Sharpmaker Observation

[ssblood]

I've never been able to use this thing to it's potential till now. I stuck with it and wow. Just the corners of the brown and white get my knife hair popping sharp. Push/pull cut newspaper like it's nothing. Then when I do the UF stones... too sharp, I tend to cut myself testing it on hair.

My para2 is ready to take on the world with this thing. 10 minute touch-ups. I have to do it at 40 degrees for now but can't wait to use the sharpmaker after the weps comes and I can reprofile the blade down to 25 or so and use a 30 degree microbevel.

Anyway, just so excited I had to tell someone, the fact that I'm able to constantly bring this knife back to hair popping/leg cutting is a remarkable achievement for my extremely sharpening challenged self.

The tip. What's the secret to preserving it in it's original needle like self?

 

[unit]

Glad you are getting some value from it. Those things really work well for a lot of people, but it often takes some practice to figure out the best approach.

Regarding the tip. You generally need to work on the tip using only the flat sides of the rods and terminate your stroke with the tip of the knife in the middle of the stone. If you slide the tip off the side of the stone, it will round it over and it will cease to resemble a needle.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Yes, use the flats of the rods for the tip. I've had good results by making sure to keep the direction of the stroke directly perpendicular to the edge, as if using a chisel to shave the hone, when I'm sharpening the tip. And less of the edge is in contact when doing the tip, so keep the pressure VERY LIGHT. A decent magnifier (at least 10x) is a big help, too. I've often noticed that unless I look closely at the edge near the tip, sometimes it's too easy to not quite apex the edge there, ending up with a secondary bevel above the edge. The tip is usually thicker, with a more obtuse edge angle. That's where the magnifier comes in handy, so I can make sure I'm getting all the way to the edge. Marking the bevel with a Sharpie is a big help here, too.

 

[linux_author]

i have been using a Sharpmaker for a number of years... it works best with an edge that is already sharp... i find that when i bring a piece of orphan steel home from the flea market, i sometimes need to do a bit of work on my Japanese water stone (King) on the 1000-grit side... once the edge is established, then i can go to my Sharpmaker...

quite honestly though, i have been jumping right from my water stone to a cheap $3 ceramic rod as of late, which works for me (an edge that shaves hair off the top of my hand)