This isn't a "how to" post. it's just an announcement - after owning it for something like 2 1/2 months, my Starmate (#538 plain) actually needed to be sharpened.
Yeah, it's had a pretty easy life, mostly handling packages and household chores along with a whole team of alternate Spydies. But this week it got a thorough workout. I clened up and re-organized my shop on a grand scale, which involved taking apart a huge accumulation of old boxes (and new ones from new shelves and cabint) and doing all sorts of odd jobs dismantling old shop fixtures and setting up new ones. It went through box after box, chopping them into roughly 8.5"x11" pieces, with hardly a snag. I could feel the edge come off after the first two dozen or so, and after that a little sawing motion was required sometimes, but it kept working for the whole several-day project.
Afterwards I found it wouldn't take hair off of my arm and I could touch the edge with reasonable safety. Can't have that! I got out the Sharpmaker 204.
Literally ten passes on the coarse stones (pointy side) had it shavng again. I was stunned - most of my knives won't shave with the coarse edge those stones leave, no matter how much I use them. I took it down through the hole 4-step sequence, anyhow, and left it hair-scaring sharp with ease, maybe 20 strokes per step.
I was impressed the 440V held its edge as long as it did - but I was downright amazed at how quickly it came back. I might expect that from a tool steel, but not a stainless. It's truly a new breed. I can't wait to get my first couple knives in it heat-treated - I hope they'll perform the way the Starmate has.
------------------
-Corduroy
"Why else would a bear want a pocket?"
Little Bear Knives
Drew Gleason:
adg@student.umass.edu
Yeah, it's had a pretty easy life, mostly handling packages and household chores along with a whole team of alternate Spydies. But this week it got a thorough workout. I clened up and re-organized my shop on a grand scale, which involved taking apart a huge accumulation of old boxes (and new ones from new shelves and cabint) and doing all sorts of odd jobs dismantling old shop fixtures and setting up new ones. It went through box after box, chopping them into roughly 8.5"x11" pieces, with hardly a snag. I could feel the edge come off after the first two dozen or so, and after that a little sawing motion was required sometimes, but it kept working for the whole several-day project.
Afterwards I found it wouldn't take hair off of my arm and I could touch the edge with reasonable safety. Can't have that! I got out the Sharpmaker 204.
Literally ten passes on the coarse stones (pointy side) had it shavng again. I was stunned - most of my knives won't shave with the coarse edge those stones leave, no matter how much I use them. I took it down through the hole 4-step sequence, anyhow, and left it hair-scaring sharp with ease, maybe 20 strokes per step.
I was impressed the 440V held its edge as long as it did - but I was downright amazed at how quickly it came back. I might expect that from a tool steel, but not a stainless. It's truly a new breed. I can't wait to get my first couple knives in it heat-treated - I hope they'll perform the way the Starmate has.
------------------
-Corduroy
"Why else would a bear want a pocket?"
Little Bear Knives
Drew Gleason:
adg@student.umass.edu
