Sharpmaker use - couple questions

T

tuffluv

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Feb 24, 2015
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When using the flat sides of the stones, I know the goal is to keep the bevel in constant contact across the entire width of the stone, but in reality, are you guys able to do this consistently? When i'm sharpening, my blade "wiggles" slightly during the stroke. Sometimes the bevel only contacts the edges of the stone, and sometimes it makes full contact. The angle of sharpening remains consistent however.

Is it alright to only use the ultra-fine stones for weekly touch-ups followed by stropping? Should I drop to the fine, then ultra-fine followed by stropping?

Should I only strop for weekly touch-ups?
 
Firm wrist, light pressure and lots of practice. I use mine now mostly to keep a 20 degree micro bevel on my kitchen knives. Fine stones do the trick.
 
If I read your post correctly, you mean you have a bit of side to side wiggle vs top to bottom wiggle. In that case, it should be fine. You're not changing the angle of the bevel against the rods. I doubt I'm 100% perfect with every stroke.
 
Think of using the Sharpmaker ultra fine stones like a strop to keep your edges as sharp as you like to maintain. Use a sharpie to mark the edge periodically to keep your movement as consistent as possible, in terms of mechanical contact and speed (there is no reason to go fast). If I'm going to bother using the fine stones to bring up the level of sharpness then I run through the set of mediums first.
 
When I'm using the sharpmaker I'll make sure to kick the handle of the knife out and away from the stones to get the tip to make more contact. With the sharpmaker as long as you have the blade verticle 90 degrees to the stone it will sharpen as long as it doesn't leave the 90 degree center...Doesn't matter if you wiggle the handle in and out a bit but try not to. Like stated before after the medium rods let your stokes get lighter and lighter till you feel like you aren't even contacting the stone much
 
Megabassx7 said:
When I'm using the sharpmaker I'll make sure to kick the handle of the knife out and away from the stones to get the tip to make more contact. With the sharpmaker as long as you have the blade verticle 90 degrees to the stone it will sharpen as long as it doesn't leave the 90 degree center...Doesn't matter if you wiggle the handle in and out a bit but try not to. Like stated before after the medium rods let your stokes get lighter and lighter till you feel like you aren't even contacting the stone much
Click to expand...

By pulling the handle away from the stones, you are changing the angle, right?
 
Drop to fine THEN the ultra fine. Even for touch up. Better to go fine and forget the ultra rather than the reverse.
(lose the strop)
 
Megabassx7 said:
When I'm using the sharpmaker I'll make sure to kick the handle of the knife out and away from the stones to get the tip to make more contact.
Click to expand...

I'm right there with you. I do the same..
wvdavidr said:
By pulling the handle away from the stones, you are changing the angle, right?
Click to expand...
Not necessarily. It's not really "pulling" the handle away..
It's more like "rotating" with the curvature the blade.

Your still making full contact on the cutting edge and at the same angle/degree. Your Just moving the handle away from the stones, to keep it that way.




As for the rest of it.. I keep a toothy edge, on my blades..
I go from diamond/CBN rods, to strop or sometimes I'll drop to med stones for the micro-bevel and then strop.

I can't remember the last time I had the fine or ultra fine stones out of the cabinet.
 
wvdavidr said:
By pulling the handle away from the stones, you are changing the angle, right?
Click to expand...

In reality, you likely are changing the angle in order to maintain flush contact with the bevel; but that's usually the norm in sharpening the portion forward of the belly and toward the tip. Not many factory knives maintain exactly the same edge angle all the way to the tip; it's rare when they do. Instead, the angle near the tip is usually more obtuse, often a LOT more, to maintain a relatively consistent bevel width in the (usually) thicker steel near the tip. Alternatively, if you were to maintain the same, consistent angle as the rest of the edge, and take it far enough in grinding to a full apex, you'd eventually see the bevels get much wider near the tip than they'd be further back along the blade's edge. The steel is usually thicker near the tip, because it's closer to the spine of the blade (assuming an upswept tip and a spine-to-edge taper, as is the case on most knives). I think mainly for aesthetic reasons, most factories will forego a fully consistent edge angle for a consistent and uniform-looking bevel width instead, necessitating increasing the edge angle near the tip, as many users of knives don't seem to like the look of the alternative, which is a widening bevel near the tip.


David
 
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Depending on how much belly the knife has, In my experience you have to move the handle sideways quite a bit in order to touch the bevel/apex near/at the tip, otherwise I would have to lift/tilt the knife in the 90 degree plane so much that it becomes awkward. The angle stays the same along the entire edge but as David mentioned, in relation to the often thicker stock near the tip, the bevel gets wider. In some (likely higher quality) knives, the thicker stock near the tip was accounted for when the knife was ground so when you come along with the sharp maker and stick with the angle all along, you change the factory angle potentially.
 
I've maintained edges on blades using only the UF bench stone . It depends on your use honestly . My UF bench stone is old now and doesn't cut like it used to but it polishes better than before .

Even the medium stone doesn't remove much material again mine are wearing smooth and I get a slightly clearer polish off the medium stone and use it to polish out scratches from an 8k diamond .

When touching up with your UF give it 10-20 passes and check the edge if it's not back to sharpness drop down to fine or medium no need doing 100 passes on an UF stone when 10 on a medium will get you where you need to be .
 
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