Sharpening with Sharpmaker the SOG Instinct

I

Icarusflies

Joined
Feb 25, 2016
Messages
32
Hello Everybody;

Since my last post in this forum, 30 days ago, I have ¨adopted¨ three more knives.

A SOG Flash 1, a CRKT Minimalist Bowie and a SOG Instinct.

I have used the Sharpmaker to condition the blade and it went well for all but the Instinct.

It looks like in the 40 degree setting of the Sharpmaker I am polishing the shoulder and not the the apex of the Instinct

I am very new in this sharpening thing so I would appreciate any recommendation on how to get a sharp blade on my Instinct.

Thank you and have a great week end.

Steve
 
Icarusflies said:
Hello Everybody;

Since my last post in this forum, 30 days ago, I have ¨adopted¨ three more knives.

A SOG Flash 1, a CRKT Minimalist Bowie and a SOG Instinct.

I have used the Sharpmaker to condition the blade and it went well for all but the Instinct.

It looks like in the 40 degree setting of the Sharpmaker I am polishing the shoulder and not the the apex of the Instinct

I am very new in this sharpening thing so I would appreciate any recommendation on how to get a sharp blade on my Instinct.

Thank you and have a great week end.

Steve
Click to expand...

You might consider the optional diamond rods or CBN rods for the Sharpmaker, as it sounds like your Instinct's edge is outside the 40° limit of the SM and will need thinning to make that tool work well with it. The more aggressive rods will be quicker in removing the steel needed to accomplish that. That's one option.

Another approach would be to just angle your edge slightly inward to make the bevels flush with the SM's rods. Use a Sharpie to mark the bevels and check to see where the ink comes off, in order to gauge the correct held angle.

You could, of course, just 'freehand' the edge on a more aggressive stone to thin the edge geometry, or do the same using an angle guide with the bench stone. DMT's Aligner clamp could work for that, among others.

Some people have been more creative in adapting the Sharpmaker to use other hones, such as laying or taping/strapping diamond hones against the SM's rods and utilizing them to do heavier grinding/thinning jobs. The same can be done with larger bench-style hones, making angled jigs out of wood to orient them in the same fashion as the SM's rods.

There are also aftermarket options for more aggressive triangular rod hones adaptable to the SM. Congress Tools sells such hones in coarser 'Ruby' (aluminum oxide) abrasive. There have been some mixed reviews on those; some saying they either don't fit the SM very well (loose fit, or too snug to fit, etc), and others have reported acceptable or good results.

Bottom line, there are lots of options. Just a matter of deciding which approach may be the least intimidating for you, or which might do the best job in the long term.


David
 
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Obsessed with Edges said:
You might consider the optional diamond rods or CBN rods for the Sharpmaker, as it sounds like your Instinct's edge is outside the 40° limit of the SM and will need thinning to make that tool work well with it. The more aggressive rods will be quicker in removing the steel needed to accomplish that. That's one option.

Another approach would be to just angle your edge slightly inward to make the bevels flush with the SM's rods. Use a Sharpie to mark the bevels and check to see where the ink comes off, in order to gauge the correct held angle.

You could, of course, just 'freehand' the edge on a more aggressive stone to thin the edge geometry, or do the same using an angle guide with the bench stone. DMT's Aligner clamp could work for that, among others.

Some people have been more creative in adapting the Sharpmaker to use other hones, such as laying or taping/strapping diamond hones against the SM's rods and utilizing them to do heavier grinding/thinning jobs. The same can be done with larger bench-style hones, making angled jigs out of wood to orient them in the same fashion as the SM's rods.

There are also aftermarket options for more aggressive triagular rod hones adaptable to the SM. Congress Tools sells such hones in coarser 'Ruby' (aluminum oxide) abrasive. There have been some mixed reviews on those; some saying they either don't fit the SM very well (loose fit, or too snug to fit, etc), and others have reported acceptable or good results.

Bottom line, there are lots of options. Just a matter of deciding which approach may be the least intimidating for you, or which might do the best job in the long term.


David
Click to expand...

Thank you for this explanation David, I Appreciate it
 
Icarusflies said:
Thank you for this explanation David, I Appreciate it
Click to expand...

The most aggressive hone I have is a naniwa 220, the next one I have is a 1000. Do you think the 220 would be too agressive to thinning the edge of the instinct and then go the the gray, white rods...?
 
I am unfamiliar with diamond rods for the sharpmaker. I am wondering if your instinct may be a product of something I heard of but have yet seen, concave sharpening. The objective would be the opposite of hollow ground. The little I have seen regarding this is to make an edge more durable and longer lasting. When i first read of it I thought, Bulls*&it. I have not seen more about it in awhile.
 
Icarusflies said:
The most aggressive hone I have is a naniwa 220, the next one I have is a 1000. Do you think the 220 would be too agressive to thinning the edge of the instinct and then go the the gray, white rods...?
Click to expand...

If you're comfortable using it, I'd think the 220 should handle the thinning job pretty easily. Assuming these are waterstones (I don't use them, so I'm speculating), you might even follow with the 1000 as a transition toward the grey, white SM rods.


David
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
If you're comfortable using it, I'd think the 220 should handle the thinning job pretty easily. Assuming these are waterstones (I don't use them, so I'm speculating), you might even follow with the 1000 as a transition toward the grey, white SM rods.


David
Click to expand...


Yes, they are water stones, I might try that or wrapping with sandpaper the rods.

By the what, would you say is the grit of SM gray, white, super fine and diamond rods?

Thanks
 
Icarusflies said:
Yes, they are water stones, I might try that or wrapping with sandpaper the rods.

By the what, would you say is the grit of SM gray, white, super fine and diamond rods?

Thanks
Click to expand...

The 'grit' of the SM's rods are only estimated based on scratch patterns produced, because they all utilize the same exact abrasive stock (I think it's around ~15µ), with only the binder (for the grey medium rods) and firing and surface-finishing making the difference in how each performs. That being said, the best approximation I've been able to make about them is just for the grey (medium) rods, which usually seem to emulate something like ~1200-grit wet/dry sandpaper (FEPA-P grit standard). The Fine & UF would obviously be somewhere beyond that; probably 2000+ and higher.


David
 
Last edited:
Obsessed with Edges said:
The 'grit' of the SM's rods are only estimated based on scratch patterns produced, because they all utilize the same exact abrasive stock (I think it's around ~15µ), with only the binder (for the grey medium rods) and firing and surface-finishing making the difference in how each performs. That being said, the best approximation I've been able to make about them is just for the grey (medium) rods, which usually seem to emulate something like ~1200-grit wet/dry sandpaper (FEPA-P grit standard). The Fine & UF would obviously be somewhere beyond that; probably 2000+ and higher.


David
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for the info
 
I had problems on my SOG twitch until I used the diamond stones to get the back bevel down quite a way, my apex wasn't quite right (I just posted about this a few days ago) once I had the apex down though everything went smoothly.
 
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