Sharpening "systems"

Emery cloth is too harsh for razor sharpening, once reprofiling with the emery cloth bring down the grain to 400 then 800, 1000, 1500, 2000. Finish up with stroping it on leather. There on you will only need to strop to bring it back to shaving sharp, you'll only need to use sanding paper if it really gets blunt. Remember to put less and less pressure as you go by. Basically the key to sharpening convex is to be very methodical as to follow grain sizes and lighten the pressure as you finish each step. I reprofiled my LMF II just like this and now I get it razor sharp with just leather strop.

Any help needed feel free to ask

RAT Pack #75
KTA
 
I use the Sharpmaker and strop my knives a few times with an old leather belt. Has worked out well on my knives so far.

I'm planning on picking up a DMT Aligner or similar system sometime in the future.
 
I have been using the Sharpmaker and then stroping with great results. I just (today) picked up the Razor Sharp Edgemaking System. Can't wait to try it out.
 
personally i think the sharpmaker is crap. i bought one and gave great effort in trying to figure it out. i recently bought a gatco diamond stone sharpening set with the guide rods and all that. its a little fancy but works great when combined with stropping. check out blunttruth4u's videos on youtube for a tutorial. all of my knives are shaving sharp with little effort using this system. good luck
 
EdgePro gets my vote.....Sharpmaker is no slouch either. You can't go wrong either way.
 
My favorite is the Edgemaker set I have followed by the lansky system. Both will get a shaving edge.
 
I have always just used a lansky system. I have however been reading a lot about convex edges and have become intrigued. I really want to learn to sharpen freehand either on a stone or with mousepad.
 
I have a Sharpmaker. I'm going to trade it out. It worked well but I just prefer to hand sharpen and then strop.
 
I use a machete regularly in my line of work. Over the years I have come to find that a convex edge will maintain a chopping edge longer than a more traditional edge. The convex edge doesn't seem to roll, bend or chip as easily. I used to touch up my machete every day when I was using a v-grind edge, but when I switched to a convex edge I found that I can go for about three to four days (depending on use) before touching up the edge. Drawing on this experience, I started putting on convex edge on my camping knives and the improvement was very noticeable.

Concerning EDC knives, I'm undecided. I can't tell that much of a difference. However, I personally find it easier to sharpen a convex edge. Some of my friends disagree but that's fine, my knives are shaving sharp and get the job done. :)

I will use a belt sander for the initial sharpening of a convex edge. Then I switch to a mouse pad and sandpaper as I progress through the finer grits before finishing on a leather strop with stropping compound.
 
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hwpaintballer said:
I use a spyderco sharpmaker, easy to learn to use. It comes with an instructional DVD with Sal Glesser talking you through the steps.
Click to expand...

I just bought a sharpmaker today because of all the good reviews I have gotten on them. OP, I can give you my own take on it sometime towards the end of the week when it shows up.
 
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