Why did I wait so long to buy a Sharpmaker?!?

J

JDMSMBACPA

Joined
May 21, 2003
Messages
232
I'm a pretty decent freehand sharpener. Never had any problem getting shaving sharp edges on a stone. A while back I upgraded to the large Razor Edge stones and I can recommend them without reservation BUT

The Sharpmaker is so much faster and easier :cool: I put scary edges on four kitchen knives within about 10 minutes of opening the box! I had not maintained these knives for a while and my wife had trashed the edges. Two thumbs up for the Sharpmaker! I can't wait for my diamond and ultrafine rods to arrive.

Moderator, I gess this is sort of a mini-review. Feel free to move it. I just wanted to post it for the benefit of the other newbies and less experienced members.
 
Couldn't agree more JDM
Finally treated myself to a Sharpmaker last week and was very impressed. So was my friend when I sharpened up his really dull pocket knife - I don't think he knew a knife could get so sharp. It's a really well thought out bit of kit and easy to use. How did I ever manage without it?

Phil
 
I got myself one for father's day last year. Suddenly I could get a significantly more effective edge on my old SAK. I particularly like the brown rods for kitchen knives. I previously thought my collection of round-rod ceramic V-hones produced equivalent results to a Sharpmaker. I was really surprised to find a discernable improvement using the Spyderco system. I just wish the rods were about 3 inches longer.
 
Jeff,
I sharpen kitchen knives regularly at the club for members wives on Sundays when I'm around.

The more you use them the better you will get with them on the larger knives. It's only a knack away.

:p

Brownie
 
JDMSMBACPA - glad you like the Sharpmaker! I was used to freehand sharpening on stones too and when I got the Sharpmaker it was like magic! I mean, I can get a wicked sharp edge sharpening freehand, but the Sharpmaker is really easy to set up and use. It's the same angle I'd sharpen at freehand but holding the blade straight up and down seems to be easier.

Something I've been noticing about the Sharpmaker lately is that it doesn't do that great of a job when the stones get loaded up. I found something that cleans the stones VERY well - squeaky clean. It's called "super scrub gel paste" and it's made by Palmolive. My wife bought it to scrub stubborn stuff off of pots & pans, but it does a great job of cleaning those Sharpmaker rods.
 
I find that getting a powerful neodynium magnet and running it over any sharpening stones whenever they look dirty instantly cleans it up. I use this technique on the Lansky all the time and it gives wonderful results, no more getting messy with the oil and reapplying just to clean it up!
 
As much as I love the Sharpmaker, cleaning them has always been a pain.. I usually use an abrasive cleanser like barkeeper's friend.. Where can you buy one of those neodynium magnets??
 
Right here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2533532062&category=11774 or pretty much anywhere if you search for it. Neodymium magnets are super-powerful so you can use a very tiny piece and still effectively grab all the steel-dust you grind off your blades. Just be careful not to run the magnet along the blade, just across the ceramic stones, otherwise they can seriously harm the blade. A 1" cube of neodymium is more than enough to life 50 pounds of iron, so as you can imagine, its incredibly powerful.

Works like a charm for me for cleaning steel dust
 
alas, they only send to the US
i can think of so many fun things to do with one :D
 
The sharpmaker it great :)

I can also sharpen preaty well free hand and have used DMT hones along with the razor edge items.

The sharpmaker is just so easy to use and it stores away in the case so nice.

If your knife is in really bad shape you may want to profile it on a DMT and then us the sharpmaker to set the edge, but what kind of knife knut would wait until his knife got that bad before sharpening it :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top