sharpmaker problems..

[GoodForTheSoul]

Hey guys.. so i finally came to the realization that im not as good at sharpening knives as i had thought.. if one of my knives sweeps towards the spine drastically towards the end of the edge, i cant get a good edge on that whole end area of the knife.. i have tried and tried and i cant do it. the flat part of the edge is no problem at all, but even with the diamond sharpening rods on the sharpmaker, i cant seem to back the relief edge up at all, when i touch the edge, it seems very thick, and to have a steep angle.. even if i have been working on it for hours..... i need some advise, i have already ruined one of my favorite knives

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

The tip of most factory blades will almost always be much thicker behind the edge, and also more obtuse (wider edge angle). You've already noticed this in the upsweep to the tip, nearer to the spine. As the cutting edge approaches the spine, the steel gets much thicker there, behind the edge, assuming a tapered grind from thicker spine to thinner edge, as most blades are.

With only the Sharpmaker, and even with it's diamond sleeves, it'll still take a long while to scrub enough steel away in that thicker portion, to bring the edge angle down to something more useful. it's always an exercise in patience. For just thinning it out, some heavy grinding is needed. A coarse bench stone could be used, or some coarse wet/dry sandpaper on a hard backing like glass, smooth stone, hardwood can speed it up. Once the bevels are thinned out, you can return to the diamond on the SM to begin refining it.


David