Is sharpmaker angle too steep for most knives?

B

benchmdefan

Joined
Aug 29, 2008
Messages
6
Hey guys,
I just bought a Spyderco Sharpmaker and there are only two angles on it, 30 and 40 degree (the 40 degree for edge sharpening). It seems every one of my 10 knives have an angle greater than 40 degree and the brown rods are all but useless for re-profiling. I know there are diamond rods available for approx $50.00 to address this, but now Im questioning whether I would be better off cutting my losses and getting rid of the thing since it seems every knife I own would require reprofiling.

Im pretty dissapointed since this thing receives such rave reviews.

I think my next step is to sell it and get the edgepro apex system, but at this point I feel like Im bleeding money (no pun intended).

Do any of you more seasoned knife sharpeners have some advice?

Thanks for your time.

Brian
 
My suggestion is to read this thread (http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=571503) and then follow the sandpaper instructions. You can go as coarse as you want for... oh... $10 total investment.

Plus, quality knives don't NEED anything more than 40 degrees inclusive, and there are some that would argue that quality knives don't need more than 20 degrees inclusive, but I think that's pushing it.
 
I actually tried some 3M 240 grit sandpaper this morning on one of my cheaper knives. Im not impressed; the blade knocked of a lot of grit very quickly. Also, the sandpaper didnt sit completely flat. I wouldnt want to use this method on any of my benchmades.

I dont mind shelling out $50.00 for the benchmade diamond rods if this system is worth the trouble.

My main concern is that most of my knives would require re-profiling in the first place due to the 40 degree angle. I think another to degrees (50 degree) would allow me to sharpen everything I own with out re-profiling.

Maybe the sharpmaker is designed for the grind angles of Spyderco knives moreso than other brands.
 
Last I checked most Benchmades were ground at 40º inclusive. Except for a few oddities I've never encountered a knife with factory grinds that needed anything higher than the 40º slots. Anything higher is like a butter knife.
 
I generally reset edge bevels on a bench stone rather than the SharpMaker. Personally, I won't use a knife with an edge angle over forty degrees included. Even my cheap POS knives are sharper than that. If they aren't when I get them, they are before I use them.
 
I reprofile all my knives on a coarse benchstone. The Sharpmaker is an excellent tool for putting the primary edge on and maintaining it but was never meant to hog off a lot of steel. The Edge Pro would be good for people that don't know how to freehand to reprofile. I think people are asking too much of it. It is a finishing sharpener.
 
The sharpmaker's angles are perfect for most knives, the problem is most knives come with less than perfect angles from the factory :)
 
benchmdefan said:
Hey guys,
I just bought a Spyderco Sharpmaker and there are only two angles on it, 30 and 40 degree (the 40 degree for edge sharpening). It seems every one of my 10 knives have an angle greater than 40 degree and the brown rods are all but useless for re-profiling. I know there are diamond rods available for approx $50.00 to address this, but now Im questioning whether I would be better off cutting my losses and getting rid of the thing since it seems every knife I own would require reprofiling.

Im pretty dissapointed since this thing receives such rave reviews.

I think my next step is to sell it and get the edgepro apex system, but at this point I feel like Im bleeding money (no pun intended).

Do any of you more seasoned knife sharpeners have some advice?

Thanks for your time.

Brian
Click to expand...

Brian, the overwhelming experience around here is that if your blades are sharpened at an angle greater than 40° inclusive, then they are not cutting as well as they could be.

You would need to make a decision as to whether it is better to have all your knives cut better by changing the edge angle or if you want to get a new sharpener that will allow you to continue sharpening them at an angle that is less efficient for cutting. If it were I, and it was at one point, I would try reprofiling one blade and see if it doesn't really cut better for you. Then you can reach a better decision. You may decide that you can't tell the diff and go get that Apex system. But you may also find that a more acute angle really does work better. I did.

I have heard from guys I trust that sandpaper placed over the rods works, though I have not tried it myself. Personnally, I use an old silicon carbide stone to reprofile, then finish up on the Sharpmaker. Silicon Carbide stones are cheap, though sandpaper is cheaper.

regards.
 
Brian you can also buy a cheap set of diamond sharpening blocks ($10-$15) and use rubber bands to attach to the sharpmaker rods for reprofiling.

diamshrp.jpg
 
benchmdefan said:
I actually tried some 3M 240 grit sandpaper this morning on one of my cheaper knives. Im not impressed; the blade knocked of a lot of grit very quickly. Also, the sandpaper didnt sit completely flat. I wouldnt want to use this method on any of my benchmades.

I dont mind shelling out $50.00 for the benchmade diamond rods if this system is worth the trouble.

My main concern is that most of my knives would require re-profiling in the first place due to the 40 degree angle. I think another to degrees (50 degree) would allow me to sharpen everything I own with out re-profiling.

Maybe the sharpmaker is designed for the grind angles of Spyderco knives moreso than other brands.
Click to expand...

I agree with the other posters that you would probably be better served while some smaller angles, but to answer your question: I have a Lansky crock stick set with 20 and 25deg slots.

?? Also are you sure that your edges, right the very edge, are 25deg?
 
Thanks for all the responses.

Maybe the design of the sharpmaker isnt so much at fault as the design of the lesser quality knives Ive used on it so far (no name knives with angles greater than 40 deg).

Being cautious, I didnt want to start out with my Benchmade's and Spyderco's to fine tune my learning curve.

