Sharpmaker stones course enough?

[knife_nut73]

Trying to reprofile or clean up this damn 806 D2 and sharpmaker seems the most accurate but was wondering if the stones are course enough for D2. It was a great carry enough when it was sharp. I'd hate to toss in a drawer to rot.

 

[KeithAM]

The medium stones are course enough for reprofiling D2 only if you're willing to spend 4-5 hours on it. That's how long it wook me to reprofile a 710HS (M2 steel). on the Sharpmaker. Not a good use of my time.

Do yourself a huge favor -- buy a DMT extra coarse diamond hone and freehand your reprofiling. Thin the edge way down and then use your sharpmaker to establish and maintain a micro bevel. I've done this on my D2 Queens and D2 Ontario RAT-3. Works great.

 

[gunmike1]

I use a DMT XX coarse (D8XX) for reprofiling and it will reprofile D2, S30V or ZDP 189 in minutes to a more acute edge. The Sharpmaker is great for putting a final edge on a knife, but reprofiling is definately one of it's weaknesses, even with the diamond sleeves it takes a lot of time to thin out your blades. Once you have a thin back bevel set and use the Sharpmaker for micro bevels it really shines. I have moved on to benchstones for my sharpening now, but I still use the Sharpmaker occasionally when I want to throw a quick edge on a knife and still get really good results, or if I have to sharpen a serrated blade.

Mike

 

[sherlockbonez]

So when I use a DMT stone, I just grind away at the shoulder, and then put it on a sharpmaker after correct? I never pay attention much to these thread, but yesterday I dug up a old knife I had, and it needs some reprofiling pretty bad, and was wondering if thats the way.

 

[Ben Dover]

You can reprofile D2 with grey Sharpmaker rods, but as posted before, it's a helluva lot of work. I've done it with a BM 710 D-2 and a Queen Stockman, and it isn't worth it.

I now use a 220 grit waterstone, and even though I am not worth a damn at freehanding, it's still faster. I still true up the bevel on the Sharpmaker before going to the strops, though.

Ben

 

[gunmike1]

So when I use a DMT stone, I just grind away at the shoulder, and then put it on a sharpmaker after correct? I never pay attention much to these thread, but yesterday I dug up a old knife I had, and it needs some reprofiling pretty bad, and was wondering if thats the way.

I grind away the shoulder until I bring the reprofiling all the way to the edge, then microbevel. To clean up the scrathes left by the D8XX I use a DMT fine at the reprofiled angle, then move on to the finer grit stones for my microbevel.

Mike

 

[knarfeng]

The medium stones are course enough for reprofiling D2 only if you're willing to spend 4-5 hours on it. That's how long it wook me to reprofile a 710HS (M2 steel). on the Sharpmaker. Not a good use of my time.

I don't think the Sharpmaker coarse stones are sharp enough to reprofile any blade steel.

I currently use a Norton aluminum oxide India combo stone, coarse/fine to take off the shoulder and set the approximate angle. I check my progress by using a sharpie to mark the edge after about 20-30 passes on each side and using the sharpmaker for a few strokes. If the sharpie is not completely removed down to the edge, I go back to the India stone. When a couple of passes on the Sharpmaker removes all the sharpie right down to the edge, I switch to the Sharpmaker coarse stones and run through as the Sharpmaker instructions say, corners then flats. It works for me.

I like the Sharpmaker because, although I have freehanded for a number of years, I still suck at maintaining a set angle. The Sharpmaker helps me maintain that.

I think it would work faster using a diamond stone, but I don't have one.

 

[SIFU1A]

try wrapping some medium coarse emory cloth around the std SM rods secured with tape or rubber bands, then use in the std way, works about as well as the SM diamond rods and is a lot cheaper, sandpaper will work too but is more messy than the emory cloth.