Sharpmaker impressions from a KME guy

N

No1up

Joined
Feb 27, 2016
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So I love my KME, I even have all kangaroo leather and emulsions, and the chosera 8 level stones. Not to mention the Arkansas stones and the stone thickness compensator. So my kit is all decked out. And after much practice and use it can just about get a sharp edges without the micro burr or wire edge... this has been a very frustrating part of the KME. While KME does make it easy to switch to the other side, it's still a pain having to do only one stroke and flip, one stroke, flip, one stroke flip.... it's annoying. And even then I can still get to the end with a wire edge. Added to this I swipe the felt block across it with little to no luck.

On to the sharpmaker. VERY handy, quick set up, no mess. A few trial swipes and it's second nature. And best of all, NO wire edge or micro burr. Confirmed with my loupe. I love this thing and kick myself in the butt for not buying it sooner. If I had tried it, I might not have a Worksharp Ken Onion and a fully equipped KME kit.

I will say that the Ken Onion with the blade attachment is also a device that I do not get a wire edge or micro burr on, all though the sharpness level is not on the evil side, it still produces a very nice clean edge that is sharp and will last a while. I like the worksharp GSS just a tad more but that's a story for another day.

For now, I'm really enjoying this sharpmaker and look forward to fully equipping it with all the stones. And yes, an evil edge can be had with this bad boy..
 
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No1up said:
So I love my KME, I even have all kangaroo leather and emulsions, and the chosera 8 level stones. Not to mention the Arkansas stones and the stone thickness compensator. So my kit is all decked out. And after much practice and use it can just about get a sharp edges without the micro burr or wire edge... this has been a very frustrating part of the KME. While KME does make it easy to switch to the other side, it's still a pain having to do only one stroke and flip, one stroke, flip, one stroke flip.... it's annoying. And even then I can still get to the end with a wire edge. Added to this I swipe the felt block across it with little to no luck.

On to the sharpmaker. VERY handy, quick set up, no mess. A few trial swipes and it's second nature. And best of all, NO wire edge or micro burr. Contractor firmed with my loupe. I love this thing and kick myself in the butt for not buying it sooner. If I had tried it, I might not have a Worksharp Ken Onion and a fully equipped KME kit.

I will say that the Ken Onion with the blade attachment is also a device that I do not get a wire edge or micro burr on, all though the sharpness level is not on the evil side, it still produces a very nice clean edge that is sharp and will last a while. I like the worksharp GSS just a tad more but that's a story for another day.

For now, I'm really enjoying this sharpmaker and look forward to fully equipping it with all the stones. And yes, and evil edge can be had with this bad boy..
Click to expand...

Glad your getting results you like. I've been following your progress and really glad your getting g good results.

Sharp maker started my journey into sharpening and it gives a great edge . I'll stop recommend you to spend money after this- get the UF rods or just one and turn the jig the UF stones or Rods are amazing
 
I got the UF on the way! Lol

Once I know what's going to happen after this project I'm going to get the Wicked edge...
 
I have both and they are different tools altogether. The sharp maker is good for maintaining an edge and keeping a sharp object sharp. The KME is for reprofileing and setting a primary bevel and removing metal. Try reprofileing and setting a consistent bevel from heal to tip on a sharp maker with a knife that has premium steel.. I can be done but it's not what it is designed for.

Both sharpeners have different strengths and weaknesses. Just curious, when you talk about flipping the knife every stroke on the KME you are referring to the very last stage of refining the edge on each stone right? And not doing one pass and flipping every time from the beginning are you?
 
I had a Sharpmaker with the UF stones, produced a great edge, hairsplitting sharp! Now I have a DMT diafold aligned kit. Also very nice and sharpens very fast and scary sharp!


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I like to reprofile my knives on the wicked edge usually around 17 or 18 degrees each side. As I use my knife and it dulls whip out the SM put a whicked 40 degree inclusive micro bevel on them. I know the SM may or may not be exactly 40 degrees, as long as I reprofile it below the 40 inclusive it can be touched up on the SM
 
I don't care about the angels on the SM, I just marker the blade and keep twisting until it's all gone, then I know where I need to hold my hand. The motion is so natural that I can easily continue to do it over and over. I really enjoy it. I wouldn't enjoy it as much if I didn't have my other tools. I love the KME, I'm going to try to sharpen on the kme and remove the wire edge with the SM at around stone 1000 then clamp it back in and move to 2000 and then 3000 thousand. Finally hit it with the deburr block and strops it with the kangaroo strops then one pass on my strop man 4 stroke. :)

Did i mention I really enjoy this hobby? Lol I want the Wicked Edge soooooo bad, I'm just waiting on word of my next project.
 
