Newbie Sharpening Questions

nyefmaker said:
I did finally get around to making a Sharpmaker video awhile back. Many have found it very helpful. I posted it on YouTube for all to see. Here is the
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Nice, especially dig the "tilt" tip.

Not mentioned very often..
 
I sharpen all my knives free hand on waterstones and coticules. Diamond for resetting a wrong bevel and a double stuff for field sharpening. I keep them all slightly convexed as comes with hand sharpening. Every knife I bought needed a reprofing job to make it fit my technique. No issues there, crk is no different. But is is beautiful thin behind the edge...:) I think a knife user needs to be able to sharpen his own knives to stay on top of it. In my opinion you don’t need a guided system or a sharpmaker, but if it works for you it is ok.
 
nyefmaker said:
I have used this type of sharpening system for over 30 years. Wether it be the old vintage crock sticks ( I still have several....lol ) or the sharpmaker, the system is virtually the same, save for the flats vs round rods. For me personally, its the best available if you know how to use it. There is also not much of a learning curve. It will also not ruin your knives like some of the other systems will. I cringe seeing the rods/springs/sanding blocks, whistles ....eeeek...!!! Looks like they are sanding wood and here its a $400 knife blade. As for the systems I have mentioned, the sharpmaker is by far the best. With the older round rods, many tips would end up being rounded. With the sharpmaker, you can keep the tips factory fresh at all times.

I so need to do a video on this as its much easier to show than explain probably. Keep in mind that I am probably 90-10% CRK. I only have another brand because CRK doesnt make it.

A swipe or two on the sharpmaker will not ruin an edge. If your still in the learning stages, use the sharpie trick until you get the hang of it. Sharpie the edge and then twice each side and see where the rods are hitting. I ONLY use the 40 degree setting on my sharpmaker. I am not into all the micro bevel crap.

When you do the sharpie trick, you will see that near the belly, it will ride higher than the edge most time, so you have to slightly tilt your hand towards the right on the left rod stroke and towards the left on the right rod stroke. This will keep the rods on the blade edge where you want it to be. Just do super light strokes until you get the feel of it. left stroke slightly tilting right when close to the belly, right stroke slightly tilting left when close to the belly. One of the best things about the sharpmaker is the flats. When you finish your stroke, make sure to stop with the tip on the middle of the flats of the stones ( rods ). This will preserve the sharp point. If you keep pulling it off the rods, you will round the tip.

Since your good with freehand, you will understand the tilting of the blade in relation to the blade edge. Once your all said and done, you will be a master at this. On all my CRK that I carry, once the blade is sharp, resharpening sometimes only takes a few strokes and then its back to hair popping sharpness. You dont have to sit there and do 50 strokes per side, sometimes as little as 2 each side will do.

As for stones, I have the brown and fine stones it comes with. I also have the ultra fine stones. I 99% of the time just use the brown for very dull or damaged edge knives or the white fine stones. The ultra fine will put a mirror edge on it, which does nothing for me. Thats just for show....lol. You can reprofile with the brown stones, but it takes forever. For those jobs, I hear the diamond rods are the ticket. For detailed sharpening I mainly use the flats, for just a quick touchup, I will use the corners.

Any questions at all, just ask away. Good Luck and Enjoy....!!!

I did get around to making a video awhile back. Many have found it helpful and have asked for it. I posted it on YouTube so all can see it.
Click to expand...
I know this is an older post but thank you for the video!
 
Catalyst10 said:
Same technique goes for the Large Inkosi?
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Yes, any folder with a drop point blade. Have used on CRK, Hinderer, Spartan Blades, Les George, William Henry, Buck Knives, you name it. I just showed the technique in a sebenza as that’s what I have most of and figure many are familiar with that blade shape. If you have any questions, ask away. Always glad to help.
 
nyefmaker said:
I have used this type of sharpening system for over 30 years. Wether it be the old vintage crock sticks ( I still have several....lol ) or the sharpmaker, the system is virtually the same, save for the flats vs round rods. For me personally, its the best available if you know how to use it. There is also not much of a learning curve. It will also not ruin your knives like some of the other systems will. I cringe seeing the rods/springs/sanding blocks, whistles ....eeeek...!!! Looks like they are sanding wood and here its a $400 knife blade. As for the systems I have mentioned, the sharpmaker is by far the best. With the older round rods, many tips would end up being rounded. With the sharpmaker, you can keep the tips factory fresh at all times.

I so need to do a video on this as its much easier to show than explain probably. Keep in mind that I am probably 90-10% CRK. I only have another brand because CRK doesnt make it.

A swipe or two on the sharpmaker will not ruin an edge. If your still in the learning stages, use the sharpie trick until you get the hang of it. Sharpie the edge and then twice each side and see where the rods are hitting. I ONLY use the 40 degree setting on my sharpmaker. I am not into all the micro bevel crap.

When you do the sharpie trick, you will see that near the belly, it will ride higher than the edge most time, so you have to slightly tilt your hand towards the right on the left rod stroke and towards the left on the right rod stroke. This will keep the rods on the blade edge where you want it to be. Just do super light strokes until you get the feel of it. left stroke slightly tilting right when close to the belly, right stroke slightly tilting left when close to the belly. One of the best things about the sharpmaker is the flats. When you finish your stroke, make sure to stop with the tip on the middle of the flats of the stones ( rods ). This will preserve the sharp point. If you keep pulling it off the rods, you will round the tip.

Since your good with freehand, you will understand the tilting of the blade in relation to the blade edge. Once your all said and done, you will be a master at this. On all my CRK that I carry, once the blade is sharp, resharpening sometimes only takes a few strokes and then its back to hair popping sharpness. You dont have to sit there and do 50 strokes per side, sometimes as little as 2 each side will do.

As for stones, I have the brown and fine stones it comes with. I also have the ultra fine stones. I 99% of the time just use the brown for very dull or damaged edge knives or the white fine stones. The ultra fine will put a mirror edge on it, which does nothing for me. Thats just for show....lol. You can reprofile with the brown stones, but it takes forever. For those jobs, I hear the diamond rods are the ticket. For detailed sharpening I mainly use the flats, for just a quick touchup, I will use the corners.

Any questions at all, just ask away. Good Luck and Enjoy....!!!

I did get around to making a video awhile back. Many have found it helpful and have asked for it. I posted it on YouTube so all can see it.
Click to expand...


This is awesome. I literally just got my Sharpmaker in the mail. Still in its packaging! This is awesome info!! Thank you!!!
 
From my experience with using sharpmaker,
1) Take care of your sharpening rods, do not let the rods fall to hard floor, it will break and I have broken 2 brown rods to date.
2) When sharpening, never lift the tip off the rod, this to avoid rounding the tip.
3) After awhile, the well where the sharpening rods sits do wear and angle will slightly change. Probably its due to the rubbing action of the rods during insertion/removal.

I have since upgraded to Wicked Edge system but I do still use the sharpmaker for all my kitchen knives, parang, esee 6 (1095), scissors, SAKs.
 
nyefmaker said:
I did finally get around to making a Sharpmaker video awhile back. Many have found it very helpful. I posted it on YouTube for all to see. Here is the
Click to expand...
Great video, thanks very much for posting this, now I know how to use my sharpmaker properly
 
nyefmaker said:
Glad it was able to help. Enjoy.
Click to expand...

Great video! Thanks for posting and sharing with everyone!

The proverbial "Can't teach an old dog new tricks" doesn't always hold true...

**Should also note that you gave me some insight on how I could improve my technique** Been here for close to 20 years and I can still learn new things...imagine that!
 
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