When to replace sharpmaker stones

E

Emersonman91

Joined
Aug 15, 2020
Messages
22
Do the find stones and the medium stones ever need replacing after a while like the cbn and diamond coated stones.

or do the medium and fine stones last forever.
 
Don't know about forever, but they'll last a really long time. If performance is not the same as you remember, give 'em a scrub with an abrasive cleaner (like Comet) under hot water to remove build up, dry them off, and they're like new again.
 
I’ve had the same SharpMaker since 2002! The brown stones did eventually become too polished and I replaced them about 4 years back. I highly recommend getting the diamond rods as well.
 
Replaced the medium stones when they where not plain anymore.
I let someone else use the set on kitchen knives...
hope this helps
 
I've had the same Sharpmaker and stones since the early 90's. It worked and I'm cheap, so I've never replaced the stones.
I'm about at the point where I have to replace them. Now, do I get just the rods (about $50 for a set of medium and fine) or a whole new unit (about $75)... Since I'm cheap and the base works, I will probably just get new rods.
 
Unless you sharpen blades everyday and wear all 3 edges entirely off of the triangles, I'd say forever.

FWIW, my father use to sharpen his kitchen knives (he was a sous chef) to the extreme, wearing steel off his blades -- some to nubs -- and correspondingly wearing a deep saddle into the the rectangular corundum stone (which I still own/use) in the process but both the blades and the stone are still useable after over 50 years of use (and over 15 years after my father's death at age 89).

So, I'd say "forever" is NOT a stretch, given "normal" use of the Sharpmaker stones.
 
According to what Sal has posted in the past, the brown rods are friable, i.e. they will wear away over time. The white rods should last until you drop them.
 
I've had the SharpMaker going on about 5 years now, and have done a lot of sharpening, and the "brown rods" started to get little nicks out of them, most noticeable on the corners. I simply freehand lapped them back to flush with a cheap 600 grit diamond plate (making sure to keep the corners slightly rounded), and they are smooth as can be once again. Other than that, I wash them in soapy water whenever they load up too badly, which is really not very often. The SharpMaker is a remarkable tool.
 
I've had mine for at least ten years; probably more than fifteen, and have used them heavily. I give them a scrubbing with a Scotchbrite pad and Comet cleanser (except the diamond rods, which I've done nothing to). I have one small chip in one of the white (fine) rods from dropping it but it's at the very end, so it has no ill effects.

I have the feeling the rods will outlast me...
 
By the way, Mothers metal polish cleans the ceramic rods better and faster than Comet. It's amazing. You get it at auto parts stores. Just a paper towel and a dab of polish, no water necessary. A few ounces probably lasts a lifetime.
 
Mark Spark said:
By the way, Mothers metal polish cleans the ceramic rods better and faster than Comet. It's amazing. You get it at auto parts stores. Just a paper towel and a dab of polish, no water necessary.
Click to expand...
Intersting... I'll have to give that a try. I have a tub of Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish. It's a great product.
 
I have used the same set for over 20 years. Then I stupidly dropped one of my fine stones and chipped it.
Sal made them to last forever........he never made them idiot proof! I'm suing!!:D
 
Mark Spark said:
By the way, Mothers metal polish cleans the ceramic rods better and faster than Comet. It's amazing. You get it at auto parts stores. Just a paper towel and a dab of polish, no water necessary. A few ounces probably lasts a lifetime.
Click to expand...

desmobob said:
Intersting... I'll have to give that a try. I have a tub of Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish. It's a great product.
Click to expand...

I just tried it... amazing! The stuff starts coming off the rods as soon as you rub it on. No more scrubbing with a Scotchbrite pad and Comet for me. Thanks Mark!
 
David Mary said:
I've had the SharpMaker going on about 5 years now, and have done a lot of sharpening, and the "brown rods" started to get little nicks out of them, most noticeable on the corners. I simply freehand lapped them back to flush with a cheap 600 grit diamond plate (making sure to keep the corners slightly rounded), and they are smooth as can be once again. Other than that, I wash them in soapy water whenever they load up too badly, which is really not very often. The SharpMaker is a remarkable tool.
Click to expand...

I'd like to comment on the brown stone corners. As Jack mentioned, the brown stones are friable which means they can/will eventually wear. The "chips" on the corners that you mentioned are the beginning of that wear. We have learned that the corners of the brown stones cut much faster when they are slightly worn. I recommend in the Sharpmaker video that one should rub the corners of the brown stones against each other to "crack" the shiny surface and create a slight "flat" on the corners. That's when they cut the fastest. Eventually the small flats will get too wide to cut as fast and that's when they should be replaced.

