Proper way to sharpen sebenza on sharpmaker?

Knife Crazy · Jul 13, 2015

I'm new to the CRK brand and after eyeing up the blade geometry, I'm a little unsure. Normally, I would set my sharpmaker up for the 40 degree setting and sharpen the whole blade at once, but it looks like the tip and the belly are slightly different. This might be to make the tip stronger or I could just be too tired and seeing things poorly. Can I sharpen the whole edge at the same angle with my normal arm motion or is there more to sharpening a sebenza? I figured I'd double check with the experts before I touch my blade

Corytr · Jul 13, 2015

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1303112-Sharpening-help-with-Spyderco-Tri-angle

Edit: added quotes from above thread, (yeah, I'm quoting myself...

)

Corskin said:
I love the sharpmaker. Make sure that you are getting the very edge of the bevel. You don't need to get the whole bevel as it is somewhat convex and that would prove tedious, just get the edge. As CRK sharpens by hand to around 20 degrees per side the actual angle can vary. If you set the rods on the 40 degree setting, you will be close but may need to tilt the blade away from the rod to make sure you are getting the very edge. If you keep the knife sharp, you should be able to easily maintain with only half a dozen swipes on the white rods, it doesn't take much. If you let it get dull, you will have more work ahead of you with the other rods, etc.... Did I mention to make sure you are getting the very edge?

Peter Hartwig said:
Mark the edge with a black magic marker(sharpie) and you will be able to see if you are getting the edge

Knife Crazy · Jul 14, 2015

Thanks. I don't know why my edge looked uneven last night. Looking at it today, the angle looks uniform across the blade. I'll just grab my sharpie and get to work!

Naganalf · Jul 14, 2015

I actually called CRK about this yesterday because I was confused as well. They told me to only use the 40 degree angle and to also only use the white stones. They said if it needs more than this I should send it to them. Hope that helps.

Razzle · Jul 14, 2015

I just did what I do with all my knives, made 'em sharp.

My new Insingo 21's are now sporting 15 degree back bevels and 20 degree microbevels, via 30 minutes each on the Sharpmaker. Diamond/medium and fine rods at the 40 degree setting followed by 15 swipes each side with the medium rods at the 30 degree setting.

Both hair popping sharp! I don't care for convex edged, 'cept on my kitchen knives.

BellaBlades · Jul 14, 2015

Yeah, just use the sharpie to find out.
Mine is currently at 15-21 convex on each side from factory. So just ever so slightly angle the last inch of the tip in. That is what I do any way. And slowly hone it to a nice 15 dps with micro. But that is a few months down the road as I just like to take my time. Although with a nice hollow grind it does not matter any how for a long time.

Officer's Match · Jul 15, 2015

I actually get excellent results from my Work Sharp Ken Onion. It allows me to maintain an edge that looks exactly like the stock CRK convex, and running higher grits like 1200 and 2500 I can easily touch the edge up in literally 20 to 40 seconds.

Tripton · Jul 15, 2015

Officer's Match said:
I actually get excellent results from my Work Sharp Ken Onion. It allows me to maintain an edge that looks exactly like the stock CRK convex, and running higher grits like 1200 and 2500 I can easily touch the edge up in literally 20 to 40 seconds.

That takes balls to run a Sebenza through one of those.

I majorly screwed the edge and tip up on my brothers DTOM Sebenza while trying the Work Sharp at Cabela's. I'm pretty well versed with different sharpening tools, and boy...never again with the WorkSharp.

flyingjon · Jul 15, 2015

Tripton said:
That takes balls to run a Sebenza through one of those.

I majorly screwed the edge and tip up on my brothers DTOM Sebenza while trying the Work Sharp at Cabela's. I'm pretty well versed with different sharpening tools, and boy...never again with the WorkSharp.

