Thanks for Sharpmaker

J

Jraptor

Joined
Jun 13, 2009
Messages
43
I have always been inept at sharpening knives. The Sharpmaker has fixed that problem for me. The device and its enclosed DVD with instructions helped me immensely! Thank you.
 
That is awesome J. The Sharpmaker was the turning point in my life where I learned how to sharpen knives well. I still use it to this day and love it!
 
The sharpmaker is an excellent system for touch ups, but really its just the tip of the iceberg. Get yourself a couple good diamond stones (coarse and fine) and some nice spyderco benchstones (medium thru ultrafine) and a good strop and practice, practice, practice. There are not many things in the knife world more satisfying than a mirror polished, hair whittling freehand edge. After that you can easily touch up that edge with just a few swipes on the ultrafine sharpmaker stones and your strop and keep that that awesome edge almost indefinitely.
 
Indeed the Sharpmaker is great. The versatility of it is awesome and it is a great entry sharpening system. I hope to move up to freehand sharpening eventually.
 
Hi Jraptor,

Welcome to the Spyderco forum. Glad you are pleased with the Sharpmaker.

Making things sharp is its own world, separate and apart from knives.

sal
 
I have one that should be here tomorrow and plan on trying to sharpen a Kershaw Shallot with somewhat of a recurve blade using the triangle ends. Should I use the 40 degree setting? Any suggestions are appreicate as I have never used one nor sharpened free hand in 30 years?
 
sir_mike said:
I have one that should be here tomorrow and plan on trying to sharpen a Kershaw Shallot with somewhat of a recurve blade using the triangle ends. Should I use the 40 degree setting? Any suggestions are appreicate as I have never used one nor sharpened free hand in 30 years?
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Just watch the DVD included with the sharpmaker, it will clear up any confusion. On a side note, I use my sharpmaker slightly differently than shown on the DVD. Rather than making alternating passes I just sharpen on one side at a time until I form a small burr along the entirety of the edge then do the same on the other side. At that point you can make alternating passes to remove the burr and move on the the next finer grit and repeat. I also highly recommend the ultrafine rods as they definitely help a ton in getting that next level of sharpness as well as the diamond rods if you plan on doing a lot of reprofiling.. Other than that, practice, practice, practice.
 
Certainly start with the 40. If nothing else, it keeps the stones farther from scratching the sides of the blade. :)

The Sharpmaker handles recurves as easily as straight edges. Tips? Keep the blade vertical. Maintain a steady but light pressure. A good rhythmic stroke makes all this easier.

Later on, turn the base over and lay the stones in the two parallel grooves, and you've got an improvised benchstone to practice on. A ceramic benchstone. (Don't start free-handing using diamond.)

As a bonus, don't forget to sharpen old scissors and nail-clippers. I rejuvenated an old potato peeler!
 
mkjellgren said:
Just watch the DVD included with the sharpmaker, it will clear up any confusion. On a side note, I use my sharpmaker slightly differently than shown on the DVD. Rather than making alternating passes I just sharpen on one side at a time until I form a small burr along the entirety of the edge then do the same on the other side. At that point you can make alternating passes to remove the burr and move on the the next finer grit and repeat. I also highly recommend the ultrafine rods as they definitely help a ton in getting that next level of sharpness as well as the diamond rods if you plan on doing a lot of reprofiling.. Other than that, practice, practice, practice.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info but I just realized that I dont think it has the dvd with it. I found it slightly used but wont know for sure until it gets here.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Certainly start with the 40. If nothing else, it keeps the stones farther from scratching the sides of the blade. :)

The Sharpmaker handles recurves as easily as straight edges. Tips? Keep the blade vertical. Maintain a steady but light pressure. A good rhythmic stroke makes all this easier.

Later on, turn the base over and lay the stones in the two parallel grooves, and you've got an improvised benchstone to practice on. A ceramic benchstone. (Don't start free-handing using diamond.)

As a bonus, don't forget to sharpen old scissors and nail-clippers. I rejuvenated an old potato peeler!
Click to expand...

I would like to do some reprofiling just to learn how to do it. I like the idea of using the bottom as a benchstone. I heard about "Ruby" triangle stones for the sharpmaker to reprofile with. Heard they work better than the diamonds and only cost about $20 delivered. Anyone use or heard of these?
 
sir_mike said:
Thanks for the info but I just realized that I dont think it has the dvd with it. I found it slightly used but wont know for sure until it gets here.
Click to expand...

The video is quite easy to find online. As far as ruby stones go, I personally had never heard of them. Some quick digging brought up this thread:

http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?26752-Ruby-stones-in-Sharpmaker

It appears as though the ruby stones are much finer grit than the diamond rods and would not really serve a replacement.
 
Jraptor said:
I have always been inept at sharpening knives. The Sharpmaker has fixed that problem for me. The device and its enclosed DVD with instructions helped me immensely! Thank you.
Click to expand...
+1
I bought my first sharpmaker in 2005. It was my first Spyderco. IMHO it is one of the best products Spyderco ever made. Also the best, favorite and most used tool at my home.
 
The Spyderco Sharpmaker is really a pleasure to use. I have many sharpening systems and stones, but use my Sharpmaker the most. It is the first sharpener that enabled me to get really sharp and consistent edges on my knives. It is really worth it to purchase the diamond and ultra fine stones.
 
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