Sharpmaker good to go by itself?

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Lock1454

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Jan 4, 2009
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Hey all,

So I have a set of DMT diafold sharpeners and the Magnaguide, but I just can't seem to get a really sharp edge with it yet so I was looking into grabbing a Sharpmaker. Does the Sharpmaker come with everything you need to sharpen a knife well or do you need to pick up additional rods or anything?

Thanks!
 
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The Sharpmaker will work well along with your DMT Magnaglide. Use the DMT to reprofile the edge and use the Sharpmaker to maintain it. Add a leather strop and you've got a pretty good set up.
 
You may also want the coarse diamond rods and extra fine ceramic rods at some point.
 
The SM is generally used as a tool to maintain a sharp edge.

It is certainly possible to establish, or even re-bevel, an edge with a SM (and a helluva lot of patience :p ) but the SM is not the preferred tool for those jobs.

The SM is a wonderful tool for what it was designed for, but, like all tools, it has it's limitations, and is at it's best when used within it's design parameters.
 
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You should be getting razor sharp edges with your DMT kit, if anything you should be able to get better results with the DMT than the sharpmaker.
 
I should be, but I'm just not too good with it as of yet. It's amazing, I get training wheels and still manage to fall over :p Also seems like I have trouble when it comes to sharpening the upsweep towards the tip of the blade. Recently tried touching up my Izula (40 inclusive) and the main part of the blade looks quite nice but the sweep leaves something to be desired :( Also it doesn't seem to cleanly shave my arm, although no idea if it did that from factory or could be expected with the grind angle.

Maybe I should invest in some cheap knives that I can butcher for some practice.
 
Finishing with the XF and a leather strop you should easily be able to get hair whittling edges. Let the stone follow the blade and use light pressure, the up-sweep should not be a problem. Try resting the stone on the bevel and with one finger on the back side of the stone move it down the bevel, the stone will naturally follow the curve. Mimic the motion.
 
Perhaps the sharpening system with the shortest learning curve and least opportunity to screw up an edge is the Spyderco Sharpmaker. It is probably the easiest to use without prior sharpening experience. The Sharpmaker is excellent for maintaining a sharp edge. It can also be used to reprofile but is very time consumptive. I have used it to reprofile three S30v steel blades. You are however limited to two preset sharpening angles of either 30 and 40 degrees. Used as per the included video and printed instructions it will get the job done and produce a consistently even and sharp edge. At about $50.00, it comes with medium and fine grit rods, a DVD and instruction booklet. OldDude1
 
I took me nearly 8 hours to rebevel some 12C27. I can see why your name is OldDude1 if you rebevel S30V with just a Sharpmaker. Was it whippersnapper when you started on those 3?
 
Don't have a strop - guess I should look into getting one? (and learn how to use it :p) - have been going down to the XXF stone as the last step. Any recommendations for an affordable strop and some compound as well as any pointers? Thanks :)
 
Lock1454 said:
Don't have a strop - guess I should look into getting one? (and learn how to use it :p) - have been going down to the XXF stone as the last step. Any recommendations for an affordable strop and some compound as well as any pointers? Thanks :)
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By the time you finish with XXF it should whittle hair, your probably not cutting the edge enough when you set the bevel. I use benchstones with my aligner tool but you should still be able to get the same results.

Aligner, benchstones up to XXF and CPM-D2 before stropping. With the tools you have your knives should be this sharp.
luckybob003.jpg
 
Show off :D

I guess I really just need to practice and/or do more passes? When I get down to XF/XXF I tend to do about 50 passes per side with each stone, am I needing more? And if it matters, I sharpen with a motion that brings the stone into the edge as opposed from the spine to the front. Does it matter which way it goes?
 
Probably too many strokes on the fine stones and not enough on the coarse. By the time you get to coarse or fine you knife should be shaving sharp. You should be using a zig zag pattern as you move down the blade and your last few strokes should be long single strokes. When I say zig zag I mean keeping the stone on the bevel and moving it front to back as you move down the blade.
 
With the zig zag - do you mean front to back and then back to front repeatedly as you go along the blade?

And thanks again kniftnut, you're a gentleman and a scholar... And a guy with alot of good advice on sharpening :thumbup:
 
I'll try to explain it.

When you hold the diafold in the clamp put your fingers on the sides of the handle with your index finger on the backside of the stone, applying very light pressure on the bevel and also holding the guide rod from moving up and down. Side to side play of the rod is OK but up and down will change the angle. Starting at the back of the blade near the choil place the dia-fold on the bevel near the tip of the stone, push up toward the clamp but only move the stone down the bevel 1/3 to 1/2 the length of the blade. Then without removing the stone from the bevel draw the stone back down and back up and back down until you get to the tip, overlapping each zig zag. The length of the blade will decide how much you need to do this but its really only needed in blades over 3 inches.

I also don't know how much I can stress the use of light pressure with diamond stones. A feather touch is all that's needed, sometimes they just don't feel like they are working and this makes you want to push harder but DON'T!!! I have damaged a few stones by not letting the diamonds do the work.
 
stevekt said:
The Sharpmaker will work well along with your DMT Magnaglide. Use the DMT to reprofile the edge and use the Sharpmaker to maintain it. Add a leather strop and you've got a pretty good set up.
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Sounds like good advice here.. This kit used correctly could easily sharpen most knives. If you get into heavy reprofile work get a Dmt 11" coarse or extra coarse stone. This will save you much time and make for better results.
 
Sharpened my Izula again (2nd lowest setting) going from coarse down to XXF using the zig zag pattern - still not able to get the edge really to hair shaving sharp and it still looks like I am somehow giving the sweep a different set of angles (or maybe my eyes are wonked out / I'm nuts). The knife is undoubtedly sharp, just can't seem to get that prophecized amazing edge :( Guess I really just need to practice a good bit more.
 
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Work at getting the edge shaving sharp with the coarse or fine grit then refine with the rest of the stones.
 
:D:D:D
Just sharpened my Izula (again) and huzzah! Great Success! I guess I never stopped to check the edge before switching to the next stone. Went down from coarse to XXF checking for a burr and if I found one, did a few more strokes. After finishing the fine stone I tried shaving a bit of hair and it cleared a patch in a couple of lstrokes! After I got done with the XXF it was plowing the field with one light stroke :cool: Took about 45 minutes to walk it through the 4 stones but it was worth it :)

Thanks alot for the advise and help, very much appreciated :thumbup:

By the way, to check for a burr I was just taking my index finger pulling it across perpendicular to the edge to see if I felt anything on either side. Is there a better method?
 
Use a stropping motion and drag the edge on the top of your fingernail, if there is a burr it will scrape the surface of your nail.
 
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