I have the Sharpmaker, and I was thinking of getting the diamond rods for harder steel knives, but they have mixed reviews. Some say they wear out quickly. One guy said he got a DMT extra coarse/ coarse and laid it against the ceramic sticks of the sharpmaker to keep the right angle and then rubber banded it to them until he was finished sharpening. Opinions on the diamond rods?
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Sharpmaker Diamond
- Thread starter jvarn81
- Start date
Ankerson
Knife and Computer Geek
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- Nov 2, 2002
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- 21,094
They work OK unless the steel is very tough and you have to remove a lot of metal. If so you will be there for a very, VERY long time.
A Sharpmaker is good for tough ups or for a blade that have the correct angles already on the edge..... 30 or 40 degrees.
- Joined
- Oct 7, 1998
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- 383
I've had the CURRENT diamond sharpeners for some time now. Use them to re-profile knives and to fix knives that have been abused, (Not by me!)
Don't think of them as a faster sharpener. Yes they are, but go slowly and lightly. The diamonds really eat steel.
Don't think of them as a faster sharpener. Yes they are, but go slowly and lightly. The diamonds really eat steel.
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2007
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- 3,027
Thats exactly what I would do before spending the $50 on the diamond rods.
They are just not coarse enough for reprofiling in my opinion. Plus for just a little more cash you can get a 10"x4" duosharp coarse/xcoarse. Thats a lot more surface area covered with diamonds = getting the job done faster. Propping the duosharps against the sharpmaker rods and rubberbanding at the bottom works great for me.
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2009
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- 111
I got the Sharpmaker diamond rods and have been less than impressed with them. They don't seem to do all that great a job at reprofiling, and they do seem to be wearing rather quickly. If I had it to do over, and would probably skip the diamond rods and buy something else (DMT Aligner mayber) for doing the heavier stuff. Still really like the Sharpmaker for maintaining a blade.
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2006
- Messages
- 2,437
I have good luck with the Diamond rods for the Sharpmaker. You will have to invest time and effort with any hand sharpening system to reprofile the latest and greatest super steels. The Diamond rods for the Sharpmaker do save you time when you consider what you would have to invest to do the same sharpening with just the brown rods that come with the Sharpmaker. Are there more coarse sharpeners out there? Yes. Do they fit in the Sharpmaker that you already own and know how to use? Probably not. Can they be adapted to work? Probably.
In the end the choice is if you want to be able to use the Sharpmaker base for the entire sharpening session or if you are comfortable switching between some other method (free hand, adjustable angle tool, power tool, etc) and the Sharpmaker.
For me it depends what and where I am going to be sharpening. If I'm at home and I have a lot of metal to remove, I go to a belt grinder (Grizzly 2"x72") to bring the two bevels together, then use a power strop (richard j buffing wheel). If I want a finer polished edge at home I start with the belt grinder and then I switch to the Sharpmaker. If I am away from home, but still have access to 110v power, I use a small portable belt sander (Grizzly or Harbor Freight 1"x30") then the Sharpmaker. If I am headed out into the woods or where I am not certain power tools are appropriate, I just use the Diamond rods and the regular Sharpmaker setup. It takes more time, but still gets me to the type of edge that I want to have on a knife.
In the end the choice is if you want to be able to use the Sharpmaker base for the entire sharpening session or if you are comfortable switching between some other method (free hand, adjustable angle tool, power tool, etc) and the Sharpmaker.
For me it depends what and where I am going to be sharpening. If I'm at home and I have a lot of metal to remove, I go to a belt grinder (Grizzly 2"x72") to bring the two bevels together, then use a power strop (richard j buffing wheel). If I want a finer polished edge at home I start with the belt grinder and then I switch to the Sharpmaker. If I am away from home, but still have access to 110v power, I use a small portable belt sander (Grizzly or Harbor Freight 1"x30") then the Sharpmaker. If I am headed out into the woods or where I am not certain power tools are appropriate, I just use the Diamond rods and the regular Sharpmaker setup. It takes more time, but still gets me to the type of edge that I want to have on a knife.
I like the diamond rods, although I don't do very much profiling with them. (I prefer to use an EdgePro for that.) But then, I only need to re-profile knives once a year or so... if that much!) As long as you haven't torn the diamonds free by using too much pressure the first time you used it, (as I did with my first set) the rods cut quickly and should last for years.
Remember, profiling a knife is something that you do to an edge that has been sharpened incorrectly or completely worn away. Proper regular sharpening and stropping should prevent that from happening. Once you have your geometry set, proper care should keep it a very long time. Perhaps a few years down the road you might have to do a complete re-profile again as the metal wears away, but if you're re-profiling the same knife again and again you need to take a close look at your sharpening techniques.
Stitchawl
Remember, profiling a knife is something that you do to an edge that has been sharpened incorrectly or completely worn away. Proper regular sharpening and stropping should prevent that from happening. Once you have your geometry set, proper care should keep it a very long time. Perhaps a few years down the road you might have to do a complete re-profile again as the metal wears away, but if you're re-profiling the same knife again and again you need to take a close look at your sharpening techniques.
Stitchawl