sharpmaker frustration!

C

candlelight001

Joined
Jun 3, 2008
Messages
764
Aaargh! Trying to sharpen an 01 steel knife I have on sharpmaker. I'll get it sharp, then go to next stone or flat, and it's dull again. What am I doing wrong?

Also, on the end of the knife, on one side, when I do the sharpie trick, I see that I'm taking steel off midway along the edge, not at the very edge or shoulder. Does this mean I should knock shoulder off with diamond stone?

Thanks!
 
Sounds like a factory convex grind. It will take a LONG time to turn that into a flat Vgrind without diamond rods, even then it will take a good bit of time. Use a steeper angle you want to get the edge sharp, eventually you'll want to reprofile the blade and possibly add a micro bevel.
 
What knife are you working on?

If its a factory convex edge, keep it! A mouse pad and sandpaper is all you need for repairs, the convex edge is easy to maintain with just a strop, and they're very utilitarian edges. I've put convex edges on quite a few of my knives.
 
Get yourself an Apex Edgepro. Seriously. You will be able to reprofile that thing MUCH MUCH more easily, quickly and accurately. You can then use the Sharpmaker for touch ups.

If it's a convex edge, and you want it to stay that way, you're going to have to learn freehand sharpening.
 
I have used and sold 204's and think they are fantastic. I also thought they were fool proof I have since learned they are not fool proof. A good mate of mine has had one for about 12mths and He said it just didn't work for him. So next visit I took my Bench sized Diamond stones so we could start from scratch.
I took the burr off with the Eze lap and then handed the knives to him where he was set up beside me with the 204. I put the edge on for him to then finish off.
He then handed back to me to check and they were stuffed .......
What???? I was standing there watching him beside me.
I turned out one stone was dirty. And it was doing all the damage.
Instead of equaly removing material from both rods it was removing steel one side producing a burr but then the other stone was cloged and just rolling the burr over, instead of removing that burr and creating another one. Not good.
So the bottom line is clean the stones well.
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Carl
 
Candelight, what kind of knife? How long is the blade? What type of grind (v-grind, scandi, convex, or other)?

O1 steel is relatively easy to sharpen on the Sharpmaker, but even with this "simple" device, there is somewhat of a learning curve. More than anything, though, is applying a little geometry to the mix.

I hear calls for the Edge Pro. I haven't used one, but every report I've ver read on it gets an A+. It's expensive though, and you have a sharpening tool right now that will do the job for you, and do it well. Don;t give up - the Sharpmaker is a nice system.

It's important, like SPX asked, to know what kind of knife and edge you're working on.
 
thanks for the input folks... It's a full flat grind with a convexed bevel from Breeden. I went with the sharpmaker rather than the mousepad/sandpaper because I've had better success getting an even edge with it in the past, and Breeden said it would be ok...
 
Since it has a convex bevel, you're going to have to keep the sharpie close and keep working it on the sharpmaker until you knock the shoulders off and get the bevel flat. Depending upon the steel, it may take a while.

Consider keeping the convex edge. Once you learn how to freehand, its the easiest edge to keep up with IMO.
 
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