When do you replace the coarse stone on the Sharpmaker?

elpidi0526

elpidi0526

Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
48
What exactly are the telltale signs that it's time to replace the gray coarse stone rods from the Sharpmaker system?

I'm noticing that the three corners on my stones are starting to flatten out, especially towards the middle (I'm sure that's normal "wear and tear") but I didn't know what I should be looking for specifically that would indicate the--"okay, NOW it's time to replace them"--factor. I guess put another way, when does the wear of the stone rods begin to afford negligible (or even adverse) returns on a blade?

Obviously, I've yet to have to replace the rods with a fresh pair and would appreciate the help of those who've already had to walk down this road. Thanks.
 
They should last almost forever, I have had my benchstones for at least 10 years and they still work fine you just need to keep them clean. Do you have any pic's of the wear?
 
You meantioned gray course stones.... Are you talking about bench stones or the brown medium rods on the sharpmaker 204? I wasn't aware that there was a course stone option. Just diamond, medium (brown), fine (white), ultra fine (white). The fine/uf/diamond shouldn't wear out. The browns last about 5-6 years of daily use I've heard.
 
elpidi0526 said:
What exactly are the telltale signs that it's time to replace the gray coarse stone rods from the Sharpmaker system?

I'm noticing that the three corners on my stones are starting to flatten out, especially towards the middle (I'm sure that's normal "wear and tear") but I didn't know what I should be looking for specifically that would indicate the--"okay, NOW it's time to replace them"--factor. I guess put another way, when does the wear of the stone rods begin to afford negligible (or even adverse) returns on a blade?

Obviously, I've yet to have to replace the rods with a fresh pair and would appreciate the help of those who've already had to walk down this road. Thanks.
Click to expand...

If your corners are flattening out, it's time to replace the stones. This is the biggest tell-tale sign.

Hope this helps.

Kristi
 
knifenut1013 said:
They should last almost forever, I have had my benchstones for at least 10 years and they still work fine you just need to keep them clean. Do you have any pic's of the wear?
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Yeah, that's cool. And like I said, I'm not really having any problems with it...I just noticed that the edges are getting a little worn. And the "utility stones," as Sal calls them on the DVD do wear (about 9:45 mins into DVD). Now the initial wear may is obviously okay but my question is whether or not there is a point where the the rod gets too worn down, worn to an extent where it no longer does well what it was intended to do. Again, I'm just noticing that the middle of each of the three corners of my coarser rods are starting to flatten out. May not be a big deal. I was just wondering about it is all.

Josh K said:
You meantioned gray course stones.... Are you talking about bench stones or the brown medium rods on the sharpmaker 204? I wasn't aware that there was a course stone option. Just diamond, medium (brown), fine (white), ultra fine (white). The fine/uf/diamond shouldn't wear out. The browns last about 5-6 years of daily use I've heard.
Click to expand...

I didn't realize there was another rod other than the diamond rod, i.e., I didn't realize that there was an "ultra fine" rod. I just looked them up on Spyderco's website. Thanks for that serendipitous tip!

Yeah, I guess I'm referring to the medium rods (guess they do look more brown than gray...my bad). So you say they last about 5-6 years of "daily" use? Well, I'm nowhere near the "5-6 years" or the "daily" usage. But I guess a more pointed question is, What are you looking for in determining it is time to get some new ones? Are we strictly relying on its inability to bring our edge together or can we also visually see that it's time to retire the tired rods?

Thanks for the help guys!
 
tazkristi said:
If your corners are flattening out, it's time to replace the stones. This is the biggest tell-tale sign.

Hope this helps.

Kristi
Click to expand...

Kristi, are you the

Kristi Hunter
U.S. / Canadian Government Sales
Spyderco, Inc.

Are you that Kristi?
 
elpidi0526 said:
Yeah, that's cool. And like I said, I'm not really having any problems with it...I just noticed that the edges are getting a little worn. And the "utility stones," as Sal calls them on the DVD do wear (about 9:45 mins into DVD). Now the initial wear may is obviously okay but my question is whether or not there is a point where the the rod gets too worn down, worn to an extent where it no longer does well what it was intended to do. Again, I'm just noticing that the middle of each of the three corners of my coarser rods are starting to flatten out. May not be a big deal. I was just wondering about it is all.



I didn't realize there was another rod other than the diamond rod, i.e., I didn't realize that there was an "ultra fine" rod. I just looked them up on Spyderco's website. Thanks for that serendipitous tip!

Yeah, I guess I'm referring to the medium rods (guess they do look more brown than gray...my bad). So you say they last about 5-6 years of "daily" use? Well, I'm nowhere near the "5-6 years" or the "daily" usage. But I guess a more pointed question is, What are you looking for in determining it is time to get some new ones? Are we strictly relying on its inability to bring our edge together or can we also visually see that it's time to retire the tired rods?

Thanks for the help guys!
Click to expand...

Have you washed the rods recently? There may be a buildup of metal that is adversally affecting the ability to sharpen.

