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- Nov 12, 2005
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It's free on Mondays 11am to 1pm. At the Olathe, Ks. store.
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Where Do I Go to Have Knives Sharpened?
- Thread starter IGotStabbed
- Start date
It's free on Mondays 11am to 1pm. At the Olathe, Ks. store.
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2007
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- 849
I like the Lansky system. It seems I can't mess up the angle and ruin the blade. Anybody use this?
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- Sep 29, 2008
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- 10,394
I did for a bit, but it's gimmicky. Works for short blades with a large flat spot to clamp on the spine. It does not give you the best angle either, it all depends on where you clamp it and how you use the stones, along with how flat your guide rods are.
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2009
- Messages
- 83
I hate to hi-jack this post, but I have a MercWorx Sniper in S30V and I can't get my sharpmaker to touch it. Do I need the diamond stones?
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2005
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- 2,400
SAK's sharpen up fast and easy. Get the Sharpmaker like everyone else is suggesting.
Before you do that, take a Sharpie and mark the entire edge of the knife. Do a few swipes on the 40 degrees inclusive side and see where the marker is missing. You may be hitting the shoulder of the bevel instead of the actual edge.
Before you do that, take a Sharpie and mark the entire edge of the knife. Do a few swipes on the 40 degrees inclusive side and see where the marker is missing. You may be hitting the shoulder of the bevel instead of the actual edge.
NO, absolutely not.
As the guy who sold me my first shotshell reloader said, they can't make these things fool-proof since fools are so ingenious.
And even if one is not a fool, there are many who post here and on other forums asking why they can't get their knives sharp with the SharpMaker.
I have a SharpMaker, and while it's a great set-up, it took ME some time and a few knives to learn to use it right. And I still think I have a ways to go to becoming proficient.
In other words, a SharpMaker does not automatically produce sharp knives. For some (that would include me), there is a learning curve.
IF the bevel of the knife is either 30° or 40°, then it's pretty easy. And even then, it's possible to put a burr on the edge and not be able to get it off easily.
If the bevel of the knife needs re-profiling to get to one of those angles, it's not pretty.
So if you want something that is fool-proof, send your knives to one of the experts here. It'll be cheaper and better than fiddling with the SharpMaker. If you want to take the trouble to learn who to use the SharpMaker right, it's not all that hard. But you will have to learn and practice.
Others may say that the SharpMaker worked perfectly for them right out of the box and with no learning curve. Good for them. YMMV is all I can say.
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2009
- Messages
- 83
After going over it multiple times I can see where the sharpmaker is making contact on the edge and it is just about the same angle as the original angle.
Yet it still does not get sharp. I was thinking even if the sharpmaker wasn't making good contact the diamond stone would reprofile the blade's edge enough to sharpen it.
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2009
- Messages
- 83
I have a Mercworx Sniper that I might get reprofiled, who would be good for the job and how do I contact them?
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2007
- Messages
- 849
Exactly. I am a newb, but I know the angle is the most important thing in sharpening, with the Lansky system rod in place, you can't mess it up, it won't let you mess up. But with the spyderco, even though you have the stones at the angle, you can still mess up the angle by holding the knife and different angles.
You could contact Richard J, a frequent participant on this board and vocal advocate of paper wheels for sharpening. Here is a link to his website:
http://mysite.verizon.net/ress6fq6/
You can also PM or email knifeknut1013, who is also a frequent participant on this board.
I am sure that there are others. Those are the two that come to mind.
"Just about" may not be good enough.
Having bought and used a set of the diamond rods for the SharpMaker, I'm not a big fan of them, considering their expense relative to coarse emery cloth.
If you are not afraid to scratch the blade a bit above the bevel, you could try getting some 80 or 120 or 150 grit emery cloth at a big-box hardware store. Three sheets only costs a few dollars.
You cut one of the sheets in half to create two half-sheets. Then you cut a strip off a half-sheet that is about one-third or one-quarter the width. You clip that strip to the SharpMaker rod with a binder clip in back. In other words, the binder clip is out of the way when you stroke the rod with the knife blade.
Then use the SM by pulling the blade up (instead of the usual pushing down) so the edge doesn't cut into the emery cloth. You might have to go through a few strips to get to a good edge, but you will get there sooner with the coarse emery cloth than with the diamond rods.
Don't back and forth between rods just yet. Do only one side until you raise a burr.
(Getting rid of the burr is another kettle of fish, one that I'm still learning to cook.)
Using these coarse grits, you can reconfigure the edge to match the angles that the SM uses (15° and 20°). Mark the edge with a Sharpie so you can see where the edge is being cut by the abrasive.
Once you have created a burr on one side, switch to the other side and do only that side until you raise a burr on that side.
Knock the burr back and forth a few times and switch to the coarse (brown/grey depending on your opinion of the color) rods.
Once you've used the emery cloth clipped to the SM rods to reprofile the edge, it should be easy to maintain the edge with the SM.
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2006
- Messages
- 3,724
It's possible, though it's not too hard to hold the knife roughly perpendicular to the ground/sharpener base. The sharpmaker is what I learned with, before eventually going freehand.
Sharpening can be tricky to figure out at first, but there's lots of tips here and in places like the maintenance and tinkering forum if you wanted to set aside a little free time to learn. It's nice not having to rely on others to keep your collection sharp!