Whats the best sharpener for a noob?

H

HardTripper

Joined
Dec 13, 2010
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Im afraid to (( XXXX )) up my nice edges by free handing using only books as a guide, whats the best guided system? Spyderco? Lansky? Any suggestions?
 
Welcome to Bladeforums.
Please keep the language polite.
I have moved this to our forum for sharpening.
I personally find the Sharpmaker effective.
 
Sorry didnt realize language was a concern, ill clean it up. Spyderco triangle sharpmaker? Have you ever tried these Lansky ones? I can order the spyderco but have seen the lansky in stores and would rather not wait. I know nothing from sharpening, any videos, reviews, or threads you can point out?
 
The Sharpmaker comes with a DVD. I understand it was Sal Glesser's first product. Before he got into knives, he got into sharpening them. :)

I found it pretty intuitive, in fact, it helped me understand what actually happens when I sharpen a knife. This led me to free-handing in a few different styles. I still turn to the Sharpmaker for basic maintenance or touch-ups.

It sets up quickly, can be used to modify an edge without a long sharpening routine -- making the edge toothier or more polished, for example.

It can sharpen scissors, potato peelers, and nail clippers: I speak from experience. :)
 
Sharpmaker, DMT aligner, lansky, and many many others. Personally I'd pick the DMT aligner but it will really depend on the type of knives you sharpen.

Check the links in my sig for some intro sharpening information. Also google Verhoeven experiments on sharpening.
 
I have a Gerber LMF II which has a mystery angle, I hear 35ish degrees but not sure what inclusive means or how that will translate in the sharpening systems. I also have an okc rat 5 and a rapala martiini, oh and a bk9 in the mail :) HELP! Should I just order the spyderco and reap the benefits?
 
Go for it.

If you aren't sure if the Sharpmaker fits the angle of your knife, take marker and color the entire edge bevel. When you sharpen, it will only remove marker from the matching angle portion, which may be the whole bevel (good) or the top of the bevel, the shoulder (edge wider than the SM angle) or the very edge (edge narrower than the SM angle).

This tells you to use the other SM setting. When in doubt, or if the blade's edge is simply too narrow, don't worry: as long as you are getting the edge rather than the shoulder of the bevel, your knife will get sharper.
 
HardTripper is in Canada, that might effect the price.
It's worth shopping around for a better price, though.
 
dhaines said:
If you have the cash the wicked edge is awesome
Click to expand...
If $60 plus shipping is steep for him, I think a wicked edge sharpener is out of the question.

I would suggest giving the Work Sharp Knife & Tool Sharpener a look. It's $69.95 plus shipping from Woodcraft(don't know if you have one in Canada). I found the system to be pretty intuitive to use compared to regular freehand. Admittedly it's easy to screw up an edge with power tool sharpeners, but I consider myself an average person with mediocre sharpening skills, and the learning curve was pretty low on this one.

I had enough confidence to eventually put a mirror edge on my more expensive knives with it(Large Sebenza 21, Hinderer XM-18, Lionsteel SR-1). Though the catch is that putting a mirror edge on the blade requires aftermarket belts other than the ones included which kind of pushes the price before shipping up to $100(depending on how many "spares" you buy), and separate shipping from two different places could be pretty pricey to Canada.

Still, I've tried a few methods of sharpening:
-Spyderco Sharpmaker
-Edge Pro Apex
-DMT Duosharp Plus Benchstones
-Paper Wheels
-Japanese Waterstones
-DMT Duofolds
-Various Strops

And now the Work Sharp is my preferred sharpening method:thumbup:.
 
what kinda edge did you want and what kinda time and money did you want to invest? I suggest a paper wheel for time, effort, money/cost, and the razor edge you can put on the dullest knifes with no real experience needed (it will probally take you about 5-10 mins with an old kitchen knife to learn how to do it properly, it gets even faster with time and experience.)


if you go the money, get a wicked edge system or an edge pro but I think you could probally buy a few new knifes for that much money. I never used a Work Sharp or a belt sander (cant find either locally for some reason...) so I cant comment on those systems. sharpmaker is meh at best (I never really got a sharp edge out of one) and lanskey cost 2X as much as a paperwheel and give you an edge which is not even half as sharp as a paper wheel.
 
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I have the Spyderco Sharpmaker, and on some knives, it has done a great job for me. I have found that it isn't very effective on my thicker knives (i.e. Scrapyard SOD, etc) or on knives that you are trying to reprofile. Honestly, I've gone to the sandpaper and mousepad method, and I'll probably never look back. That method is a ton easier than freehanding on a stone, and I've been able to get some stupid-sharp blades even on the thickest of blades. I've bought wet/dry sandpaper in bulk on ebay, and I bought a dual-sided strop with course (black) and fine (green) compound.

Just my thoughts... If you want to know more, I'd be glad to detail out my sharpening procedure.

Have fun!
Nick
 
I going to have to say the DMT Aligner is the easiest for the noob, for I still can not get my blade as sharp with my Sharpmaker.
 
How does the Sharpmaker do with longer blades? I've used various croc stick off and on for years, but never could get them to do much for knives > 5" or so. I'd think the Sharpmaker would give me the same issues.

To the OP - I mostly use a DMT diamond stone. Seems to work well enough if you imagine you are trying to slice a layer off of the top of it.
 
Just understand, even with a guided 'system' it takes patience and practice until you get the feel for what you are really doing.

I strongly recommend watching bunches of youtube vids on whatever you are considering, there's even a lot of vids if you just search for 'water stone sharpening' for how to use basic stones.

I have an EdgePro Apex $$$ works well, but is pricey. I also have a pretty pricey set of stones. Both work well once you get the hang of it and each have some advantages for me. The Sharpmaker is nice because it will work on recurve blades better than the stuff I have even.

Start on old kitchen knives or old pocket knives you don't care about cosmetically. You can 'fix' almost any hand sharpening mistake, with just a matter of time and patience, but if you make a deep enough one, you will have to lose some steel to balance it out again, thus using old knives you don't care much about.
 
I am a sharpmaker fan. But it's not great for serious re-profiling. I would recommend the ultra-fine stones to put a really nice edge on it. I have the lansky even though it works well it's annoying to set up. So I rarely use it. The Sharpmaker is quick easy and simple.
 
My standard reply for noobs: Norton Coarse/Fine combo stone. After some practice, this edge will easily shave my arm, and will catch hair on the back of my head 1/2" above the skin. Going slow and getting good technique is key. Don't rush or you will damage the edge accidentally.

Lay the stone on a table with good light. Put the knife on the stone with the edge facing you. Do not slide the knife at this point or you will scratch it. Lift the knife until you see the edge touch the stone. Use this to find your angle. It will match the factory angle. Take strokes toward you, 20 or 30 per side. After sharpening one side, check for a burr on the opposite side. I do this by stropping the edge on the back of my arm or head. A burr will catch and scrape the hair, and a smooth edge gives no pulling. After you have been able to get a burr on each side (not at the same time), move to the fine stone. Raise the angle slightly, and take alternating single strokes on each side to remove the burr. 10-20 per side should do it.

If you can cut accurate angles on wood, you can make all kinds of jigs/guides. I cut three 4x4s at 12, 17, and 22 degree angles. I then screwed each one to a 1x6 base. Now I lean my stone against the 4x4 and have a Sharpmaker like angle guide.
 
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