If I keep the sharpmaker, I'll step up and buy the diamond rods (not that there arent cheaper options available, but I want the equipment designed to work with my sharpmaker). At that point, I'll have $100.00 into my sharpmaker (base kit $50.00 + diamond rods $50.00)

That being said, one last question.

Since Im looking at the $100.00 range for a sharpening system, would I be better off to sell my SM and pay a little extra for the edgepro apex system?

It seems the edgepro might have even better control of the blade to stone angle.

If you had to pick one or the other which would it be if cost was no object?

1. Sharpmaker with diamond rods
2. Edgepro Apex

Again, thanks for the time guys.

Brian
 
Honestly they serve slighty different uses. They're best used in combination with each other. Use the edgepro to put a new edge on a blade, then use the sharpmaker to maintain it. You won't need to bust out the edgepro again unless the edge becomes significantly damaged or dulled. I do encourage you to try a decent quality coarse stone, any of the nortons should do fine. Practice with this on cheap knives until you can get a clean looking edge that can at least cleanly cut paper, with some experience you can put a hair popping edge on with a coarse stone. And once you get a decent edge with that you can finish it up on the sharpmaker.
 
I would invest another $30 in a DMT x-coarse 6" diamond benchstone and lean it against the rods. Works very well for most applications and you can use it as a regular benchstone for the really heavy reprofiling.
 
I'm using the SM purely for maintenance these days. I find the edgepro to be much more versatile. I too struggled with the cost of investing in sharpening tools, but came to the conclusion that these two systems compliment each other.
 
Upon closer inspection, the only knives that really need to be re-profiled are my cheap a$$ knives anyway. I stepped up and gave the sharpmaker a whirl on a Benchmade griptilian and a Spyderco Native and it contacted the edge just as it should; and for that matter, made then razor sharp.

My other quality knives look to have similar blade profiles that would work fine with the sharpmaker also.

As for my cheap a$$ knives; I dont really care to re-profile them since they're not worth the trouble.

If at some point in the future I cant put an edge on with my sharpmaker and need to re-profile any of my more expensive knives, I'll pop for the edgepro.

I appreciate everyones time.
 
If you had the grit come off that easily are you sure you had the right paper?

Guys that are using paper on the Sharpmaker, are you using wet dry or paper made for metal or is it another type like one made for wood?

Might be the reason that the grit came off so readilly.
 
benchmdefan said:
I actually tried some 3M 240 grit sandpaper this morning on one of my cheaper knives. Im not impressed; the blade knocked of a lot of grit very quickly. Also, the sandpaper didnt sit completely flat. I wouldnt want to use this method on any of my benchmades.

I dont mind shelling out $50.00 for the benchmade diamond rods if this system is worth the trouble.

My main concern is that most of my knives would require re-profiling in the first place due to the 40 degree angle. I think another to degrees (50 degree) would allow me to sharpen everything I own with out re-profiling.

Maybe the sharpmaker is designed for the grind angles of Spyderco knives moreso than other brands.
Click to expand...


Wipe the blade the other way. If you use the edge first on sand paper it'll take the grit right off. If you go edge trailing with sand paper you'll get much better results.
 
If you want to change the angle of the Sharpmaker you just need a protractor and stacks of paper. You end up only able to use one rod instead of both at the same time. Just raise one end of the Sharpmaker's base by putting it on the stack of paper. Measure the angle with a protractor and remove or add sheets as necessary till you get what you want. And you use either the rod on the stacked side if you want a sharper angle or the rod on the opposite of the stacked side if you want a duller angle. Turn the Sharpmaker around and move the paper stack with it so it's still raising the same end and switch hands to do the other side of your blade.
 
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I know I'm a little late to this discussion, but I would like to add a little here. I bought my sharpmaker because as far as I know it is the only croc stick set that has a 30 degree angle. I don't have any knives that I want any higher than a 40 degree angle.

As has been said many times, the sharpmaker is not for reprofiling, and it is a missnomer that the diamond rods are good for this. I wouldn't buy the diamond rods with big expectations, and has been repeated here, there are many other products better suited for this than the sharpmaker diamond rods.

They are really just more suited to soften the shoulder that gets higher and higher with repeated sharpenings with the brown stones. For instance, if you have a knife with a primary bevel of 30 degrees, you will start a microbevel when you touch up your edge at 40 degrees with the brown stones. Each time you touch up the edge, the size of the microbevel grows and it requires more and more work to get a sharp edge with the brown stones. From time to time, you need to knock the shoulder down at 30 degrees to make the 40 degree touch up effective. The video touches on this, but it doesn't tell you that the brown stones aren't really that effective for this. I'm not possitive but I think the sharpmaker diamond rods are about the same as DMT Coarse. They will reprofile, but there are much coarser products. Dmt has an xcoarse and xx coarse product, and these still require a bit of work for most reprofile jobs.

The point of a sharpmaker is to make touching up your edge convenient, thus lending to you doing it often and before there is edge damage, thus completely eliminating the need for major sharpening work. You may have seen it said here before "Keep em sharp". This isn't just a motto, it is advice born of practicallity.

One final tidbit here. Angles of 25, 30, 35, 40, and 45 are readily available with the sharpmaker. If you go to the hardware store and find a steel or aluminum rod that is the same diameter as the brass safety rods that come with the kit, you can rock the base on this rod to change the angle roughly 5 degrees higher or lower. Just place the rod in the center and rock up for a smaller angle, or rock down for a larger angle. It is important to remember that the supplied rods are safety guards for your hands and should absolutely never be used for modification of the intended use of the product. ;)
 
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