Sharpmaker for Kitchen Knives

jackthedog

jackthedog

Joined
Dec 21, 2009
Messages
873
Hi,

I just got a Sharpmaker and was wondering if people have had good results using it on kitchen knives? I have a set of Henckel kitchen knives.

Thanks!
 
Although I do sharpen my Henckels and Wustoffs on an EdgePro a couple of times a year, I leave my Sharpmaker set up in the kitchen at ALL times, and put my kitchen knives to it about once a week for quick touch-ups. Works very well.

Stitchawl
 
I also leave my sharpmaker set up in the kitchen. I use Wustoffs in the kitchen most the time and they do need at least a weekly touch-up on the fine stones. I also walk by and do a quick touch up on the EDC about once a week too though based on what I've used them for.
 
i have a bk2, bk9, 551 griptilian, buck 110 - will the spyderco sharpmaker fill the bill for me?

i'm a noobie to sharpening. i do have a benchmade field sharpener. you set it down and drag the blades through it. it touches up the blades pretty good.

do i even need the spyderco?
 
robotboy175, if your field sharpener is the one with carbide blades, which cuts a 60° bevel, I would use it only in an emergency, if I did't have access to anything better. Use the Spyderco sharpener if you want a decent edge. If you still want to use the Benchmade, use very little vertical force when you drag a blade through the gizmo, otherwise you can rip quite a bit of steel off the blade, and you will get a ragged edge.
 
l. richard - thanks for the reply.

looks like it's what i have

http://www.benchmade.com/products/983902X

it is the third from the left. i have only used it a couple of times, on my son's knife. i figured it was for emergency type situations.

somewhere, in the back of my head, i knew i needed something better.

not knowing the first thing about sharpening, would you go with the spyderco or some type of stones?
 
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I use my sharpmaker to do a quick touchup on my kitchen knives and that's usually all I need. I rarely have to resort to my benchstones unless they pick up a nick from hitting a bone or someone abuses them. Mind you I used my benchstones to set a bevel at just under 30 deg. (inclusive) and a microbevel of 40 deg inclusive for my cheap Henkels and a thinner 30 deg for the harder blades on my japanese made petty and santoku.

From the link you provided, the benchmade field sharpener appears to sharpen at an angle of 60 deg. inclusive. This means that it won't match the angles on the sharpmaker so you will have to spend some time setting the bevel at the right angle. Using a coarse stone leaning against the rods or sandpaper clipped tightly against the rods will help things along.
 
The Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker is excellent for all kinds of sharpening jobs. It's actually more of a deluxe touch up and tune up device than it is an overall sharpening device. As much as I am a Spyderco fanatic I still am just a bit critical of the Sharpmaker from a few aspects.

They do offer 2 additional sets of stones you can buy for the kit. The 204 diamond stones and the 204 Ultra-fine stones are a must if you want to get optimum results from the Sharpmaker. However I've always found it strange that Spyderco doesn't offer some type of extra coarse type of stone for serious sharpening jobs or serious reprofiling. The diamond stones are great but the grit on the 204 diamond stones is still somewhere between fine and medium. I've always thought that a very coarse aluminum oxide stone would be great for really dinged up blades.

One tip I can give you for kitchen knives is to get yourself a set of C-Clamps and get some 1/4 inch sheet rubber like the plumbers use to cushion the jaws of the clamp so you don't marr or damage your Sharpmaker. I find when I have the unit clamped to a table that I can really get a lot of leverage when sharpening long fixed kitchen blades.
 
I used to use a Sharpmaker a bit for kitchen knives but I sold it a ways back. I do all my real sharpening on Edge Pro, a belt grinder or freehand on stones or DMTs. Now instead of using the SM for touchups I just use a glass honing rod from Hand American. Although the Spyderco is okay for German knives I never found it to be all that good for harder Japanese knives. You need to be careful or they want to chip, especially if you use the corners of the rods.
 
When I first got a Sharpmaker, I thought it was OK. Now, I wouldn't consider it for anything other than maintaining a knife that already has a decent edge on it. Yes, you can sharpen with it, but there are much better methods.

cbw
 
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