Time to Sharpen...AGAIN!!!

Joined
Oct 20, 1999
Messages
422
I have finally worn down the ceramic rods on my sharpener to the point that I notice it takes a great deal more time to reach a certain level of "sharp."

My question...could any of you guys rek'mnd to me a good sharpening system? I am not overly concerned with price and complexity. I have spent thousands on knives, and spent thousands of hours oggling over them! I wouldn't sharpen my CHris Reeve's knives with just any run of the mill system!

I obviously need this to handle straight edge and serrations with equal ability-most of my knives are serrated...(Spydies)

Thanks!
Steve in NYC
sld_1@excite.com
 
DANGELO,
1) Have you tried cleaning your ceramic rods with Comet (or Ajax or brand X) and a scotch-brite pad? If that doesn't work, then:

2) Can't go wrong with a Spyderco Sharpmaker 204.


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Dave

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of More Knives
 
Steve,

I can highly recommend the Edge Pro knife sharpeners, either the Apex or the Pro.
IMHO, it is the best on the market!!
 
Definitely go with SPYDERCO Tri-Angle Sharpmaker!

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Sergiusz Mitin
gunwriter
Lodz, Poland
 
Well, if price is truly no object, get one of the high-quality powered sharpeners. If not, but you want the best manual system, EdgePro is supposed to be the best, and mine is constructed incredibly well (still haven't had enough time to use it).

--JB

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e_utopia@hotmail.com
 
If you don't mid spending the $$$, get tweo systems. Get a Sharpmaker for your serrations and something else for your plain edged blades. You have already heard recommendations about the Edge Pro. I can tell you that I have the Razor's Edge Pro kit and I have very very sharp blades. It took me a while to learn how to use the guides properly but I love my kit now. I am also learning how to sharpend freehand with good results, and this is another benefit of the Razor's Edge kit. Their folding steel is great too.

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"Come What May..."
 
I just bought a triple stone sharpener. It's set up with coarse, medium, and fine stones. I like to use bench stones and freehand. In "the field" I carry a pocket sized Diamond sharpener (usually fine or med) or a pocket sized medium stone.
 
I think one of the best diamond sharpeners is the Ultimate Edge.It has an oblong shape so you can sharpen serrated edges as well,even the small ones.The one I have is 10" long.Then use a Crock Stick to finish it up.For real dull edges I would start with a Norton double edge at least 6-8 " With these you could sharpen any blade.
 
Kuku, nope, but you should be able to find them, and maybe some of the experts will chime in with something. As far as I know, there are two types. One uses spinning ceramic wheels, set with their axes in the same direction, one farther along than the other, and overlapping. They rotate so that the upper edges travel toward each other (ie, left one goes CW, right one goes CCW), and the knife is drawn through, greating a hollow grind. The other is the 'slack belt' setup used to create convex edges. More skill is required, but the convex edge is quite a bit stronger than the hollow one. I know at least that Jerry Hossom uses that techniqure, so you could drop him a line ( http://www.hossom.com/ ), and I'm sure several other makers do, as well.

I finally got a chance to try out my EdgePro, and I wrote up a mini-review in another post, so I'll just quote myself:

***

Ok, I made it a point to play with the EdgePro, and am insanely happy with it. There is simply no comparison with any other sharpener I've used. With the fixed angles, I can actually see the slight variations in thickness of my BM140HS, making the meeting of the edge and the BT2-coated flats slightly wavy. At first, I thought something was wrong with my technique, then I slowly ran my finger along the flat, and sure enough there a slight irregularity in a few places. Never could get an edge accurate enough to see details like that with my sharpmaker.

Setting the double-bevel was quite easy. First I sharpened to 320 grit at the 19-degree setting, then I slapped in the 180 grit stone, adjusted to 15 degrees, and added the new bevel.

Total time was around 45 minutes, including setting it up and figuring it out. I expect that number to go down quite a lot with more practice. Just guessing, I think I could easily do a knife well in five minutes.

Big thanks to Jerry Hossom for selling me a slightly-used EdgePro Professional, without which I would still be back in the dark ages.

***

--JB

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e_utopia@hotmail.com
 
Hey I wouldn't give up on your ceramic rod so fast! If you get good with one you can put really Razor edges on knives. Make sure it is clean and just for touch ups pull the cutting edge away and then strop it with white rouge on leather.
What can I say...I am cheap i guess. But the way I do it works fine for me...I hope you get it figured out! For high carbon steel knives that I make and INFI for my busses, a ceramic and leather will go far.
God Bless!
Luke
 
Steve,

I go to my Skarb ( www.skarb.com )first since the Edge-Pro takes just a minute to set up.

The Skarb is smaller, so I can leave it set up in my shop.

For really serious stuff the E-P.



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Frank Norman
Words are not deeds.
 
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