I have a sharpmaker and will chime in with what I know and have expeienced.
Before I heard of the sharpmaker, I used the old ceramic crock sticks made by case, smiths, etc. To this day, I never checked their angles but they always worked okay for me.
When I saw the sharpmaker, I saw it as a modern, improved version of what I am already used too and have used for years.
I bought the regular sharpmaker set as well as the ultra fine rods. I watched the videos as well, but I personally find that using the flats of the rods work best for me. Nice slow "controlled" strokes. Keep the tip on the flat at the end of the stroke to keep that nice sharp tip. If you continously pull it off the stone, you will round the tip, something that is easy to do with the edges of the triangle rods or the old round ceramic rods.
I use the brown sticks for most of my sharpening, re-profiling. The brown rods put a serrated like edge on the knife, thats why it seems scary sharp. Its a sharp edge, but not a durable long lasting one. When you switch to the white rods, it removes those burrs so to speak and your left with the true refined edge. It takes time, but that hair popping edge will come back. The brown stones give you that ragged edge quickly, while the white ones take longer. After I get it hair shaving sharp, I sometimes go to my ultra fine rods and WOW. I had my umnumzaan so sharp, it would slice tissue paper. It might have taken me an hour to do this, but it was time well spent. Like I said though, I only use the flats. Also another tip is t clean the rods frequently. When you quit hearing that abrasive sound ( you can feel it as well when sharpening ), flip the rods end for end, once these fill up, rotate then and repeat. This will definately speed up the sharpening.
As for angles, I use the 40 degrees ( 20 degrees per side ) 99% of the time. This is a pretty standard angle. Nearly all of my collection is Chris Reeve Knives, so this works great for my sebenzas, mnandi, umnumzaan, and one piece knives. The only time I have used the 30 degrees is to sharpen my wifes kitchen knives and for fillet knves because of the very thin steel used. If I have a knife that I cannot get sharp, I use he sharpie trick ( with a black sharpie, color the blade edge, when you sharpen it, you can see where the steel is being removed ) Many times, I just end up re-profiling it to a 40 degree ( 20 degree each side ) edge. This works best for me.
I have also had many knives that I have seen that have a 20 degree on one side, and say a 23 degree on the other. This always drives me nuts.......lol. I work on the one side using the sharpie trick until both edges are uniform. I believe this is due to the hand sharpening done at the factories. If you right handed, you may be able to grind the edge on the right side easily, but when you go to the left edge, its off a little. This has been recently discussed and this is what I believe it is. This is why sometimes you will sharpen and sharpen and never seem to get anywhere, then I use the sharpie trick and see I have been sharping the top of the edge bevel instead of the actual edge....drives me buts sometimes.
I hope this helps.
