Sharpening with sharpmaker advice needed.

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rc3mil

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Hi all. I bought a RAT Cutlery RC3 MIL about 2 months ago. I use the Spyderco Sharpmaker at the 40' setting. I haven't been able to get the blade as sharp as it came from the factory. I have tried to sharpen it many times and watched the instructional DVD 5 times, following the step by step instructions. The blade does get sharper but only to the point where it hardly cuts through paper. It is far from shaving. I decided to give the Sharpmaker a solid try, so that's why i have waited 2 months to post this. I used the sharpie almost every time to "paint" the bare steel edge and after a couple strokes, the coating is gone. So i must be hitting the angle right. I have tried doing the 20 strokes each side then switching to the flats and doing it again all the way to the flat white stones, and the blade doesn't get any sharper. I have also tried sharpening on one side only until i got a burr. It took about 2 solid hours to raise a burr but only on part of the blade. I decided to abandon the "burr" idea and finish off with alternating sides 20 times each. All the way to the flat white stones. The blade just wont get sharp. I had the same problem with my IZULA and my Kershaw pocket knife. I have tried staying on the brown rods for a long time to take more steel off and i have tried the 20 times alternating strokes to no avail. I hold the blade straight and bring the blade down from the handle to the tip ending at the base of the Sharpmaker. Im out of ideas and was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience and figured out was was wrong. I appreciate all answers.

Thanks
 
Use a Sharpie to mark the cutting edge, then take a few swipes and examine the blade. If the Sharpie marks are still showing at the very edge, your blade is not at the same angle as the Sharpmaker. Until the blade and the Sharpmaker are both at the same angle you will not be sharpening the edge.
 
singularity35 said:
Do you use a lot of pressure?
Click to expand...

Ive tried using allot of pressure and ive tried using just the weight of the blade and neither method works.

knarfeng said:
Use a Sharpie to mark the cutting edge, then take a few swipes and examine the blade. If the Sharpie marks are still showing at the very edge, your blade is not at the same angle as the Sharpmaker. Until the blade and the Sharpmaker are both at the same angle you will not be sharpening the edge.
Click to expand...

As i previously stated, I use the sharpie trick every time i sharpen, and it removes it from the edge.
 
rc3mil said:
I have also tried sharpening on one side only until i got a burr. It took about 2 solid hours to raise a burr but only on part of the blade. I decided to abandon the "burr" idea and finish off with alternating sides 20 times each.
Click to expand...

You can't just "abandon the idea of the burr" and go off and try to finish when you're not really done. The process doesn't work if you don't complete all the steps and complete them correctly.

After you raise the burr, you need to remove it. I'm willing to bet that you have a burr. You might like to try to destroy it by cutting straight into some wood. Then go with one stroke per side. Check the edge periodically under bright light (it must be bright light; room lighting won't work) by looking straight into the edge. If you can see shiny spots on the edge when you rotate the knife around a little, then you still have edge damage that needs to be removed.

To check that you don't have a burr, look at the sides of the blade under bright light. If you see a "highlight" along the edge when you rotate the knife, then you have a burr.

Also, don't move onto the white stones until you eliminate all the shine off of your edge. If you have the diamond stones, use those, as the Sharpmaker kinda blows for anything but touching up an edge.
 
I had the exact same problem.

The Sharpmaker works really well on the 2 Spyderco knifes I've got, because I think they pay really close attention to their angle of the blades.

But my RAT Izula, RC4 and RC6 were all razor razor sharp when I bought them, and the sharpmaker doesn't get them anywhere near as good.

What I've found is best is to flip over the sharpmaker, and put the stones in the bottom, and sharpen like a normal stone.
I've had a lot more luck doing it like that.

That's why I'm in the process of looking at stones.
 
Finchwizard said:
I had the exact same problem.

The Sharpmaker works really well on the 2 Spyderco knifes I've got, because I think they pay really close attention to their angle of the blades.

But my RAT Izula, RC4 and RC6 were all razor razor sharp when I bought them, and the sharpmaker doesn't get them anywhere near as good.

What I've found is best is to flip over the sharpmaker, and put the stones in the bottom, and sharpen like a normal stone.
I've had a lot more luck doing it like that.

That's why I'm in the process of looking at stones.
Click to expand...
Ya im thinking stones as well. I might get a Norton combination stone and see how that goes.
 
Sorry. I missed that. It was a long paragraph.
 
Read the above. It's about method. If you don't understand the mechanics behind sharpening, you won't get a knife sharp with a Sharpmaker or with bench stones (or with an Aligner or Edge Pro, for that matter.)

Practice, practice, practice...
 
THG is right, its all about technique and knowledge. You could give me a rock, a hand full of dirt, a coffee mug, or anything abrasive and I could sharpen a knife. I can get a shaving edge off a 120 grit diamond too but just like the other items its only because I know how to use them effectively. Check your edge often, if you don't see progress don't move on.
 
I think im gona get myself the Norton combination water stone 220/1000 grit and make a fresh start and really learn how to sharpen properly freehand. Every time i try the Sharpmaker it pisses me off. 2 months of this now so im done with it. Gona give freehand a shot.

Thanks for all the advice and comments

knarfeng said:
Sorry. I missed that. It was a long paragraph.
Click to expand...

Np
 
rc3mil said:
I think im gona get myself the Norton combination water stone 220/1000 grit and make a fresh start and really learn how to sharpen properly freehand. Every time i try the Sharpmaker it pisses me off. 2 months of this now so im done with it. Gona give freehand a shot.

Thanks for all the advice and comments



Np
Click to expand...
:thumbup::thumbup: good idea.
 
Woodworker here that can get scary sharp edges on plane blades and chisels with slipstones, but I can't (yet) get consistent results with curved blades by hand.
The SM really does a fine job on my knives, but two sides of every one of the ceramic rods have noticeable bumps (defects) and two corners of every rod have bumps. This is the only time I've used ceramic stones for sharpening and I'm unsure how to properly get rid of the bumps. When I use the smooth sides and corners I get a satisfactory edge.
With my woodworking tools I just use a small 1200 grit diamond stone briefly, then polish it with a hard Arkansas slip stone and then strop with the leather pouch that holds my stones - sharp enough for surgery! No joke.
Bench stones aren't an option when I go from boat to boat, so I gotta go with the slipstones.
I just gotta get the curved blade hand skills.
From what I've seen, in a woodworking environment, waterstones are great until some dipwad who doesn't know how to use them comes by and gouges 'em.
This is the only reason I don't like waterstones - too soft for the novice who's bound to mess with your stuff.
I also wonder how they do through the seasonal changes with freezing and thawing.
I love my hard Arkansas, never had a problem with it and always get a surgical edge, even with spit instead of oil.
Any suggestions on the ceramic rod defects would be appreciated.
 
Is it possible you're possible you are harpening at the wrong angle. I beleive RAT's are flat ground at 20 degrees?
 
alsj727 said:
Is it possible you're possible you are harpening at the wrong angle. I beleive RAT's are flat ground at 20 degrees?
Click to expand...

Ya they are 20" per side. And it does remove the sharpie from the blade so i am hitting the angle.
 
How often are you cleaning the stones? Sounds like they might be pretty clogged...
 
Ceramics suck at sharpening carbon steels, I used spyderco bench stones for 10 years so this is not some random opinion.

If your holding the blade 90 degrees to the sharpmaker throughout your stroke that's one of your main problems. As you reach the belly you must lift the handle or in your case move it toward the unused stone to properly follow the curve. Your main issue is probably a burr though.
 
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