The Spyderco Sharpmaker is the best sharpener in the world!

[Cynic2701]

The Sharpmaker is great for learning the basics of sharpening. Re-beveling and mirror polishing, while possible, would take a long time on the Sharpmaker.

These were done free-hand using the coarse/fine/ultrafine Sharpmaker rods.

Edit: These were polished after creating shallower bevels on much coarser diamond stones.

Sage 2

BM 940

 

[CrimsonTideShooter]

Cynic were those bevels polished with the UF rods only?

 

[Nikkogi]

IME, the Sharpmaker is not bad for "touching up" a blade, but it isn't a good choice for re-sharpening a dull knife, and is one of the worst choices for heavy re-profiling.

I disagree with you. Using the corners of the course stones, it is very possible to easily resharpen...

 

[Cynic2701]

Cynic were those bevels polished with the UF rods only?

Yes, after the re-beveling, the highest grit they were polished to were the UF rods.

You could make them even more mirror-like by using 1 micron lapping tape, or by stropping on 1 micron pastes, but since I actually use my knives I don't find any real-world benefit for the extra effort beyond 3 micron. The mirror finish from the UF rods is impressive enough to be worth the effort, and I have noticed a slight difference in cutting cardboard between a finish on the Fine and the Ultra Fine.

On the other hand, if I was sharpening sushi knives, then it would be worth the effort to go beyond the UF rods.

 

[CrimsonTideShooter]

Thanks for the info. I normally use the edge pro to get mirror bevels but I will see what I can do with my UF rods.

The edge pro is an awesome system, but it cannot fully replace the sharpmaker IMO. The EP and sharpmaker both shine when paired together.

Yes, after the re-beveling, the highest grit they were polished to were the UF rods.

You could make them even more mirror-like by using 1 micron lapping tape, or by stropping on 1 micron pastes, but since I actually use my knives I don't find any real-world benefit for the extra effort beyond 3 micron. The mirror finish from the UF rods is impressive enough to be worth the effort, and I have noticed a slight difference in cutting cardboard between a finish on the Fine and the Ultra Fine.

On the other hand, if I was sharpening sushi knives, then it would be worth the effort to go beyond the UF rods.

 

[Cynic2701]

Thanks for the info. I normally use the edge pro to get mirror bevels but I will see what I can do with my UF rods.

The edge pro is an awesome system, but it cannot fully replace the sharpmaker IMO. The EP and sharpmaker both shine when paired together.

Sure, no problem. I'm sure that I'm nowhere near as accurate as an EdgePro, but I really like the fact that I can get the results that I do by hand alone.

I'm probably also a bit quicker than an EP, I can go from a factory edge to the edges that you see there in about 20-25 minutes if I really work at it.

Usually I just relax and take my time, so most of the time I do it in about 40-45 minutes.

I'm considering getting an EP at some point, but I am thinking that if I can do it free hand, the money would be better spent on stones/strops/lapping tapes.

Edit: I should also note that the bevels are not completely flat. Because of the very slight inaccuracies from doing it free hand, the back bevels have a slight convex shape to them. I find that this removes the "shoulders" of the back bevel, and allows the primary grind to smoothly transition to the back bevel. This makes slicing much smoother.

 

[GRIM 62]

I use my Sharpmaker rods for maintenance and touch ups.But,I use diamond bench stones for reprofiling the edges on a knife.That's what works for me.

 

[trugracie]

GREAT!
Thanks to you guys I just ordered a Sharpmaker myself.
I love the way my belt sander polishes edges, however hate the fact that I cant get it the same all the hay to the hilt due to the belt slacking on the edges. For some reason I end up getting a little dip at the hilt where you can tell I wasn't able to get in there cause of the slack on the sides of the belts.

 

[mongatu]

What grit coarse sandpaper would be recommended for wrapping around the Sharpmaker rods for enabling it to be used for faster reprofiling and how do you attach the sandpaper to the rods?