Sharpening Spyderco Paramilitary 2, need help

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If the angle on the edge of the PM2 inclusive is say for example- 33,34 degrees, would it be safe to sharpen the blade on the 30 degrees setting of the sharpmaker or would I need to reprofile the blade to exactly to 30 degrees.
 
Bladenoobie1 said:
If the angle on the edge of the PM2 inclusive is say for example- 33,34 degrees, would it be safe to sharpen the blade on the 30 degrees setting of the sharpmaker or would I need to reprofile the blade to exactly to 30 degrees.
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Sharpening at 30 degrees would be reprofiling in that case. You'd be cutting the edge down to 30* from higher.

edit: To be clear, you wouldn't be hitting the very edge until you reprofiled it down to 30, since 30 is more acute than 33-34.
 
Bladenoobie1 said:
If the angle on the edge of the PM2 inclusive is say for example- 33,34 degrees, would it be safe to sharpen the blade on the 30 degrees setting of the sharpmaker or would I need to reprofile the blade to exactly to 30 degrees.
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You're just going to have to do it to understand, i think. In the example given by you, if you sharpened at 30 degrees on the sharpmaker with an existing angle of 33/34, you would really only be removing steel from the shoulders of the edge as opposed to the VERY edge. Only after having removed enough steel for the very edge to meet the stone will you be sharpening it in that instance.
 
Would I be able to use the medium grit rods from the sharpmaker to reprofile the edge if its only a few degrees off or would it be in my best interest to invest money in diamond rods. I'm kinda on a low budget. Also I've read that you can reprofile an edge by wrapping those fine grit sandpapers - like the black smooth ones from homedepot - onto the rods and hold it on with a office clip or something. Would this work?
 
Bladenoobie1 said:
I know someone answered this before, but I still don't understand what the bur is.
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go to the link that Chris posted. It is very informative.

Burr.jpg
 
KNaB said:
go to the link that Chris posted. It is very informative.

Burr.jpg
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That picture is fantastically helpful, thanks. I did read the links Chris posted. I found lots of useful information, but I'm left with 1 concern. I've read that people only get good results from the sharpmaker when the bevel of the edge nearly matches that of the ones provided by the sharpmaker. Is it safe to assume that the bezel of the PM2 is close enough to the 30 degrees provided by the sharpmaker to get desirable results?
 
I have went through the forums quite a bit, and I've answered all my questions. Big thanks to everyone who commented on this thread, the community on this forum is great.
 
Bladenoobie1 said:
That picture is fantastically helpful, thanks. I did read the links Chris posted. I found lots of useful information, but I'm left with 1 concern. I've read that people only get good results from the sharpmaker when the bevel of the edge nearly matches that of the ones provided by the sharpmaker. Is it safe to assume that the bezel of the PM2 is close enough to the 30 degrees provided by the sharpmaker to get desirable results?
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There are people who half-jokingly suggest that the sharpmaker be named "the sharp-keeper." While it can be used to bring an edge from dull to sharp, it really shines in maintaining an, already, sharp blade. That's not to say it isn't a fantastic tool, but it just takes a bit longer as it is not as aggressive as some other sharpening systems.
 
Actually I have one more question :) If I wanted to put a micro bevel on my PM2, would the 40 degrees medium rod be able to do so? Since the PM2s are close to 30 degrees
 
Bladenoobie1 said:
Would I be able to use the medium grit rods from the sharpmaker to reprofile the edge if its only a few degrees off or would it be in my best interest to invest money in diamond rods. I'm kinda on a low budget. Also I've read that you can reprofile an edge by wrapping those fine grit sandpapers - like the black smooth ones from homedepot - onto the rods and hold it on with a office clip or something. Would this work?
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It will take a LOT of time and effort to reprofile to 30 deg with a Sharpmaker. It takes long enough to just resharpen a blade with it. You can do the sharpie trick with your stones in the 30 degree setting but I'm going to guess that you will end up just sharpening it with the stones set at 40 deg. And in the process of sharpening it this will put a microbevel on it. Depending on how dull it is now will depend on how big the microbevel is. Take a new knife and just barely dull it and the microbevels to get it sharp again would be very small. It will help when doing this sharpening and using the sharpie trick to look at the edge with the most power magnifier that you have.