I couldn't agree more wholeheartedly! Unless you are a Knifemaker with years of experience grinding bevels and using a belt grinder then you may be qualified, but there is an extremely small amount of material that needs to be removed when sharpening a knife after normal use. A power tool takes that off quicker than a wink unless it is slowed way down. I sharpened my first Sebbie on my KMG grinder before I had done much knife making. I ran it in the slowest speed but it still ate a considerable amount of blade within a years worth of sharpening. I'm perfectly happy with a sharpmaker now.

Tripton · Jul 15, 2015

flyingjon said:
I couldn't agree more wholeheartedly! Unless you are a Knifemaker with years of experience grinding bevels and using a belt grinder then you may be qualified, but there is an extremely small amount of material that needs to be removed when sharpening a knife after normal use. A power tool takes that off quicker than a wink unless it is slowed way down. I sharpened my first Sebbie on my KMG grinder before I had done much knife making. I ran it in the slowest speed but it still ate a considerable amount of blade within a years worth of sharpening. I'm perfectly happy with a sharpmaker now.

That's why I tried it with my brother's Sebenza. Not mine.

Officer's Match · Jul 15, 2015

That's why the KO version guys, variable speed trigger allows you to go as slow as you want, and the flexible belt is actually quite forgiving. My 25 has a beautiful, factory looking edge that has been very durable and easy to maintain. I don't consider myself an expert by any means, but I find this method to be very easy and repeatable.

Corytr · Jul 16, 2015

Officer's Match said:
That's why the KO version guys, variable speed trigger allows you to go as slow as you want, and the flexible belt is actually quite forgiving. My 25 has a beautiful, factory looking edge that has been very durable and easy to maintain. I don't consider myself an expert by any means, but I find this method to be very easy and repeatable.

I'm not going to knock it. If it works for you and you are able to maintain a good edge without removing any excess metal, more power to you. For me, I would have to prove to myself on some junker knives that I was very proficient with the thing before I would even think about attempting to use it on any CRK.

The thing with a sharpmaker is that it takes the bare minimum of metal away from the blade as possible (other than stropping) and can maintain a fantastic working edge in no time at all, with minimal effort, and with low risk of error.

Officer's Match · Jul 16, 2015

Oh trust me I did a lot of knives on it before any CRK came near it.

Zeta33 · Jul 16, 2015

I've found the easiest way to be to simply slide it down the stones as you normally would, and angle out (away from the stone) a little bit as you hit the belly to tip area.

James Y · Jul 16, 2015

When I got my Sebenza in 2002, its entire edge was extremely obtuse, especially towards the tip, to where the knife wouldn't even cut. I used my Sharpmaker exclusively to reprofile it. The Seb was my most expensive knife up to that point, and I felt the Sharpmaker (SM) was a great choice, precisely because it removes metal slowly.

I actually started reprofiling at 15 degrees per side to take down the thick shoulders. This took a long time, on and off over a several weeks' period (not every day, and maybe 15 to 20 minutes at a time). Then I finished the edge at 20 degrees per side, then stropped the edge on cardboard. I succeeded in thinning the edge out and making it sharp. But it took patience and consistency.

Personally, I wish the CRKs came with V edge bevels instead of convex. IMO, it would better complement the high, thin hollow grinds. I feel that convex grinds work best with a full-height convex ground blade. But I'm not a knifemaker.

Jim

MatthewSB · Jul 17, 2015

Knife Crazy said:
I'm new to the CRK brand and after eyeing up the blade geometry, I'm a little unsure. Normally, I would set my sharpmaker up for the 40 degree setting and sharpen the whole blade at once, but it looks like the tip and the belly are slightly different. This might be to make the tip stronger or I could just be too tired and seeing things poorly. Can I sharpen the whole edge at the same angle with my normal arm motion or is there more to sharpening a sebenza? I figured I'd double check with the experts before I touch my blade

I prefer a leather strop 'loaded' with stropping compound.

Stropping maintains the factory edge and is extremely forgiving (easy!) to learn.