Sharpening systems question

B

bones57

Joined
Dec 27, 2004
Messages
17
Greetings again, Gentlemen.

First off i would like to share a little info on a waterstone that i have been using with quite a bit of success. I picked it up at a custom knife show in Vegas, its a two sided stone with a stick in the middle. You pass it along the knife instead of passing the knife along it. As to keeping it squared or true i received a few hints but found this technique to be the best.
I go out in the yard where i have my patio and the cement is smooth, i get the hose and keep the stone sopping wet while i rub it on the ground. Keeping it wet is the trick as it squares up in no time at all. The first few times i did it, i did it with a dry stone and was there forever rubbing it and rubbing it.
At least now the other stone i bought will last a bit longer, lol.
If this is old hat to everyone, i apologize.

Secondly i am about to buy a sharpening system and do not know whether to go with the Lansky system or the Spyderco sharpmaker. I am planing to order from knifecenter.com as they seem to have good prices. If anyone else has a suggestion to a different distributor i am open to suggestions.
The reason i am looking for a better system is i own quite a few cold steel bldes in AUS 8 and nothing i use seems to work at all on them.
I am pretty much a beginner to sharpening but i enjoy the finished product the work brings. I tried one of those little DMT paddles but i only had the fine one, the red colored one, i guess i should have had the coarse one to start with.

Anyway, any and all input will be greatly appreciated, thanks.
 
I vote for the Sharpmaker, too. I've used one for years and I'm getting ready to order the newer version that gives you two sharpening angles. I've used other sharpening methods, but since I got the Sharpmaker, I haven't needed any of them. A few passes on the ceramic rods and everything from my Spydies to my CS folders to the SOG is ready to go gain. Even our Gerbers seem to sharpen up pretty well, and they get some rough use.

And... if you really need to do some serious sharpening before the final touch-up, you can order diamond impregnated rods for the Sharpmaker.
 
I've never used a Lansky, but I've read that their quality isn't what it used to be. I have a Sharpmaker, and strongly recommend it. There are, however, two things you should know:

1. The Sharpmaker ceramic stones are next to useless on a knife with an inclusive angle greater than 40 degrees, or a very badly damaged edge. To reprofile, you'll either need to purchase the diamond stones (around $60.00, I think), or attach some emery paper to the ceramic stones.

2. If you're not careful and sharpen too vigorously on the corners, you can round off the tip of your knife. This is just a matter of technique. There's no need to apply the amount of lateral force that will cause this.

Jeremy
 
Yep, the Sharpmaker is the way to go. Especially if those Cold Steel knives are serrated then the Lansky system won't do you much good.

The biggest problem with the Sharpmaker comes when you try to sharpen up a dull knife, or a knife with an angle that doesn't match either offered by the system. Just using the included stones you could work forever to get an edge. The diamond rods, a coarse benchstone, or sandpaper are your friend here.
 
I had a lansky and I hated it. It will work very well on short blades than are not too narrow. You have to re-clamp for long blades and I broke mine trying to get it to hold a small blade steady.

I replaced it with a sharpmaker. You cannot reprofile on a sharpmaker because the stones are too fine, but you can freehand sharpen on a diamond stone to thin the edge (or 'back-bevel') and then apply a final, perfect edge bevel with the sharpmaker. After the initial sharpening, a touch-up here and there on the sharpmaker is enough for a long long time.
 
klattman said:
I had a lansky and I hated it. It will work very well on short blades than are not too narrow. You have to re-clamp for long blades and I broke mine trying to get it to hold a small blade steady.

I replaced it with a sharpmaker. You cannot reprofile on a sharpmaker because the stones are too fine, but you can freehand sharpen on a diamond stone to thin the edge (or 'back-bevel') and then apply a final, perfect edge bevel with the sharpmaker. After the initial sharpening, a touch-up here and there on the sharpmaker is enough for a long long time.
Click to expand...

I used to think that you couldn't reprofile with a sharpmaker. However, there was a thread not too long ago where some of the guys said that they wrapped sandpaper around the sharpmaker stones. I hold my sandpaper together with scotch tape on the inside of the paper (connecting the edges together). It works great, and you can reprofile quite nicely.

Guy
 
Sharpmaker.

I had a Lansky at one time but found it difficult to use and basically worthless.
 
From what i have been reading i am going to go with the sharpmaker.
I had a lot of success with the combo waterstone i bought at the knife show but it wouldnt do anything with my cold steel blades so some people mentioned the sharpmaker was the way to go.
Thanks again for the input, its appreciated as always.
 
bones57 said:
From what i have been reading i am going to go with the sharpmaker.
I had a lot of success with the combo waterstone i bought at the knife show but it wouldnt do anything with my cold steel blades so some people mentioned the sharpmaker was the way to go.
Thanks again for the input, its appreciated as always.
Click to expand...


Are those CS knives serrated? If so then the Sharpmaker will help for sure.

Something to keep in mind though is that the Sharpmaker ceramic rods are a very very fine abrasvie. If you have dulled those knives (and they are plain edge) it might not be possible to sharpen them using those rods. A trick I have used sucessfully is to lean the coarse bench stone up against the rods and sharpen away. Then once the edge gets decent you can use the Sharpmaker as directed.

Also using a felt tipped magic marker to color the edge of the knife helps. Color the edge and make a few passes on the stone. Is all of the color gone? If there is still color near the edge then you have not yet reached the edge, which would explain why you couldn't get it sharp.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top