total beginner needing help

R

Reilly 1989

Joined
Jan 31, 2013
Messages
5
Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum, new to knives in any serious was and new to knife sharpening. So I'm a total newbie. Please excuse my total ignorance :) I need a bit of help. (and when i say a bit i mean quite a lot).

As a birthday present i was given a spyderco triangle sharpmaker after hearing about how good it is. I know it can do its job but i just can't seem to get my knife razor sharp. I can appreciate the beauty of a sharp knife but i need it such more for practical reasons. The job i do means i need a really sharp knife on me during work hours (fyi my job isn't serial killing lol) and what i have just doesn't seem to cut the mustard (was that a sharpening pun). My knife is made by buffalo river. It's half serated half regular blade and after i gave the spyderco my best shot it seemed to get pretty sharp. It took hairs off my leg and the paper test seemed ok as well. It just doesn't seem to be the scary sharp i keep hearing about. Maybe it is and as newbie im just asking to much since i don't really have any comparison.

Any help on the subject would be massively appreciated. The base of the knife towards the handle is reasonably sharp but the closer to the tip the more blunt the knife is. I also have no idea about different steel and grits etc so any advise you could give me would be great. I want to get into this properly and don't want to pick up awful habits early on.

Thanks again everyone.
 
Maybe the knife bevel is a little wider than 40 degrees inclusive. The Sharpmaker works well for knives with a 40 degree edge. It will take some time to re-profile the knife but it can be done. I had the same problem as well. Tilting the knife in the opposite direction of the rod helped a little to make sure I was sharpening the bevel.
 
Hey, that's great thanks. Ilk give it a go. So at what point if any should the 30 be used? Thanks again for the reply
 
The 30* bevel would be used if the existing bevel is 30*. Your knife's existing bevel should be profiled at or near the 30* or 40* bevel for the Sharpmaker to really shine and do its job. It is more of a maintenance tool than a re-beveler. If you have someone re-bevel it to one of the above bevels, then you can get it scary sharp. It is possible to re-bevel on the Sharpmaker with the diamond rods if you have lots of time and patience. Some on here use some wet dry sandpaper in the 220 300 grit wrapped around the rods to re-profile. Never tried it myself, but it should work if you are careful and take your time.

For my uses, which is light work, I would profile to the 30* bevel. If you are using for heavy duty hard use, you might want to use 40*.

Blessings,

Omar
 
Thanks Omar. So does the quality of steel play a part in how sharp the finish is? Like I say at the minute I'm just using a buffalo river knife which I don't expect to be the greatest.
 
I would use a 30* bevel, as it will give you a good sharp edge to work with, and easy to touch up when dulled. In my mind, 40* is better for larger fixed blade knives used for hacking, cutting bone and other hard on the edge uses. Some on here will disagree, which is ok, as we all have different opinions. I think the more acute angle works better for a folder, since less force is normally used with them.

Blessings,

Omar
 
The steel does matter in how sharp you can get a knife, but that's probably not as noticeable as how long the knife will hold the sharp edge. What is it that you mostly cut at your job?

I use a Lansky diamond system and I bought the extra coarse stone for re-profiling blades. Even with the extra coarse stone it takes a while to re-profile an edge.

The best tip I've gotten here is to use a marker to color the entire edge of your knife, then pass it a few times over the coarsest rod you have, at the desired angle and check the colored edge. If there is still a little line of color on the very edge of the blade you need to keep running the blade down the rod until you knock the paint off of the edge. Now you know that the angle is set to where you want it and you can proceed to the next rod.
 
There are only two things you need to know:

1) How to raise a burr the full length of both sides.
2) How to properly remove that burr by using ever lighter strokes and moving to ever finer stones.

There are many threads here on sharpening and many on the strengths and weaknesses of the Sharpmaker. The best approach is to start reading so you understand the theory of sharpening and then begin to practice. Lots of very knowledgeable people have written reams here on proper techniques, but it becomes tiresome to continually respond to the same questions over and over.

If you want the easiest approach, send your knife to one of the sharpening gurus on this forum. Have them put a perfect 15 dps (degrees per side, or 30 degrees inclusive). Then, as it becomes dull, use the 40-degree stone setting on your Sharpmaker to very lightly maintain a sharp edge. (You'll still need to understand how to raise and remove a burr, but it will be extremely easy with this approach, even for a beginner.)

After many sharpenings, when the secondary bevel begins to thicken, send it back to have the 30-degree bevel re-established.
 
^^+1
You won't get a more precise answer and a great one to follow than what Twindog posted above. Excellent advice!

Blessings,

Omar
 
Thanks you all very much and again excuse my total ignorance. So are people on here willing to do that kind of stuff. It would be massively appreciated of someone could pout a great edge on it.
 
Both Richardj and Knifenut1013 have sharpening services offered on the forum. Both are very good. Others will sharpen for you, too.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/870-The-Custom-Shop-Services-Offered

But it really is important to understand the theory. The Sharpmaker is a nice sharpener, but it has a lot of limitations. If you take the time to read the sharpening threads here, you'll quickly pick up on the important issues.

I'd recommend you start with a simple V edge. Use a protractor to draw a 30-degree V edge. Then draw in a stone at different angles -- 15 dps (30 degrees inclusive on the Sharpmaker), 20 dps (40 degrees inclusive on the Sharpmaker) and 25 dps -- and see how the stone contacts the edge.

Then use a Sharpie to paint the edge and see where the stone scrapes off the ink. Get a high-quality loupe to see what is happening at the edge. Teach yourself how to feel the presence and absence of a burr. These are simple skills that will make knife collecting/using a lot more fun.
 
Thanks for all your advise. It really is appreciated. I'm sure ill get there in the end. Like I say I just don't want to pick up any bad habits and ruin both knife and sharpener now and in the future.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top