Sharpening Questions - Sharpmaker

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pinetree

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Jun 24, 2005
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It's fire pit season! Time for making marsh mellow sticks, fuzz sticks and general whittling.

I have tried many of my knives over the past two weeks. My SAK's always perform well but I have been bitten by the traditional slip joint bug while some have performed well others have performed poorly. A decided to try most of my knives on a testing stick, dried dogwood.

Performed:
Great - SAK Soldier, Pioneer, OHT; Leatherman Wave (factory edge), Boker Barlow and Copperhead (1095), Russell Green River Hunter (1095?),
Good - AG Russell Featherlite (AUS8), Case Sod Buster & Mini Trapper (TS stainless)
Fair - Moore Maker Whittler (Queen 1095)
Poor - Moore Maker Muskrat (Camilus 1095), Eye Brand mini locking Sodbuster (1095)

I use a Sharpmaker. I usually follow the instructions, 30* back bevel and 40* cutting edge. I am tempted to spend more time with the 30* as the fair/poor performers seem to have thick edges causing the wood to chip rather than slice.

What do you think, is the 30* the way to go? I appreciate your advice. I'm tempted to pull out the sandpapers and go to town on the Muskrat to "flatten" the edge.


Thanks,
tjg
 
Did you mean to say 30deg bevel with a 40deg micro-bevel?

I'd go with 30 degrees, but really, it depends on what your bevel is right now on each knife. The Sharpmaker is not the proper tool, in my opinion, to re-bevel a knife....it's a sharpener (though it will re-bevel over time). You can use the Sharpie marker method on the edge to see what each knife's bevel is right now. Don;t be surprised if each edge of each knife is different (i.e. 17degrees one side and 20 degrees the other, for a total inclusive bevel of 37 degrees). THis is common and it's up to you and your preferences on how to fix it. On my knives, I grind away using wet/dry to the lowest angle, or lower. Most I try to grind at 12.5 degrees (25 deg inclusive), then I use a small 1/4" block under the end of the Sharpmaker to get the 25 degree angle on the rods.
 
I find I'm not using the 40 degree on the sharpmaker much anymore. Even my Skirmish is done on the 30. I was reading somewhere that the modern "supersteels" are able to take a much finer edge, and keep it, than steel used to be able to, so you can use a "sharper" angle...
 
I've found that a piece of thick float glass and Silicon Carbide (the black wet/dry type) sanding paper is cheap and works a treat. Available Very Coarse 100 grit through extremely fine 1500 grit and up. Easily replaceable abrasive surface and an always true substrata for support.
All the best.
 
tolecnal;4992276]I've found that a piece of thick float glass and Silicon Carbide (the black wet/dry type) sanding paper is cheap and works a treat. Available Very Coarse 100 grit through extremely fine 1500 grit and up. Easily replaceable abrasive surface and an always true substrata for support.
All the best.
 
You can buy very coarse 1/2" triangular rods from Congress Tools, http://www.congresstools.com, that fit the Sharpmaker and will reprofile a knife in relatively short order. I have successfully used their ruby polishing stones in 120, 220, and 320 grit; they make lots of others I would like to try some day.

You can also prop up the ends of the Sharpmaker, put on a backbevel of less than 30 degrees (one side at a time), and then apply a 30 degree final edge. I actually prefer to do the back beveling (or reprofiling, or whatever) with the Sharpmaker and finish up sharpening freehand.

Of all the knives mentioned I have only used the SAK Soldier. I have used angles of 30 degrees on it and other SAKs without any problems, but have no idea of what the best angle would be. It would be interesting to sharpen up two or three of them at different angles and compare side by side.
 
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