New Sharp Maker.

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David Nowlin

David Nowlin

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I finally got me a new Sharp Maker sharpening system and quickly got a so so Resilience and a dull Para 3 shaving sharp. So son comes over and i show him the Sharp Maker and he pulls out his Tenacious work knife ( hint it’s dull as dull can be) and says get it sharp dad.
Well i know with my flat bench stones my Tenacious and his were impossible to get real sharp. Shredding paper was the best i could do.
Seems as hard as i tried i could not get his sharp on the Sharp Maker either. I thought the low end steel was supposed to be easy to sharpen. The Resilience uses the same Chinese steel and it got paper slicing sharp on the SM?
Any answers or theories on my dilemma is much appreciated.
Oh and the Native 5 i got with my SM is awesome! Thanks Spyderco store sales!
DN
 
I'm not a knife sharpening expert but I can get any knife that I need sharpened "sharp enough" for my needs.

Assuming you've already looked at the SM "training DVD" and assuming you were trying to sharpen the standard Tenacious w/8CrMov13 steel (not one w/S35VN steel), there should be no reason why you can't sharpening it on the SM . . . UNLESS . . . the edge of the blade is so dull that it needs to be "reprofiled," which would be better and more easily done with the diamond or cubic boron rods that Spyderco also sells for the SM.

Otherwise, the medium and fine rods that come w/the SM are fine for touching up the edge of most knives but, if you've got some (or a lot) of knives with harder steels, you should probably invest in the diamond and cubic boron rods anyway.

I've got a SM with ALL of the rods -- from ultra fine to diamond-- and I've also got a diamond and a carborundum flat stone that you may find easier to use than the SM for reprofiling a blade.
 
Get a set of coarse ceramic ALO trangular rods from Idahone 100-200 grit ~34.00 US a pair+ tax shp n hndl, or spend A LOT of minutes on that medium sharpmaker rod. You can also get some Congress Moldmaster SIC triangular rods. The coarsest I have and love is 240 grit ~15.00 US per pair +s,tx, h.
(Moldmaster's factory finish reported as 15 thousands 0.015 /0.381mm,on a call to them) I MUST HAVE MISHEARD FACTORY REP HE DEFINITLY SAID 15, MAYBE HE MEANT .0015 INCH SURFACE EVENNESS / LEVEL. i will email and call and report back. Practically speaking I HAVE NO PROBLEMS USING THE 240 GRIT.
Update 11-8-22 spoke with Mark from tech support at Congress today. He is only person you get when asking for technical support. He said they do not have specs on surface even-ness of Moldmaster SIC stones. So if you find a need for leveling, testing, or confirming it falls within your practical needs, etc, there are no problems leveling Moldmaster SIC surface. It is like any SIC stone.
 
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David Nowlin said:
I finally got me a new Sharp Maker sharpening system and quickly got a so so Resilience and a dull Para 3 shaving sharp. So son comes over and i show him the Sharp Maker and he pulls out his Tenacious work knife ( hint it’s dull as dull can be) and says get it sharp dad.
Well i know with my flat bench stones my Tenacious and his were impossible to get real sharp. Shredding paper was the best i could do.
Seems as hard as i tried i could not get his sharp on the Sharp Maker either. I thought the low end steel was supposed to be easy to sharpen. The Resilience uses the same Chinese steel and it got paper slicing sharp on the SM?
Any answers or theories on my dilemma is much appreciated.
Oh and the Native 5 i got with my SM is awesome! Thanks Spyderco store sales!
DN
Click to expand...
Edge is probably rounded.
 
BBW said:
If you are not using a sharpie to make sure you are hitting the apex you are wasting your time
Click to expand...

This. Use a Sharpie or similar marker to color in the edge, then do a few strokes to make sure you’re hitting the apex. My eyes are pretty bad, and I usually need a magnifying glass.

If you’re not hitting the apex, your choices are:
-A whole lotta work reprofiling with the medium stones
-purchase the CBN or Diamond stones and work less
-slacken the Sharpmaker’s angles to more closely approximate the knife’s apex (slide something under the one side of the base).

Once you’re sure you’re hitting the apex, it might just take some time if the knife is just really really dull. The 8cr steel should get plenty sharp with the medium and fine stones.

I like the CBN rods quite a bit for knives that have gotten overly dull or need a ‘light’ reprofile. They’re kinda expensive though.
 
David Nowlin David Nowlin

It took me a long time to realize that a lighter touch and more passes is better for sharpening. On softer steels I was rolling the edge by using too much pressure.

I also listen carefully to the sound of the edge on the stones. As you make more and more passes the sound will seem smoother and less raspy. I can get most of my super steels to shave with just the medium stone and a strop.

Also pay attention to the feel of the stroke. With less pressure and a little slower pass you can actually feel and deformities catch on the rods. As you work them out the feel will become more and more smooth.

