Sharpmaker Question

bass · #1

I am trying to Sharpen a Kershaw Talon Hawkbill ATS 34 blade with my Sharpmaker 204 using the suggested steps in the instruction manual and am having no luck. I have probably put at least 160 strokes on each side with the medium stones. Any suggestions on technique??

alf · #2

bass,
Is that model serrated?
My guess would be that it has something to do w/ the angle of the bevel on your knife and the angle you are trying to sharpen it at. The two appear to me to not be the same therefore you are not getting an edge. Play around w/ the angle you are holding your knife in relation to the 'stones'. This should help. If it were me I'd practice on an old knife first. Have you ever used the 204 before or is it new to you??
I hope this helps...Good luck!

alf

bass · #3

Alf,

Thanks for the response. My Sharpmaker is farely new. I have sharpened clip points but no hawkbills. I have played around with the angle and sometimes it seems like it is getting close and then I keep going and it gets worse again. Does this happen to you?? Anything else I can try??

alf · #4

bass,
sorry I,ve been away. Is that knife blade serrated???????????
I still feel it has to do w/ the angles. keep playing w/ them till you get it. Yes it used to happen to me all the time, the only thing that cured it for me was practice. although I did have one set of 'crock sticks' I could never sharpen anything on and never figured out why, I gave them to my brother.......... hope this helps..
alf

bass · #5

Alf,

It is a plain edge. I have worked on it and worked on it and it is starting to come around. It almost looks like the right side edge is almost bending over onto the left side of the knife a bit and the left side is definately ground less. I am trying to get the correct angle. Also, will all this sharpening trying to get and edge hurt the life of the knife? I got it for 41.50 on ebay so I didn't pay the $130 retail but it still cost me some money. Thanks for your help.

RickdM · #6

Bass, what you need is a red 'Sharpie' marker and a 10X loop. Make a few marks from the edge of the blade back no more than 1/8" along the blade. Now go back and do some strokes on the Sharpmaker and look at the edge on the loop. My suspicion is that your knife has a blunt edge and you have not reached the edge yet. I have a much coarser stone that I lay over the Sharpmaker rods when I am trying to re-profile the edge (the gray rod will take forever). Once you get used to using a loop while sharpening you'll never go back.

Good luck,
Rick

bass · #7

Rick,

Thanks for the response. I am embarassed to say that I don't know what a 10X loop is. It is some sort of magnifier right. Thanks.

u4ea · #8

Bass:

A 10x Loupe or "loop" is a small hand held magnifier. It is used often in jewlery examination, art / antiques, etc.... They are kind of in the shape of a teardrop. They can be purchased all over the place I bought mine from the Nature Company, or Discovery Store... cant remember for sure.

Here is a link for one on ebay. The one being auctioned is an ok piece. Traditionally they are made of metal instead of plastic.

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dl ... =577497736

Hope this helps.

U4EA

Here are a couple more links to some better ones.

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dl ... =577377081

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dl ... =578315528

Edited by - u4ea on 4/9/2001 6:34:25 PM