For reprofiling and serious resharpening you can buy the diamond stones or you can wrap sandpaper around the stones that you have. Cut or tear a strip of sandpaper that will wrap around the stone and leave 1/4" or 1/2" tails sticking off. Then use those black binder clips to hold the sandpaper tightly on the rods and sharpen just like you would with just the rods themselves.

I have read that 30 degrees is too acute for most EDC use, unless you are careful what you cut and you have a knife with one of the super steels. In any event it is hard to get real definitive information on how different steels perform for different cutting at different angles.
 
I'm not going to re-profile the edge, but I do want to put a micro-bevel on it. Can I add the micro-bevel by just sharpening at the 40 degrees setting with the provided medium and fine rods? Or for adding a micro-bevel do I need a coarser grit. Also I didn't understand the part where you said, "Take a new knife and just barely dull it and the microbevels to get it sharp again would be very small." Can you provide some clarification to what you mean? Thanks

This is the coarser rod I might get later, they fit the sharpmaker:
http://congresstools.com/congresstools/catalog?action=getcat&parent=24
 
this thread gave me a friggin headache. Use the damn damn then watch the dvd and do as sal says
 
I suggest that you watch the vid and get a loupe. Then you can study the edge as you go on your sharpening journey. :D
 
Bladenoobie1 said:
I'm not going to re-profile the edge, but I do want to put a micro-bevel on it. Can I add the micro-bevel by just sharpening at the 40 degrees setting with the provided medium and fine rods? Or for adding a micro-bevel do I need a coarser grit. Also I didn't understand the part where you said, "Take a new knife and just barely dull it and the microbevels to get it sharp again would be very small." Can you provide some clarification to what you mean? Thanks

This is the coarser rod I might get later, they fit the sharpmaker:
http://congresstools.com/congresstools/catalog?action=getcat&parent=24
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If the Para does indeed come in under 40 degrees, at 30* or thereabout, then yeah you will add a micro bevel by using the 40* setting with just medium and fine rods, and it won't take many swipes on the Sharpmaker.

Possibly part of the confusion here is is a micro bevel and rebeveling are really two names for the same thing, or their difference is somewhat arbitrary at least. Micro bevel just refers to a rebeveling that affects a small part of the edge bevel due to a large difference in the starting angle and added angle. For instance, if you added a 31* edge to 30*, since their difference is so small, you'd be sharpening nearly the whole edge bevel, and most people would call that rebeveling. On the other hand, if you add a 40* edge to that 30* starting point, you'd only sharpen (rebevel) near the edge apex and not nearly the whole edge bevel, and most people would call that adding a micro bevel.

With that in mind, on the topic of grit needed, the larger the difference between starting edge angle and the micro bevel you plan to put on, the less steel you need to take off the edge. Less steel needing to be removed means the medium and fine rods of the Sharpmaker will take less time, so coarser stones aren't as necessary.
 
Thanks for all the help guys, sorry for asking so many question. I wasn't able to watch the video as I was gone, but I'll be sure to watch it soon.
 
Watch the dvd included with the sharpmaker, then watch it again. Sal from Spyderco explains very clearly in a soothing voice exactly how to use it. Stop worrying so much, the sharpmaker is an incredibly easy sharpening system to use. You're WAY over thinking this. The bevel is simply what you probably call the edge. Setting a 30°inclusive bevel with a 40° microbevel just means that the visible "edge" that you have on your knife is at 30° and you have then sharpened or touched up your edge very lightly at 40°. It really isn't that complicated. Your pm2 probably has a factory edge (bevel) angle of around 30°. It doesn't matter if it's 28° or 32°, just sharpen at 40° to start with. After you have sharpened your knife a few times at 40° you will notice it will start to take longer and longer to sharpen each time. This is because you are effectively widening your 40° bevel requiring you to remove more metal each time. When you start to notice the 40° setting beginning to be less effective simply make 50 or so passes on each side on the 30° setting with each set of rods. This will knock the "shoulders " down a bit which will allow you to more easily reach the edge on the 40° setting. All of this will be explained in better words than my own in the dvd.
 
It says on the sharpmaker packaging to watch the DVD before using the sharpmaker. All of the questions asked in this thread can be answered-in detail-by watching that DVD. Spyderco knives come from the factory with an edge angle purposely acute so you don't need the 40 degree setting to back bevel any spyderco knives. Simply set up the rods on the 30 degree setting and begin to sharpen as detailed in the DVD and bam, your edge will be extremely sharp.
 
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