something besides a sharpmaker

N

newknife

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Jul 6, 2008
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I'm looking for something - besides a sharpmaker- that will help me put a good edge back on a couple of my knives. I've noticed, for me at least, that the sharpmaker is good at maitaining an edge but if the edge gets really dull it doesn't work so well. Should I look at a Lansky? Any other recommendations (besides freehand)?

For example..my Izula came with a GREAT factory edge but I can't get it back to it with the sharpmaker.
 
with the paper wheels it is sort of freehand since you hold the blade at the angle you choose but the wheels do the work for you. all you do is run the blade across the grit wheel to work up a burr and across the slotted wheel to remove the burr and strop or polish the edge. i can go from a dull edge to razor sharp in under a minute. i use the slotted wheel to remove the burr i put on with a belt sander when convexing an edge. you can sharpen your izula in no time on it and if it gets a little dull you can give it a few passes on the slotted wheel to bring the edge back. an izula or rc3 with a convex edge thats done right is wicked.
 
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newknife said:
my Izula came with a GREAT factory edge but I can't get it back to it with the sharpmaker.
Click to expand...

I don't see how you are having issues with the SM on the Izula. I have 2 myself that are easily done on the 40º setting. In fact, I had a new one come in yesterday and within 15 minutes or so it was hair whittling sharp. Have you tried the sharpie method? When was the last time you cleaned your stones? How much pressure are you using? What kind of results do you get on your other knives? Have you watched the DVD that came with your sharpmaker (assuming you have the 204 version)?

Mark your entire edge like this.
8f9fe96d.jpg


You are doing the ACTUAL sharpening when you get results like this. You want to only remove metal from the very edge. When you get the results, make sure to use LIGHT strokes when you get to the flats of the whine stones.

b38fd7ec.jpg


Went through 75% of this cardboard and was dull as a butter knife.
6b5683f8.jpg


Back to hair whittling sharp in about 10 minutes from the butter knife dullness from the previous picture.

22f64e78.jpg


Both of these can whittle hair.
d1d3c573.jpg


Give your sharpmaker a chance before you give up on it. Since you already have the system, you might as well learn how to use it to your greatest benefit.
 
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richard j said:
with the paper wheels it is sort of freehand since you hold the blade at the angle you choose but the wheels do the work for you. all you do is run the blade across the grit wheel to work up a burr and across the slotted wheel to remove the burr and strop or polish the edge. i can go from a dull edge to razor sharp in under a minute. i use the slotted wheel to remove the burr i put on with a belt sander when convexing an edge. you can sharpen your izula in no time on it and if it gets a little dull you can give it a few passes on the slotted wheel to bring the edge back. an izula or rc3 with a convex edge thats done right is wicked.
Click to expand...
I second this. The Paper Wheels are laughably fast. It'll take some practice to make your edges look pretty, but you DO have freedom to decide what angle you want your knives at. You can easily sharpen every knife in your kitchen to a hair whittling edge in 15 minutes or less. You can also handle the tricky recurves and hawkbill blades(excellent on my Super Karambit).

As a matter of fact, you might find more time looking for dull knives to sharpen rather than finding time to sharpen that one knife.
 
Edge Pro is my recommendation, the more I sharpen though the better I get at free hand, seeing the angles with the Edge Pro helped me see and duplicate them free hand, I'm now hitting 30° inclusive with about 4° inclusive variation and barring a warped blade or changes in thickness my bevels are much more even. So I've transitioned to using the bench stone for profiling and re-profiling and using the edge pro to correct the uneven portions and for final finish.

After I feel I've got free hand sharpening on the stones worked out well enough I'll probably start using paper wheels, at least for profiling/re-profiling and finishing on the edge pro.

For your sharpmaker, I think I've heard of diamond rods, that would help with metal removal.

Aside from the Edge Pro and bench stones my direct knowledge is very limited.

I hope this post helps.
 
noctis, if you're looking for more knives to sharpen you need to stop by the local fire dept and take care of their knives once you get better at it. offer the service for free though and do the same for any police officer or emt. a sharp knife could help them save someones life faster.
 
krazichinaman said:
I don't see how you are having issues with the SM on the Izula. I have 2 myself that are easily done on the 40º setting. In fact, I had a new one come in yesterday and within 15 minutes or so it was hair whittling sharp. Have you tried the sharpie method? When was the last time you cleaned your stones? How much pressure are you using? What kind of results do you get on your other knives? Have you watched the DVD that came with your sharpmaker (assuming you have the 204 version)?

Mark your entire edge like this.
8f9fe96d.jpg


You are doing the ACTUAL sharpening when you get results like this. You want to only remove metal from the very edge. When you get the results, make sure to use LIGHT strokes when you get to the flats of the whine stones.

b38fd7ec.jpg


Went through 75% of this cardboard and was dull as a butter knife.
6b5683f8.jpg


Back to hair whittling sharp in about 10 minutes from the butter knife dullness from the previous picture.

22f64e78.jpg


Both of these can whittle hair.
d1d3c573.jpg


Give your sharpmaker a chance before you give up on it. Since you already have the system, you might as well learn how to use it to your greatest benefit.
Click to expand...

Thanks...I think I'll give this a try first. I'll post tomorrow and say how things turned out.
 
check out the Wicked Edge! i highly recommend it!!! they have a web-site with a video...check it out! :)

hope that helps!
 
Ok...tried the sharpie method. One side of the knife worked great..meaning as I sharpened it the marker on the edge was scrapped off. However, on the other side of the knife the marker is scrapped off ABOVE the edge. So there is still a fine line of marker on the edge of one side of the knife. So for some reason I'm not getting the edge of that side of the knife sharpened. ???

***not that is should matter in regards to sharpening but I tried this methond on a RAT-1 instead of the Izula.
 
if its hitting high on the edge, the angle the blade is held at is off and you need to correct it and try again. the factory edge grind being off could also be causing this.
 
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richard j said:
if its hitting high on the edge, the angle the blade is held at is off and you need to correct it and try again. the factory edge grind being off could also be causing this.
Click to expand...

so then each edge could be at a different angle...which is where my problem might be?
 
Exactly newknife, every knife comes with a different angle. You can make it right with the tools you have, but it will take time.
 
i sharpen a lot of knives and i see some factory edges that are off quite a bit but you have to consider these people probably sharpen a lot of knives daily. some edges are bound to be off a little. make sure you're holding the knive the same for each side.
i sharpen on the wheels and i have to match up the factory angles by eye unless i'm changing the angle or convexing the edge.
 
As others are saying you are only sharpening 1 side and the other you are "rebeveling (removing the shoulder). This will explain why you aren't getting results. You need to either compensate for the other side as richard j stated earlier or you need to rebevel that side until it matches the SM angles. On the SM this will take some time depending on how far away you are.
 
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