Opinion on the sharpmaker

Let's look at the disadvantages since that is what any prospective buyer really cares about.

1. Rods get dirty FAST. You have to clean them fairly often otherwise you will sit there forever and not make progress.
2. You only have two angles, 20 and 15. Yes, you can lay the stones on the back of the case and use it like a flat stone but let's be honest...that sucks. If you're going to do that, get a real flat stone. The rods are too narrow (even when doubled up on the back) and the fact that the base of the case extends over an inch past the end of the stones will really piss you off.
3. The "rough" stones are not rough. You cannot reprofile or fix chips etc. with them. You will need diamond for that unless you want to spend 6 hours with the Sharpmaker. Maybe get the diamond rods for the Sharpmaker, never tried them.

If the ONLY thing you want to do is MAINTAIN edges, it's hard to be the Sharpmaker.
 
just got mine, and i am having a very difficult time sharpening a busse dssf. ordered the diamond rods, and will see how that goes.
 
It's ok, but nothing to write home about. I would recommend a Fallkniven DC-4.
 
awh said:
just got mine, and i am having a very difficult time sharpening a busse dssf. ordered the diamond rods, and will see how that goes.
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If your Busse was shipped with the usual factory edge (extremely obtuse) it's going to take pretty near forever to make any kind of progress sharpening your Busse with just a Sharpmaker, even with the diamond rods.

The Sharpmaker is great for maintaining an already established edge that is within its sharpening range (15 or 20 degrees), but you are going to need another type of system (freehand, powered systems, edgepro, etc.) if you want to re-profile in a reasonable amount of time.
 
Whatever Sharpmaker gains regarding ease of use, it loses in lack of angle options, imo.

Every now & then, I do use the rods. But, using the stones alone, there really are much better choices out there.

I do mostly freehand, anyway. So, I can live without it.
 
Lol I love mine, I just used it to sharpen my Benchmade 860, I turned it from dull with one chip(I uhh kinda whacked part of the edge on the metal trashcan i was cutting paper into...) and it works like a dream, I do have the diamond rods but I dont find myself using them that much, even when an edge is in pretty bad shape. I would like to see how the ultra fine rods do though, those are coming soon :)
 
Also count me among those who can't really sharpen with it, either. It's fine for touch-up and maintenance, but even with the diamond
rods, I find it too tedious to use for sharpening a dull knife. I usually start with my Gatco sharpening system to raise a burr, and
roll it over. Then, I go to the Sharpmaker at the end of the process.

The previous post which mentions that the rods get dirty quickly - man, is that true! And you get nowhere fast when the
rods are dirty...
 
I will second, or third/fourth etc the diamond sticks for this sharpener. If you have a knife that isnt either 30 degrees or 40 degrees then it can be harder to sharpen the knife since you may need to apply a different edge. The fine and medium are just too fine to really change the edge.
If your knife is 30 degrees and you want 40 then the stones do fine. But if it is above 30 and you want 30 then it takes a lot of time.
I think my shun knives are 34 degrees so it is hard to put a nice thin 30 degree angle without the diamond stones or a lot of work. But if you are happy moving up to 40 degrees then no problem. For fine kitchen cutlery I prefered the finer edge though.
 
eyeeatingfish said:
I think my shun knives are 34 degrees so it is hard to put a nice thin 30 degree angle without the diamond stones or a lot of work. But if you are happy moving up to 40 degrees then no problem. For fine kitchen cutlery I prefered the finer edge though.
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I've noticed on all of the Shuns (some dozens) I've sharpened for friends/family/myself that the initial factory edge chips out readily, but after a few sharpenings it stops.

On the brand new knives I started just taking off about 0.1 mm of steel, then taking a 30 degree inclusive angle bevel straight to the edge, with no microbevel. So far I've had no problems whatsoever, and they are sharper and at a shallower angle than the usual 34 degrees they send them at.
 
I agree with Ultimate. The SharpMaker is a useful tool for most knife users, but as most peoples' sharpening skills increase, they tend to want more control over edge angles and/or toreprofile edges. If you really hate to sharpen knives and just want to touch up your EDC easily, the SharpMaker is fine. As my sharpening skills increased, however, I wanted to experiment with edge angles less than 30 degrees (15 degrees) on knives with the newer premium steels. The SharpMaker isn't designed for that. The DMT aligner gives me more options. It's personal preference.
 
+1 I use a DMT aligner to carve a 30something back bevel and then use the sharpmaker to add the 40 degree microbevel and for touchups.
 
Does that give you a really sharp edge, shunsui, or are you shooting for a longer-lasting edge? I have to admit that I didn't think about sharpening a blade that way. That gives me a whole new technique to obsess over!
 
It's a nice, cheap system that is easy to use, if you know what you're doing. It also has serious limitations.

First, if you don't understand the sharpening process and your edge doesn't already match the preset angles of the Sharpmaker stone, your chances of having a good experience with the tool are low. You'll see a lot of people saying it works great and others saying they can't make it work for them. Many or most of those conflicting experiences come down to luck: whether their edge happens to match the stone angle of the Sharpmaker.

Second, it's not as easy as people think to maintain a perfect vertical alignment of the blade. You're going to be a bit off one way or the other, and your not likely to replicate a perfect angle on the next pass. And your hand will wobble a bit. Each wobble of your hand or slight misalignment takes away from the sharpness of your edge. You can still get a sharp edge, but not as good as you could do with a guided system, such as the EdgePro or Wicked Edge.

