Reprofiling with sand paper

S

SanShou

Joined
Nov 18, 2005
Messages
258
Hi
I got a Sharpmaker recently and I need to reprofile a blade, I know there are diamond rods an free hand systems I can use but I'm looking to use my sharpmaker rods with sand paper in order to reprofile.

I remember a thread sometime ago that someone posted pics of how he attached sand paper to the Sharpmaker rods to reprofile maintaining the right angle and I think I'll try that... my question is, what sand paper to use? It's ok 360 grit?

Thanks!
 
If you are adjusting the shape use the most coarse grit you can find, if it is really coarse like 80, you might want to stop before you are almost finished (just leave a fraction of a mm not ground) as otherwise it will takes large pieces out of the edge, and most like their edges more polished.

-Cliff
 
I went from 80 grit Aluminum Oxide straight to the sharpmaker. The edge was done on a slack belt sander, and had a little feather on the edge. I have since stopped that and use a 320 grit belt. 100 grit SiC backed by something firm will cut down an edge in almost no time, just dont use to steep an angle or the grit will fall off after a couple of strokes. As Cliff said, this is too rough to go to the Sharpmaker. An intermediate step could be 220 grit or 320 grit in SiC. Then go to the Sharpmaker. Just remember even the brown stones on the Sharpmaker are quite fine, like 1200 or 1500 grit. A steak knife off the flats of the brown stones will free shave hair without even touching the white stones. Cliff measured the Sharpmaker stones grit somewhere, and the medium and white were surprisingly fine.
 
I think I'll go with a SiC 350 Grit to be abel to use the sharpmaker after, I'm thinking about getting the Spyderco diamond stones but 70$ it's overpriced in my opnion. Do you think the sand paper will work fine they way I'll use it or those diamond stones are a better option?

Thanks a lot!
 
I used the trick of little black binder clips holding the sandpaper to the SM rods for a while. It works well, except on the corners. Just fold it around the rods, so it doesnt slide down into the slot for the stone, and clip it. Then you can unclip it and fold to the next section. You'll have to experiment on the grit. I reprofiled a kershaw random task with 320 grit, but it took a while. On a bigger knife with a thicker edge, 100 grit may be the way to go. One drawback for reprofiling is that you cant really put a lot of pressure on the stones while in the holder, as you change the angle, and run the risk of cracking the base.
 
The quickest way to remove a lot of material yet still have a decent looking finish when you are done is to use a succession of grits (coarsest to finest). I would start with something like 80 or 100 grit, then 220 grit followed by 320 then 400 or 600. You can often find a Wet or Dry paper combination pack at Walmart or Kmart. If I was only going to use one grit I would use 120 for heavy work or 220 for lighter work. You will not get better results by going to a finer grit, it will take so much extra time and effort that you are less likely to get good results.
 
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