Please recommend a sharpener

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floatinglife

Joined
Apr 20, 2007
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This question is not only for me, but for any rookie like me :D

Now I am going to have a Delica and a Griptilian, I plan to purchase a sharpening system for my knives. I used to sharp chisels and chisel ground carving knives on whetstones, but I know nothing about how to sharpen a knife with a curved blade.

Monocrom has just introduced this link to me http://www.themartialist.com/pecom/sharpening.htm

I haven't read it through yet but I am going to do that. Any more suggestions on choosing a sharpener?
 
Just clarify one point:

While I am asking suggestions for mechanisms that help sharpening easier, any sharpening techniques are also strongly welcome.
 
Get a Spyderco Sharpmaker and don't look back :) I use mine all the time and follow with a strop on a G10 backed leather strop I made. I have sharpened neck knives to machetes on mine :)
 
Get a full arsenal of DMT Stones and do a search here for sharpening tips. I would recommend starting on a cheapie knife until you get the hang of it. I learned on a stone and like them very much. It really depends on who you talk to, but some like the sharpening devices out there. I get more satisfaction of accomplishment out of a stone.

MPE
 
Welcome to Bladeforums!

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Bill Siegle said:
Get a Spyderco Sharpmaker and don't look back :) I use mine all the time and follow with a strop on a G10 backed leather strop I made. I have sharpened neck knives to machetes on mine :)
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Couldn't say it better myself! +1 for the sharpmaker
 
The Sharpmaker is a great sharpener. I bought one and was surprised as the how sharp and how fast I could sharpen a knife. Yes, the link you posted is the correct sharpener. I have now moved to a diamond stone and have begun experimenting with free hand. My first few attempts have been great and am excited to do more. I do think the Sharpmaker is a great beginning though as it establishes a beginning from which you can then build upon.
 
Chinese man said:
Couldn't say it better myself! +1 for the sharpmaker
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+1 For the sharpaker.

BTW floatinglife- make sure to run a quick search on the BladeForums search engine to see if some of your questions have already been answered before starting a new thread.

:thumbup:
 
If you are looking for fast and accurate edges, consider TriAx. It's a new sharpening concept. There have been three articles written about it recently and you can read them at the web site; www.triax-sharpeners.com
 
Do you have serrated blades or only unserrated. If you have serrated blades you should probably just get a Sharpmaker and not even consider other choices. As long as you are not sharpening a large number of extremely dull or extremely long knives you should probably get a Sharpmaker even if you stick to unserrated blades. It will give you consistantly great edges with minimal room for problems.

Ignore that link to the Martialist. That is one of the silliest collections of hones you could imagine. Look how clumsy and hazardous those extremely short hones are. For serious honing I wouldn't consider anything shorter than a 6-inch long hone. My first rule of thumb is that it is extremely clumsy to use the first and last inch of a hone. My second rule of thumb is that I like to have a useful honing surface at least 4-inches long. So I start with 6 inch hones except in my backpack. This is hypothetical since I have retired all of my bench hones that are shorter than 8 inches. A Sharpmaker has 8-inch rods.

My exception to the 6-inch minimum is in my backpack. It is a double-sided 4" diamond hone with a 4.5-inch handle (an Eze-fold 510, with medium and extra-fine diamond grit).
http://www.eze-lap.com/product/ezefold.htm
 
I will second/third the motion to get a Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker. But please do the system justice by also getting the ultra-fine stones and diamond stones you can get for the 204. Those extra stones really make the system a super tool that it is. Now I have 2 other recommendations you might want to consider>>

There is another great sharpening unit that I have personally been impressed with known as the EDGE PRO. I believe it is the "Apex" model that is their top of the line unit. Now if I'm wrong about that I hope one of you correct me but I believe that the unit I saw demonstrated to me was indeed the "Apex".

Also to be fair about it there is an Achille's Heel ( or weak point) in just about any sharpening system out there. The one drawback I have encountered with the Spyderco 204 unit is the lack of an agressive, extra coarse stone. The one brother mentioned the DMT benchstones. A coarse or extra coarse stone would be in line for re-profiling really beat up blades. Norton and 3M also make great aggressive diamond benchstones for fast reprofiling. Good luck and please keep us posted. :)
 
JD
The top of the line for edgepro is the edgepro PRO. This is the system I use,and really like it. There is a learning curvwe to it but once you get it down it is great.The Apex is their value system.Both of these are still pretty pricey.So he may want to go with the Sharpmaker.
 
SBuzek

I've been harvesting recommendations for a sharpening system. One option brought up was Edge Pro. It was suggested by one person, but no real details why. I'm willing to spend the extra $$$ if it's the holy grail of sharpening. Is it? Thanks...
 
The EdgePro is way more versatile than the Sharpmaker. It can produce near perfect, flat bevels at any practical angle you want using grit ratings from 120 to 6,000. The drawback is it is more expensive and more time consuming to set up. The SharpMaker is a nice compromise if you want to get a nice edge with the least hassle.

Here are a couple of EdgePro links.
http://www.edgeproinc.com/

http://1sharpknife.com/edgeprotips.html
 
I will second/third the motion to get a Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker. But please do the system justice by also getting the ultra-fine stones and diamond stones you can get for the 204.
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Where might one pick these up? I really like my Sharpmaker, but wouldn't mind something that was faster at resetting a damaged edge.
 
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