just laying the existing bevel flush to the rods will not fix the asymmetry, obviously. I do think it's worthwhile to re-bevel a blade, at least for the purpose of evening out the symmetry, and also to get the angles inside realistic limits in the process. Maintenance of the edge becomes much, much easier after the edge has symmetry to it. It removes much of the uncertainty of whether you're maintaining flush contact, if you no longer have to lay the blade at differing angles for each side.
 
I have noticed this asymmetrical symptom you mentioned during sharpening as well, and even expensive knives exhibit this symptom to a certain extent, reprofiling is definitely on my to do list now that I have gotten the basics down, just got to wait for the diamond rods to be here.
One of my concern is being able to put a symmetrical edge on my bigger knives, yet still maintained a more robust degree than 40 that is prefered for heavier tasks, the SM wouldn't be able to do this, maybe I should upgrade to a more advanced system as time goes by, it's a slippery slope indeed heh.
 
One trick you can try is putting a spare "prism" under the right side of the apparatus when using the left stone and moving the spare stone under the left side when using the right stone. That way you can still keep your blade perpendicular to the horizon so as not to have to guess at the correct angle. Try to position the "wedge" in the same place every time (like 1/2" from the end). This will give you a beefier blade angle. Other things can be used as a wedge. You can even make a simple wooden ramp to put your Sharp Maker on. Put newspaper on the table so your stone wedge doesn't scratch it.
 
I just remembered. Count your strokes on each side of the blade to keep you edge centered. Only count strokes if your edge is centered to start with. You can eye ball the initial centering and count strokes after that (put the eye ball away).
 
Tiguy, thanks for the suggestion, spunds pretty innovative, I would definitely give it a try I don't count my strokes anymore because it can be counter productive on uneven factory edges, I just focused on feeling the burrs and getting rid of them, if the edge is dull and I'm not feeling the burrs in either side, I must be doing something wrong so I would adjust my angle from there. Once that's over with, I would give them 5-10 strokes per side and test the edge.
 
tiguy, that's a clever idea about using the rods beneath the base to tilt the angle. Combine that with an angle cube and you're all set. I'm going to have to try that some time!

I too like my Sharpmaker a lot. Had it for a month or so and it's my favorite sharpening system by far. I love the simplicity, "bonding" with the knife, and excellent results. I do like using a rod-guided system (like DMT Aligner) for reprofiling a bevel but for most sharpening tasks the SM can't be beat for those of us who aren't (yet) good at pure freehanding.
 
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