sharpmaker questions

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mosquitojoyride

Joined
Jun 20, 2005
Messages
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i've been trying to sharpen my d2 for a while. it is a little sharper, but not much, i might be doing it wrong. any tips?

also, i've been reading on the forums on people saying it comes with 15 degrees? i don't seem to have it.
 
Sharpmaker comes with 2 choices, 40 and 30 degrees.
Hence, 15 degrees= 30 degrees divided by 2.
 
how can i tell if the blade is sharp? i had the caly zdp and it was very sharp. how can i get it like that? how many strokes do you receommond?
 
Do the marker trick. Use a permanent pen and color the edge of the knife. Stroke the stones a bit and see if you're catching the actual edge.

There is NO real set amount of strokes you SHOULD be using. I myself don't even count anymore.

I would recommend you just start with the 40deg and just get an edge with that. Go through the stones edges-->flats on greys-->whites. Hair shaving is an okay test of sharpness, but I'll usually just cut a little bit of something, if it cuts well then it's good.

After playing around with that, try developing your own methods of using the Sharpmaker. That way you can make an edge to suit your likings.
 
Last week I received a Queen whittler with D2 steel. The edge it came with was very obtuse. It took me five hours using the sharpmaker course stones to get the edge on the clip blade to 40 degrees (combined). I used only the course stones until I established a new edge, then I went to the fine rods. The other, smaller, blades didn't take nearly as long (only an hour each).
Make sure you clean the rods when they become too loaded with steel to work properly. I would say that if you are re-beveling using only a sharpmaker, be very patient. I know, there are faster ways to hog off steel, but I have had alot of time on my hands lately.
 
This is a common and frustrating problem. It seems whenever I sharpen a knife it is a piece of cake or a PITA. I have a 2" x 6" DMT medium diamond stone which profiles an edge quickly. I tape the blade good because it is easy to scratch the blade with a stone. I use the magic marker on the edge trick also. On the majority of knives I profile at 30 degrees and sharpen at 40 degrees which is per the Sharpmaker instructions. With good steel I understand you can profile a much thinner edge, say 20 degrees, and it hold up well. However, I don't have problems and if it is not broken why fix it.

Here are some sharpening tips links:

http://www.dmtsharp.com/general/basicsharp.htm

http://users.ameritech.net/knives/

http://www.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/sharpen/instruct3.html

http://www.sharpeningwheels.com/products.html

Does this help?
 
mosquitojoyride said:
i've been trying to sharpen my d2 for a while. it is a little sharper, but not much, i might be doing it wrong. any tips?

also, i've been reading on the forums on people saying it comes with 15 degrees? i don't seem to have it.
Click to expand...

There is no magic number of passes on a knife sharpener in order to get it sharp. I wish there were. Patience counts. However once you get the knife sharp it is easy to touch it up and hold a keen edge. Lots of folks when hunting just grab a flat rock out of the creek and run a couple of passes across it to hone the edge of their knife.

Here is a link to a sharpening forum with thoughts from sharpening wizards who get paid for their expertise.

http://www.knifeforums.com/ubbthrea...=748755&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

http://drsharpening.com/index.html
 
mosquitojoyride, you are not hitting the edge, just the shoulder. Get an x-coarse hand stone, a waterstone if possible.

Lean into the blade and cut the primary edge at ~10 degrees per side, this will only take 1-2 minutes per side.

Work the bevel right down until it forms a really coarse burr which you can feel and even see.

Polish the bevel slightly with a finer stone, now microbevel it on the sharpmaker with a few passes per side with each rod.

Total time will be under five minutes unless there is a heavy burr issue in which case add another minute to use Jeff's deburring method.

-Cliff
 
From hours to 5 mins - what an improvement that is! But, how does one estimate ~10 degrees, aside from folding a piece of paper angularly 3 times (which should leave about an 11.25 degree angle)? And, any very specific suggestions/recommendations on which stone(s) would rip that much metal off that quickly?

It turns out I've faced the same frustration expressed earlier (i.e. it's either a piece of cake to sharpen, or a PITA), and I definately do not have that much time (i.e. hours) to sharpen ... :( :confused:
 
edb, as Jeff Clark has suggested in other threads, you can alter (lessen) the angle by putting something underneath the center of the Sharpmaker base to act as a fulcrum. I think Jeff suggested using one of the rods. Then sort of "teeter totter" the base as you go from side to side. You'll have to experiment with what works best to get the angle that you desire - Maybe something like an old-fashioned wood pencil?
 
edb said:
But, how does one estimate ~10 degrees ...
Click to expand...

This isn't an exact number, it is just the angle I naturally tend to hone. You just want it a lot smaller than the micro-bevel. You don't need to be overly precise or accurate, just hogg of the metal.

And, any very specific suggestions/recommendations on which stone(s) would rip that much metal off that quickly?
Click to expand...

Japanese waterstone, SiC, 200 grit, even the hard and high wear resistant steels have no resistance. You can easily reprofile 60 HRC D2 and S30V edges in minutes.

I bought the large green block and cut it up into pieces about an inch wide using an old worn out handsaw, just keep the block wet. I then use these pieces like files.

-Cliff
 
edb said:
From hours to 5 mins - what an improvement that is! But, how does one estimate ~10 degrees, aside from folding a piece of paper angularly 3 times (which should leave about an 11.25 degree angle)? And, any very specific suggestions/recommendations on which stone(s) would rip that much metal off that quickly?

It turns out I've faced the same frustration expressed earlier (i.e. it's either a piece of cake to sharpen, or a PITA), and I definately do not have that much time (i.e. hours) to sharpen ... :( :confused:
Click to expand...

Get a medium/course stone (6" or 8" long is best).

If you want to cheat like I do, tape up the blade so it doesn't get scratched and buy one of those little alligator clip things from the stationary store that holds together about 20 sheets of paper (get the mini's). Attach this little alligator clip to the knife's spine. The clip will lift the spine of the knife up and this will give you a very small edge angle, hopefully about 10 degrees, when you run the edge across the stone surface.
 
thanks for the felt tip markre trick cliff, i realized that the tip of my blade and the right side of my blade (because i'm right handed) isn't being done at a good angle or not enough pressure is being applied to those areas.
 
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