SharpMaker Rounded Tips - Is this a Myth?

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katguy

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Aug 19, 2024
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I've been using a Spyderco Sharp Maker to maintain about a dozen pocket knives. I use the technique that Sal demonstrated in the video. I swipe the blade down the stone from heel to tip.

I have read comments that rounded tips are a common problem with the Sharp Maker, but I can't seem to cause that to happen. Is this a myth or is there some deliberate step that causes rounded tips?

The tips slide completely off the stone at the end of my swipes, but they are all still very pokey and very pointy.

Thanks for any advice.
 
So you want to know how to change your technique in order to round the tip?

Tips get rounded in the usual way...not stopping the sharpening stroke before dragging the actual tip across the abrasive, (as opposed to sharpening the bevel leading up to the tip).
 
katguy said:
The tips slide completely off the stone at the end of my swipes, but they are all still very pokey and very pointy.
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No offence mate but it sounds like you have answered your own question. Clearly it's not a problem for you. :)

I've been using a Sharp Maker since I bought my first set from Sal at the 1985 SHOT Show. I've never rounded the tips of my knives.

Just a by and by you could technically round a knife tip with almost any stone if you use incorrect technique.
 
Thanks guys. I'm just trying to understand how people round tips on the Sharp Maker. Are there any videos showing the improper technique?
 
Not too difficult to do. When you are using the corners of the stones rather than the flats, drag the tip off the corner and onto the flat at the end of your stroke. It works even better if you use the diamond or CBN rods. If you drag the point off the flats it doesn't hit anything, so it doesn't get rounded off.
 
yablanowitz said:
Not too difficult to do. When you are using the corners of the stones rather than the flats, drag the tip off the corner and onto the flat at the end of your stroke. It works even better if you use the diamond or CBN rods. If you drag the point off the flats it doesn't hit anything, so it doesn't get rounded off.
Click to expand...

That makes sense. Too much lateral pressure close to the tip.

Thanks for that explanation.
 
Not so much the lateral pressure, just the steel running off the corner of the triangle stone and onto the flat side of the stone. It will be the very tip in contact with the abrasive when that happens, so it gets abraded away. Set up your SharpMaker with the corners of the stones facing in and run a blade down them (very slowly and lightly) and watch closely what happens when the blade tip slips off the corner of the stone. You'll see the tip hitting the flat side of the stone, with a very small contact area, meaning that area will be abraded away very quickly.
 
yablanowitz said:
Not so much the lateral pressure, just the steel running off the corner of the triangle stone and onto the flat side of the stone. It will be the very tip in contact with the abrasive when that happens, so it gets abraded away. Set up your SharpMaker with the corners of the stones facing in and run a blade down them (very slowly and lightly) and watch closely what happens when the blade tip slips off the corner of the stone. You'll see the tip hitting the flat side of the stone, with a very small contact area, meaning that area will be abraded away very quickly.
Click to expand...
what he said. Can happen when you are sharpening on the pointed side of the triangluar stone. The tip of the blade can drop down and contact the abrasive at the end of your draw stroke. The way to avoid it is to stop the draw stroke before the tip slides over the edge. Not generally a problem when sharpening on the flat sides of the stone.

And yes it can happen. I did it to a couple of knives when I first started using a Sharpmaker.
 
I have rounded a tip or two on my Sharpmaker until I learned the proper technique. Yes, rounding the tip can happen on the Sharpmaker if you are not doing it correctly.
 
Cylindrical rods can also dull tips when the blade wraps over the stone at the end of the stroke.
 
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