SharpMaker 204......Video with Sal

Gary W. Graley

Gary W. Graley

“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 2, 1999
Messages
26,377
Sal, just got my sharpmaker, the 204, and it's nice! I've heard from others that you had a starring role in the video and they were right. Informative and educational, you are still the soft spoken fellow I met many years ago at the Ashokan seminar in NY. I couldn't tell which knife you carried in the video?

Sold my older model to a guy at work, I'll let him view the video so he can get a better understanding of how sharpness is obtained.

Thanks again for all your products and for putting up with the fickle public, you guys do a great job!

G2

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"The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions!"
Take the time to read your Bible Now, don't be left behind...


G2 LeatherWorks
 
I just got my 204 this afternoon. What a great package, the video was exceptionally enjoyable- nice to be able to see the man behind the posts. Very informative.

For my first attempt, I got out my much abused Benchmade 350SBT and followed the recommended steps. This did make the knife sharper, but I want sharp like Sal demonstrated in the video. (I betcha that camera man was REAL happy with his SAK)So I tried again, this time starting off with the back beveling and then following through with the other steps. This time it did become sharper, but still not to the point where it will slice through paper very well. I got kind of a grabby edge. And I didn't just use 20 strokes for each side- I doubled that easily on all the steps.

Any thoughts on this? Recommendations? Is it because the ATS-34 will take longer to get really sharp? Or is my technique just not yet refined enough? What kind of results has anyone else had with the 204? Ever gotten a knife sharp enough to fillet a piece of paper in the video like Sal did? All I can seem to get is a micro serrated like edge. Will cut, but you need to apply a bit of a sawing motion to get the blade going. I'd appreciate your recommendations.

Thanks-

clip

 
Clip, you might need to rough up the corners of the grey stones, the way Sal says in the video, they will naturally open up but if you rub the corners against each other the stones will Bite more and you'll spend less time setting the bevels, and the just go through the steps. Benchmade is know for making a Hard blade and that might affect how long or how many strokes it takes. If the knife is really dull, you'll have some time on your hands, hmmm what candy bar comercial is that?

rolleyes.gif


G2

------------------
"The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions!"
Take the time to read your Bible Now, don't be left behind...


G2 LeatherWorks
 
Thanks Gary-

I did rough up the edges of the stones, as was mentioned in the video. I'm going to give it another shot, this 350SBT I'm using was like one step up from a butter knife before I started going at it w/the 204. (come to think of it, it wasn't much sharper when it was new...)

Just for a comparison, I'm going to try sharpening some other "lesser steels" to see what I get. For just touching up an edge on a daily carry, is it necessary to go through the basic four steps? Or can you just go with the final two steps? Would that be considered edge maintenance? (As recommended by many knife manufacturers)

I'm off to practice, I'm determined to find a really sharp edge- it's gotta be there somewhere....

clip
 
Patience and don't give up, when it gets sharp, watch out! I sharpened up my one folder and was amazed at the keenness of the edge. I test it by seeing how cleanly it can cut through a paper towel, as the fibers in that are loose and it takes a sharp knife to accomplish that.

Just don't give up!

G2
 
Clip-
A good way to check your edge is to touch it, at an angle, to the top of your thumbnail. If it slides off, then you need to do the four steps. If it catches, you need only use the white stones to touch it up.
Hope this helps-
Patti
 
Just got through sharpening my Jess Horn Lightweight, which has an AUS-8 blade. I started with the back bevel, then followed through the rest of the steps. Where I really spent some time was on the final stone flat, I probably went 20 minutes on that step. It just kept getting sharper and sharper. Now I'm satisfied- nice and sharp, with a nicely polished edge- comparable to that of a factory fresh knife. I'm not sure if this was the best way to get to this level of sharpness- but it definitely worked. I haven't gone back to the Benchmade yet, but I get the feeling that I can get it real sharp, it's just going to take longer.

If I can get a knife to shave patches of hair clean off my arm, then I'm happy. I can get it to cut through paper with little or no effort- but I'd still love to be able to get it to dance through a sheet like Sal did in the beginning of the video with that kitchen knife- now that's sharp!

What's the average time you spend putting a hair popping sharp edge on your knives once they're dull? I probably spent 40 minutes total on the Jess Horn- does that seem excessive? The edge wasn't totally wasted, just kind of smoothed over. Practice makes perfect, I guess. I'll try some others tomorrow.

Thanks for the help-

clip
 
Clip, I think that the paper that Sal was cutting might have been some of the competitions brochures? just kidding, but one thing that might bring your edge to a final finish would be a strop, you can buy one from several places, might do a search on the forums for strops, but it really brings an edge to a hair flinging stage and is nice just to touch up an edge as well.

One word of caution in the stropping technique, when you strop as you flip the knife over for the return stroke, don't let the blade roll over on the strop as that can cause the edge to also roll over, so I always tell folks that when they reach the end of the away stroke to lift the blade up and clear of the strop before twisting the knife for the return portion.

Enjoy, I think Sal really liked showing off the easy way of slicing and shaving hair, it was fun to watch, though my wife found nary a bit of humor in it, go figure?

I've been able to take an 8 x 10 sheet of typing paper, hold it in front of me, with knife ready in the other hand, release the paper and while it's free falling in the air, slice that sucker in half with a Calypso, the large micarta version. Too cool!

Word of Caution concering the above stunt, BE Very careful who is around you and where your other arm is when you try to slash the falling paper, accidents can happen TOO EASY so please if you try this, TAKE CARE!

G2

[This message has been edited by Gary W. Graley (edited 03-18-2000).]
 
G2 - thank you. Yup, still the same guy as was at Ashokan. had a great time too. Great club.

Clip - the major problem with Benchmade models seems to be a "fat" edge and hard steel. The first step is to rebevel. With either the 20 degree or the 30 degree, stay on "step one" (corner of the gray stone) until you can comfortably cut paper. Then proceed to the finer grits.

After the first time rebevelling, resharpening will take only several minutes.

sal

[This message has been edited by Sal Glesser (edited 03-18-2000).]
 
Sal, can you tell from the video, or remember what knife you were carrying during the making of it? Just curious, I remember you having a Police model at Ashokan when you were testing it on a heat treated forged blade.

G2
 
G2 - I don't remember. I'll haved to go through the video again to see.

I'm usually carrying a prototype of some type.

sal
 
Just wanted to also note, that last night I used the Sharpmaker to sharpen my `cheap' razor knives, the disposable type that thumb slide in and out of a plastic handle, well don't throw yours away as the Sharpmaker made mine sharper than new and it really cut the leather super well! I was a happy camper last night, still have a cold but happy at least.

So everyone should give this system a try, and save money by sharpening things you would normally throw-away cause they are cheap, they are really cheap cause you can re-sharpen them and keep them forever!

The video reminded me to use it so thanks again Sal.

G2
 
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