sggo,
Let me see if I can help you. Picture, if you will, a conventional flat sharpening surface--stone, diamond, ceramic, or whatever. For the sake of convenience, picture something wider than the flat side of a triangular Sharpmaker rod. Published sharpening instructions typically call for a slicing motion, drawing the edge along the stone from choil to tip. In order to preserve (or in your case, restore) the tip, your objective should be to always have a portion of the edge in contact with the stone, throughout the entire stroke. To make a good, clean edge you have to maintain a consistent angle throughout the entire stroke. As you sharpen, picture in your mind's eye the edge actually engaging the abrasive surface. Try to keep the edge engaged with the stone, right up to the tip. When the edge comes in contact with the stone right at the extreme tip (with a tiny bit of flat edge surface still engaged), STOP. (By "edge surface" I don't mean the side of the blade, but rather, the flat part of the actual edge bevel.)
Now, if you picture this process in your mind, you'll see that a wide stone is easier to use than a skinny Sharpmaker rod: you have a lot more leeway as to where you finish your stoke, and it's a lot easier to keep the tip from dragging over across the edge of the stone. That's how the tip got rounded off in the first place.
In your effort to always have a portion of the edge engaged against the stone, right up to the tip, try this techniqe (preferably with something other than the Sharpmaker--I use a DMT diamond sharpener, but it doesn't matter particularly as long as it's flat and wide enough): as you finish your stroke, with the tip still on the stone, without lifting the blade off of the stone, and maintaining the same angle, draw the blade back the other direction, from tip to choil, as if you were watching the previous stroke on a film run backwards. And keep going back and forth like this, sharpening one side of the blade only, until you raise a burr along the edge ALL the way to the TIP! Then turn the blade over and sharpen the other side in the same manner. This completes stage one: raising a burr on both sides of the blade. Sharpen in this manner until you have your tip back. The rest of the sharpening process (what to do after you get the burr) is described in Joe Talmadge's famous sharpening article, which you can find here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/features/faqsharp.html )
The procedure I am describing is possible to perform with the Sharpmaker, although I find it very difficult due to the narrowness of the rods.
You don't have to go forwards and backwards, from choil to tip and from tip to choil. But I've used this method and it really works. I'm describing the choil to tip, tip to choil method for you because it's the best way I can think of to emphasize the funtamental principle: that the tip must not be dragged off of the stone. The advantage of doing the reverse stroke from tip to choil is that it's easier to keep the angle. You don't have to lift the blade off of the stone after every stroke. Every time you remove the edge from the stone, you have to put it back again the same way on the next stroke. No wonder it's hard to sharpen a knife! With a bit of practice, you'll find that your technique improves, and you can do choil to tip strokes exclusively, lifting the knife off of the stone at the end of each stroke and repeating the stroke always in the same direction. Just make sure the edge is still engaged against the stone at the very end of the stroke.
While I'm explaining these things, here are a couple of related tips you'll want to keep in mind as you sharpen:
1. To keep a consistent angle along the entire edge (throughout the entire stroke), you will have to lift your elbow a bit as you go around the curved part of the blade (the "belly") towards the tip.
2. As you sharpen, listen and feel as you go. You'll be able to tell when the edge (vs. the side of the edge) is actually in contact with the stone. Use your ears and your sensitivity to vibrations in the hand to determine that the angle, pressure, etc. is consistent throughout the entire stroke, and from one stroke to another. Use all of your senses and pay attention to what works. Well, you don't really need to use your sense of taste if you don't want to.
)
By the way, I'm not against the Sharpmaker; I have one and use it all the time. It's a good product for maintianing edges. It's just not the best tool for sharpening the tips of blades.
If you need additional clarification on any of this, feel free to ask here or drop me an e-mail.
Oh, and welcome to the forums!
David Rock
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AKTI Member # A000846
Stop when you get to bone.
[This message has been edited by David Rock (edited 04-06-2000).]