I don't plan on wearing mine out anytime soon, but what I would look for would be signs of physical wear on the rods. Hollowing out of points of most wear (lay the rod flat on the table, and if the center is "hollowed" out a bit, you're wearing the rod down more in the middle, and the rod is wearing out.)

Things I'd also look for would be any spots of discoloration that aren't washing out. Maybe some pitting.

Post some pics? How long have you had the rods? They should last a few years minimum. Daily use would be (in my mind) using them on one or two knives a day, not reprofiling a kitchen set every day.
 
I'm not having a problem sharpening. Sorry I wasn't clear about that. And I don't really think there's anything wrong with the rods...they're still sharpening up my knives just fine. I was just a little concerned about what might happen in the future once the rods become even more worn--and--what I might need to be aware of later when the time does come to replace them. (And it's not really the flat surfaces that I'm referring to but the three corners themselves...each corner is just getting flattening out towards the center...kinda like I'm turning the triangle into a hexagon, if you get what I mean.)

And yep, I regularly clean them up with Comet and a plastic brillo pad to keep up the abrasiveness of the rods.

Finally, sorry about the lack of pictures guys. My wife broke the camera so I'm making her get a 3rd job to pay for it and my knives (j/k, she's awesome!).

Thanks for the help Josh.
 
I don't think you'd see any difference in the surface of the rod, even as it wears, it's probably pretty homogenous on the browns and fines. The UF are fines that have been tumbled, IIRC, so those could sharpen differently if the surface wears away.

I think the only issue is geometry of the rod. If it dishes in the middle and if you lose the use of tight radius corners for things like recurves.
 
Excuse me if this is off topic but....

Is it just me or does the freehand side of the sharpmaker works 2x better than the 40 and 30 degree angle side :confused:

For Example, i was disappointed with my edge on my Centofante III and tried using the 40 degree at first but it didnt get my edge laser sharp and same thing with the 30 degree side.

But today i use the freehand side and the edge is laser sharp now :confused:
I guess im more skilled at freehand ;)


P.S.: I always wanted to know the life expectancy of the sharpmaker stones ;) thanks for the info
 
Well on the flat sides, you're going to get more grinding done per stroke than the corners (more surface area on the flats).
 
PetaBread said:
Excuse me if this is off topic but....

Is it just me or does the freehand side of the sharpmaker works 2x better than the 40 and 30 degree angle side :confused:

For Example, i was disappointed with my edge on my Centofante III and tried using the 40 degree at first but it didnt get my edge laser sharp and same thing with the 30 degree side.

But today i use the freehand side and the edge is laser sharp now :confused:
I guess im more skilled at freehand ;)


P.S.: I always wanted to know the life expectancy of the sharpmaker stones ;) thanks for the info
Click to expand...


I lied.....:grumpy: the flat side made my edge dull for some reason:confused:
This Sharpmaker is making me angry.:mad:

Hmm.... maybe i should get the diamond stones now that my cenotfante III's edge is dull..........
 
THG said:
Time to get out the marker...
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Even then you really shouldn't need it.

Try watching the DVD again if you're new at it. Make sure you hold the knife vertically, and not slanting it weird. Go through the progression. Brown corners till you can slice some paper, and then twenty strokes a side for each step there on.

How long since you've sharpened your Cent3 ?
 
Another good tip for the Sharpmaker is to practice while in front of a mirror. Really helps you to see if you're actually vertical or not when sharpening.

Which is obviously critical to achieving good results. It takes practice.
 
I hope another question isn't out of line here. I got a sharpmaker in late 07. The brown rods are "dimpled" for lack of better words along the edges so that it kind of rattles the edge when sharpening. They have been like this from the beginning, and I've been meaning to ask but don't use them enough to remember. IS it normal to not have a continuous smooth edge on the edges? I do not use excessive speed or pressure as I am well versed on sharpening but thought it would be good to try out.
 
CUTS LIKE A KRIS said:
I hope another question isn't out of line here. I got a sharpmaker in late 07. The brown rods are "dimpled" for lack of better words along the edges so that it kind of rattles the edge when sharpening. They have been like this from the beginning, and I've been meaning to ask but don't use them enough to remember. IS it normal to not have a continuous smooth edge on the edges? I do not use excessive speed or pressure as I am well versed on sharpening but thought it would be good to try out.
Click to expand...

Probably not. Have the rods rattled around at all? Or been struck lightly? They could have chipped along the edge. The ceramic is pretty fragile.
 
CUTS LIKE A KRIS said:
I hope another question isn't out of line here. I got a sharpmaker in late 07. The brown rods are "dimpled" for lack of better words along the edges so that it kind of rattles the edge when sharpening. They have been like this from the beginning, and I've been meaning to ask but don't use them enough to remember. IS it normal to not have a continuous smooth edge on the edges? I do not use excessive speed or pressure as I am well versed on sharpening but thought it would be good to try out.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean; it's like there are "holes" in it. On each of my rods, one corner out of three is like that. I simply don't use those sides. I think they mess up the edge.
 
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