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No1up said:
And after much practice and use it can just about get a sharp edges without the micro burr or wire edge... this has been a very frustrating part of the KME. While KME does make it easy to switch to the other side, it's still a pain having to do only one stroke and flip, one stroke, flip, one stroke flip.... it's annoying. And even then I can still get to the end with a wire edge. Added to this I swipe the felt block across it with little to no luck.
Click to expand...

When hand sharpening, I frequently have burr remnants: pieces of the burr still hanging on after I've removed the larger parts of the burr. I can usually tell when part of the edge hangs in phonebook paper. Eliminating these, at the original sharpening angle, is challenging but it can be done by hand with attention to detail.

However, I've found lately that the "double angle technique" just about removes all need for attention to detail and finesse. Just do one or two strokes per side, at double the sharpening angle and the burr is gone gone gone. You might have a tiny micro bevel formed by this process. So then do around 10 alternating strokes at the original angle, and that microbevel should be eliminated. This has greatly simplified the final stages of my sharpening routine.

I've never used a KME, but sharpening is sharpening. It might be worth trying out. :)

Brian.
 
New trick on the KME, on the last few swipes, just use the corner of the stones much like the corner on the sharpmaker. After trying that and looking at it through the loupe, I can't find much if any micro crap on my clean edge. :) then a few swipes on the strop.
 
No1up said:
New trick on the KME, on the last few swipes, just use the corner of the stones much like the corner on the sharpmaker. After trying that and looking at it through the loupe, I can't find much if any micro crap on my clean edge. :) then a few swipes on the strop.
Click to expand...

Doing anything to offset the angle change? A quick check with an angle cube, shows tipping the stone onto the corner even slightly, lowers the angle, (I can also see a sliver of light start to appear between the edge and the stone), so you'd no longer be hitting the edge. (You could also check with a Sharpie).

Maybe something else you're doing might be cleaning up the edge, not sure this is it though, unless you're compensating somehow.
 
bgentry said:
When hand sharpening, I frequently have burr remnants: pieces of the burr still hanging on after I've removed the larger parts of the burr. I can usually tell when part of the edge hangs in phonebook paper. Eliminating these, at the original sharpening angle, is challenging but it can be done by hand with attention to detail.

However, I've found lately that the "double angle technique" just about removes all need for attention to detail and finesse. Just do one or two strokes per side, at double the sharpening angle and the burr is gone gone gone. You might have a tiny micro bevel formed by this process. So then do around 10 alternating strokes at the original angle, and that microbevel should be eliminated. This has greatly simplified the final stages of my sharpening routine.

I've never used a KME, but sharpening is sharpening. It might be worth trying out. :)

Brian.
Click to expand...

Apologies - don't mean to highjack this thread but I also have good success with the above method recently. At times I think the burr is still there even after double angle strokes but then it may be just the rough bevel that I feel, maybe the microbevel from the high angle. I continue on to single strokes alternating at the original bevel after, I don't really count strokes but do it with frequent edge checks until I am satisfied.
 
I try to check it with the loupe after every new thing I try to see what works. It's all experimental really. Just slightly lifting the stone and using the corner seems to help, with very very little micro crap left...
 
There are many things you can do on the KME (or WE, Apex, etc), to get the same results as switching to the SM for a micro. And possibly with finer results. But that said, I still encourage everyone to whom I give sharpening advice, to either keep, or get a Sharpmaker to add to their tools available. With a little less learning curve than full freehanding, it's a great way to simply touch up a blade with a good working edge. Experimenting and testing your results is half the fun of sharpening for me. Something that works perfectly with one knife, may not be the best for another. There are just too many variables. So I often just use the excuse to entertain myself. [emoji41]

Enjoy the process and learning curve.




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People are Strange, When You're a Stranger....
 
I also just got my stropman 4 stroke. I didn't think a strop could get better than the knife plus!
 
Finishing the knives plus is where it's at . The strop man especially the white compound is great for bringing an edge back . The black is good too but I believe the black compound is actually coarser than some of my finish stones .
 
Also I would rub my UF stones together just like recommended in the sharp maker manual to do with the rods. The UF rods are awesome but they do get finer with use IMHO.

Also the red marker on my UFS actually came off and they are hard to tell between the fine .
 
I used them today with very very nice results. I don't think I'll be busting out my Ken Onion or my KME any time soon, unless I need some major work on the blade. The sharpmaker is very very capable and a must have for sharpening nuts. I keep it in my truck with my strop ready to rock and roll.
 
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