A tip for the sharp maker is to use the apex of the medium, then the flat of the medium, then the apex of the fine and then the flat of the fine rods.

I also count strokes. On S30V or similar steels, I make ten strokes on one side of the knife, then ten on the other, then 8, then 6, 5, 4, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1. The a couple light passes on a strop block and lookout!!! The hairs on my arm jump off and run away before I even touch the blade to them. The more abrasion resistant the steel, the higher the number I start at.

For S90V if it needs more that a quick touch up I start at 20 strokes

I am pretty sure the that descending progression of strokes makes a big difference as compared to just going back and forth.

The sharpee tip is the also a game changer until you build your skills.
 
All great advice, thanks, can’t wait to try it out.
Just thought it was strange my dull Para 3 in S30V sharpened up to razor sharp with the alternating 20 each side as described in the video. The Tenacious seems to be my problem child. I will say its a 50/50 blade which adds to the complexity.
Marker,bright light and magnification i got all just need to use them.👍🏻👍🏻
 
I have kept a blue marker, magnifying glass, and tiny level with my sharp maker for 15 years. when I worked remote I used to carry shims in the kit to level the base. Consistency is key. Like stated above the edge probably needs extra work. Good luck
 
My good old Sharpmaker does 90%+ of all my knife sharpening. I sharpen for things I use with my knife for, not as for shaving, etc. I have three sets of sharpener stones, the gray, the white, and the diamond. I usually clean the stones after each knife or tool has been sharpened.

Here are some great tips about the Sharpmaker from a professional. They are still useful even if you have used a Sharpmaker for many years. I really admire this guy's teaching! He covers all kinds of sharpening with the Sharpmaker set.




 
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GatorFlash1 said:
My good old Sharpmaker does 90%+ of all my knife sharpening. I sharpen for things I use with my knife for, not as for shaving, etc. I have three sets of sharpener stones, the gray, the white, and the diamond. I usually clean the stones after each knife or tool has been sharpened.

Here are some great tips about the Sharpmaker from a professional. They are still useful even if you have used a Sharpmaker for many years. I really admire this guy's teaching! He covers all kinds of sharpening with the Sharpmaker set.




Click to expand...

Well, Sal (the gentleman in the video) did design the Sharpmaker so I'd hope he knew some tips and tricks with it ;). But yeah, I've owned the SM for a number of years and it's been great. I suppose the best advice I heard was to let the stones do the work, especially with the softer steels.
 
Thanks very much guys. I’ll take a look at those videos when i get some down time.
And i am going to sharpen them to what you said GatorFlash, for the things i use my knife for cutting. Not going to loose sleep over it not cutting printer paper. Heck it could be my paper cutting technique is off?
 
tiguy7 said:
I use a regular Sharpmaker for touch up work. For reprofiling I use a homemade jig.View attachment 1978089
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I like it. I'm not good enough to freehand reliably yet and normally use my Sharpmaker, but have to admit that reprofiling takes forever even with the SM diamond stones. Have a DMT Duosharp bench stone in Coarse/Extra Coarse that I use for practicing free hand and that thing hogs off metal so much faster. I'm wondering if I can make a setup similar to yours with my 3D printer for the DMT bench stone 🤔
 
My DMT bench stones (4”X10”) fit on the jig. The stones are held in place by gravity. One side of the jig is 15* off vertical, the other is 20*. I rotate the jig 180* when switching sides of the blade. The jig is 2 1/2” wide so I slide the 4” stone over to support the edge of it nearest me. If I had a wide jig and a narrow stone, I would do the same thing. I find it quite easy to point my edge at the center of the earth when sharpening (to maintain the correct angle).
 
Tiguy7 do you have a parts list for your sharpener? So simple, but details would be helpful.
 
Most likely, you need to spend more time on the course stones and establish an apex before going to finer grits. If you are only using a single grit, you may just need more time. If it's reallu dull, it takes more time. For minorly dull knives, "touch ups" will get it sharp really fast with minimal time and work.
 
scottc3 said:
Tiguy7 do you have a parts list for your sharpener? So simple, but details would be helpful.
Click to expand...
The Aluminum bar stock is 2 1/2’X1/2”, and the stone rests are 1/2”X1/2”. The clevises are made from 1 1/2”X3”X1//8” box tubing. I drill all the holes before splitting the tubes. The turnbuckles are made from 1/2” hex stock and RH and LH threaded 5/16” dia. rod ends. You need 2 5/16” taps (R&L), and put the jam nut on the RH threaded side.
The screws and pins that connect the clevises and the turnbuckles are 5/16” dia. The spacers are 5/16” inside dia. tubing. The base is 18” long, and the uprights are 12”. My original idea was to set both sides equally. If you do that, you can’t see a burr developing. So I set one at 80* and one at 75* and turn the thing end for end when switching bevels. 80 for choppers and 75 for finer work.View attachment 1979041View attachment 1979042View attachment 1979043View attachment 1979044
 
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