Sharpening your Knives(Sharpmaker/Lansky)

simple6

simple6

Joined
Oct 6, 2002
Messages
458
I tried a Spyderco Sharpmaker a couple years ago and didn't have any luck. Wound up selling it like the Lansky system I bought before it. Is it just me? Am I missing something here? Do people get these things to work for them or do you just let a knife shop sharpen your knives?
 
There is a learning curve with the Sharpmaker. I have found that I get better results from the Sharpmaker if I am standing at my workbench so I am looking straight down at the sharpening process. The Sharpmaker is great for maintaing a sharp edge but if you let it go dull you will spend a lot of time getting it sharp again. Those stones that come with the Sharpmaker are just too fine for a dull knife. I think the best edge comes from a bench stone. No set angles and you can use what you like/works best for you. Learn to use the bench stones and you won't have to fool around with a bunchy of useless gadgets. Get yourself some good stones like DMt or Norton. DMT come in several grades like 325, 600 and 1200 or a Norton combo that has a medium grit and an India stone on the other side. Just for a round house guess two quarters stacked is approx. 20 deg. so you can have something to look at before starting.
It is a lot easier if you keep your sharp edge touched up instead of waiting for it to go dull before you resharpen.
 
I do my own sharpening (for the past 25+ years) and sharpen all my friends and families knives. It doesn't matter what the latest and greatest gizmo you use, it all comes down to:

- Matching the existing bevel angle
- If not, create your own bevel by reprofiling.
- Sharpen at a fixed and constant angle.
- Raising a burr
- Removing the burr

I have a Lansky system, Sharpmaker, diamond benchstones, Norton stones and sandpaper. Depends on my mood or the knife I sharpen to which equipment I use, but the above steps are as simple as it gets.

Plus, practice, practice, practice. Go to a yard sale and buy a fist full of kitchen knives for a $1 and practice sharpening. Once you get you proficient with whatever you use and understand the above steps; you can put an edge on anything with just about anything.

Search around the Toolshed section of this forum and you'll find all sorts of sharpening advice.

**Edit** I see Whitedog posted at the same time as I and mentions two quarter thickness to set your angle. Try this calculator out if you would like to be more precise. http://knives.mylamb.com/calc.htm

Good luck.
 
A lot of knives come with edges too obtuse to be sharpened on a Sharpmaker. You can see this if you mark the edge with a Sharpie and give the kife 10-20 strokes on the Sharpmaker. If there's still ink on the very edge, the rods aren't doing any sharpening.

The solution is to buy a course or extra course stone and thin the edge before usng the Sharpmaker. I combine an extra couse DMT stone with the Shaprmaker and I can sharpen basically anything with the combination.

BTW, this thread is about to be moved.
 
Simple,

I have had great luck with the sharpmaker. I am a freehand sharpening challenged person. Never been very good at it. I'm envious of people that can freehand well. But with the sharpmaker im able to get knives plenty sharp for what I need them for. Took a little practice, but not much. I had to learn to use a lighter touch and focus more on keeping the blade verticle.
 
moving-van.jpg
 
I have had great luck with the Spyderco sharpmaker. I read a good suggestion somewhere that if you have a really dull knife you can save considerable time by using a circular stroke with the coarser hones at first. One thing I like about the sharpmaker is that it is almost impossible to damage a knife with it; many other systems can damage a knife if used improperly (ie while learning how to use it...)
 
spyderco sharpmaker watch the video with Sal i us it and my knife will take free standing hair but don't us to much PRESSURE that is the enemy lite reps. is the best answer along with the same angle keep it staight keep it lite and your knife will get scary sharp.:D
 
Saunterer said:
I do my own sharpening (for the past 25+ years) and sharpen all my friends and families knives. It doesn't matter what the latest and greatest gizmo you use, it all comes down to:

- Matching the existing bevel angle
- If not, create your own bevel by reprofiling.
- Sharpen at a fixed and constant angle.
- Raising a burr
- Removing the burr

I have a Lansky system, Sharpmaker, diamond benchstones, Norton stones and sandpaper. Depends on my mood or the knife I sharpen to which equipment I use, but the above steps are as simple as it gets.

Plus, practice, practice, practice. Go to a yard sale and buy a fist full of kitchen knives for a $1 and practice sharpening. Once you get you proficient with whatever you use and understand the above steps; you can put an edge on anything with just about anything.

Search around the Toolshed section of this forum and you'll find all sorts of sharpening advice.

**Edit** I see Whitedog posted at the same time as I and mentions two quarter thickness to set your angle. Try this calculator out if you would like to be more precise. http://knives.mylamb.com/calc.htm

Good luck.
Click to expand...


Very good post. I also thought of the idea of hitting the thrift store/Salvation Army/etc. and getting some practice fodder for cheap.
 
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