The white stones if kept clean will out live us all. "50,000 years from now when humans are but a memory and the Pyramids have crumbled, you will see our white ceramic stones sticking out of the ground". Unless of course if you drop them and sue us.

The diamond and CBN stones I wash with soap and water and dry them. Excess steel sitting in/on the matrix does not help with their fiunction.

sal
 
Sal Glesser said:
I'd like to comment on the brown stone corners.
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How do you like the idea of offering Sharpmaker 204-stones made out of sintered ruby (in Fine)?

Many of us have immensely positive experience with ruby sharpening stones, there are several B/F threads on the topic, also mentioning the Sharpmaker. Some shorter commercial tri-angle ruby rods exist but they're shorter/smaller in dimensions and they don't have rounded edges (rounded corners): one can find them in Coarse (e.g. Congress Tools USA), in Medium (e.g. Aliexpress CN), or in Superfine (e.g. Degussit DD57 Fine distr. Gesswein USA).
rubykreislerb2jhw.png

In general, it is very instructive to know about all of these exisiting ruby stones/ruby files, and hopefully Sal Glesser Sal Glesser , you are fully aware of their power and properties in comparison to the 204M 204F 204UF rods.

Btw, there are actually commercial V-form sharpeners on the market which come packaged with 1 pair of cylindrical white ceramic rods plus 1 pair of cylindrical ruby rods; they are getting very good reviews from the experienced sharpening/shopping community. But cylindrical is not 204-format, so i am still "waiting😉" for a ruby factory or for an alipapa trading company to bring a 204ChineseRuby to market ("after-market 204MF-compatible ruby rods, made in the chinas"). Or for Spyderco themselves. Whoever picks up my idea first. So I am asking every company who might be interested in this market opportunity.
 
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Hi Kreisler,

Thanx for the input, but I believe we're using the best stones for the Sharpmaker. We played around with many materials over the years. FYI, our stones are synthetic sapphires, 9.2 on the Mohs scale, same as rubies. They are also specifically designed and shaped to do what we want them to do.

sal
 
Hello sal, thanks for your feedback, appreciated. 😌
I am very satisfied with original 204-ceramics (best price-performance ratio, best price-quality ratio, best bang for the buck, agreed).

The Spyderco brown stone does get consumed though, so substituting a harder well-made ruby-M stone (medium fineness) makes sense, especially for grinding/sharpening nastily concave blade geometries like serrations, karambits, stanleys, scythes, and similar. These days/weeks i'm trying to get my hands on round(cylindrical) ruby files for this concave -grinding/-sharpening/-deburring purpose, from different sources in quest of superior performing ceramics at affordable pricing (fyi degussit DD57 is notably superior, but also uber expensive, so realistically it's out of question as OEM); if i find best ruby price-quality ratio, … 🤑
 
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Sal Glesser said:
Hi Kreisler,

Let us know how it works out?

sal
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Sal Glesser Sal Glesser , originally i wanted to examine a larger sample size but the delivered AX unit is really perfect as is and, surprisingly, the best and finest chinese ruby I've ever experienced (it's my third lol): so flawless a unit that i really can't imagine any better coming from CN, hence i'm stopping my sampling right there! Superhappy camper here:

Review - [RRS] Retractable Ruby Sharpener

One look's worth a thousand words, Ideas Worth Spreading: Summary The pen-style retractable ruby is an inexpensive high-feedback sharpener most suitable for macro-/micro-deburring and because of its wondrous efficiency a powerful must-have item in anyone's sharpening arsenal, not only in one's...
bladeforums.com bladeforums.com

If the RRS idea grows wings and takes off, then there'll be no need in the market for a 204-format stone in CN ruby ("204CNR"). In fineness, my CN cylindrical ruby doesn't beat the 204F, they're about the same fineness, so it couldn't replace the 204M.

My conclusion:
+ the best quality CN ruby in "3000 grit" (=the unit i have) cannot replace 204M because it is much finer than 204M
+ less fine CN ruby exists (say ~1000 grit), but that's rather a sign of low quality CN ruby and unwanted for our purposes: scratch that!
+ with the best quality CN ruby in "3000 grit" being almost as fine as 204F, it doesn't merit consideration as substitute for 204F because of external challenges (CN factory, quality standards, production reliability/stability, import, etc). so, people who desire a 204CNR rod for its superior deburring properties should content themselves with the RRS and be equally a happy camper.
 
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