Third, it's not a great system to reprofile with, even with diamond rods, for the reasons given in No. 2.

Fourth, you still have to understand how to properly raise and remove a burr. If you don't, you're sharpening experience will be hit or miss. For example, your factory edge is likely uneven, so you can easily raise a burr on one side and not remove it with a pass on the other side, leaving a wire edge that will break off and make you think the blade steel cannot hold an edge. Maybe you'll get lucky and sing the praises of the Sharpmaker. Maybe you won't get lucky, and think it's a piece of junk.

Fifth, the Sharpmaker instructions are not very good.

In truth, the Sharpmaker has its place, but it's far from perfect. If you sharpen freehand and you're good at it, I don't see the Sharpmaker having much value. If you don't understand the sharpening process, your results will depend on luck, no matter what system you use.

For the average person, there is noting like the precision of a high-quality sharpening system. This is where I like the Sharpmaker in a support role. I profile all my edges to 30 degrees inclusive so that I can use the Sharpmaker for touch ups. Once I get a clean, precise edge using a top-quality sharpening system, I can use the Sharpmaker to keep it sharp until the next major sharpening is needed. It sets up fast and is much easier to use than the professional systems.
 
ICCW said:
Does that give you a really sharp edge, shunsui, or are you shooting for a longer-lasting edge?
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It's actually the same system the sharpmaker uses. The 30degree setup is for the backbevel and the 40degree is for the microbevel. Although you don't have to use that system, it does work well. Using the DMT aligner just speeds up the process because you can use coarser diamond stones and the mechanical jig allows you to put a pretty clean bevel on the knife with little experience. I've been using a 40 degree microbevel because my original sharpmaker only had the 40 degree setting. One of these days I'll have to try a 30 degree microbevel.
 
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Cynic2701 said:
I've noticed on all of the Shuns (some dozens) I've sharpened for friends/family/myself that the initial factory edge chips out readily, but after a few sharpenings it stops.

On the brand new knives I started just taking off about 0.1 mm of steel, then taking a 30 degree inclusive angle bevel straight to the edge, with no microbevel. So far I've had no problems whatsoever, and they are sharper and at a shallower angle than the usual 34 degrees they send them at.
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The edges on brand new knives frequently have some weak metal on them so they benefit from a sharpening when new which removes and eliminates that weaker metal.

I also generally find that my Japanese Chef's knives (gyuto's from various makers, which I suppose are somewhat similar to Shuns) usually cut better without a microbevel although the edge is not as tough as it would be with a micro bevel. But I don't mind touching them up more frequently to get that higher cutting performance.

On the other hand, I'm finding that my folders, which are subjected to a wider variety of cutting tasks, seem to do better with a very slight micro bevel, so slight it really can't even be seen without powerful magnification. To get that slight micro bevel, if I'm freehanding, I just raise the spine slightly as I finish with my 6k and/or 10k stones or perhaps just with the 10k stone alone. If I just use the 10k, what I'm seeking to do is just further shape the very edge very slightly, almost imperceptibly to the eye even under 10x magnification.

Or, if I'm using the Sharpmaker, after establishing a nice smooth 30 degree bevel that goes all the way to the very edge, I just take a few more strokes with the UF rods (or perhaps the fine and UF rods if I want the micro bevel to be a little more pronounced) in the 20 degree slots. Even this very slight micro bevel seems to improve the toughness, performance and edge retention on my folders. And it probably helps to extend the life of the blade since less metal is removed when touching up just the micro bevel.

Of course, after enough touch ups, eventually the main or back bevel on the folders will thicken and need to be reground. That would be a pain in the a** on the Sharpmaker unless one has the optional diamond rods (or instead uses sandpaper wrapped around the ceramic rods). I find the Sharpmaker to be a lot more useful and versatile with those diamond rods and I would strongly encourage anyone who is using the Sharpmaker as their primary sharpening tool to get them as well as the UF rods. Tasks that can take hours of tedious grinding with the medium ceramics just take a few minutes with the diamond rods. I haven't had them that long so I can't comment yet on how well they hold up over time. Hopefully they will wear as slowly as DMTs. I have some DMT "bench stones" that are still going strong after more than 15 or so years of home use.
 
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How does the SM compare to the standard crock sticks? The round rods in a block. I have used a older crock stick for years and it works so good on 90% of everything I find it hard to replace, for a quick edge touch-up. These I have are round too. So I turn them slightly as I sharpen and they don't get dirty too fast. Clean right up with steel wool and abrasive bathroom cleaner, too.
 
the sharpmaker is basically a modified version of the crock sticks. you get two angles, two sets of stones, and the base that doubles as a storage case.

i have the diamond rods, but have only used them twice to fix chips in blades. the only ones i use now are the ultra fine stones to maintain already sharp edges.
 
when I read this thread it got me thinking. Not every sharpener is good for every possible sharpening circumstance. Sharpmaker is my main sharpener. But I have other systems for reprofiling or really hard to sharpen knives. I have a tool box full of stones, diamonds, strops etc.
 
I just re-profiled and set an edge on a CPM-154 blade with the Sharpmaker today. It took a little time to get to 30* inclusive, but did a great job. I used the diamond rods to re-profile to 30*, then polished everything up through the UF rods and set a 40* microbevel. Next time I think I'm wrapping the diamond rods in some 80 or 120 grit sandpaper to speed it up, but the Sharpmaker and re-profiling took my edge from lackluster to hair whittling light saber status.
 
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