Which sharpmaker rods can you achieve shaving sharpness with?

[vivi]

Which sharpmaker rods can you achieve shaving sharpness with?

I recently began experimenting with using the diamond rods for my edges rather than strictly for reprofiling. Very toothy and aggressive edges that are fun to slice with, but they were also a far cry from shaving sharp when I first tried this out.

Recently I got a Spyderco cleanly shaving right off the flats of the diamond rods at 15dps, and it was popping off hairs sending them flying after stropping twice per side.

Never thought I'd be able to do that. I remember when I first got the sharpmaker I had no shot of shaving sharpness until I got to the fine rods.

Which rods can you use for a shaving sharp edge? Which finish do you generally use for a regular EDC knife?

For the sake of discussion lets define shaving sharp as "This knife will cut off arm hairs without noticeable discomfort or scraping."

[Sharp Guy]

Brown for sure. Haven't really used my CBN rods much. So I can't say whether or not I can achieve shaving sharp from them or not

[Enactive]

Vivi, thanks for defining 'shaving sharp.' For now i only have the fine and medium.

Since MPGTSM's earlier challenge about using just the brown flats, i've basically only used the brown rods. After some practice I can get mystery stainless, SAK, MBS 26, 8CR, s30v, V-Toku 2, Cruwear, LC200n, AUS 8, 12c27, 14c28n shaving sharp from the brown rods.

For kitchen and EDC I now prefer the toothier finish. I will buy some CBN or diamond rods or stones one of these days-- and especially when I get some harder steels. For woodworking I still use a higher grit finish.

I prefer to reprofile on bigger stones and just use the Sharpmaker for maintenance. Thanks for the encouragement to try getting more refined edges on coarser stones. *repeats "light touch" as a mantra* :cool:

[The Meat man]

Brown is standard for me. I haven't tried my CBN rods yet.

[Evil D]

Diamond or better. I think I'm going to order some CBN rods next.

[PeaceInOurTime]

I don't have the Spyderco diamond or CBN rods, but I can easily obtain this level of sharpness with a DMT coarse plate.

[soc_monki]

I can get a knife shaving sharp with the diamond rods. Everything I've read or watched on sharpening says to get your edge shaving sharp with your coarsest stone, so I do! Everything after that is just to make the edge prettier lol.

I usually at least get the bevel a little refined with the brown rods for all around use though. And microbevel with the browns.

[Bloke]

I can easily obtain this level of sharpness with a DMT coarse plate.

[PeaceInOurTime]

I can easily obtain this level of sharpness with a DMT coarse plate.

This is more my style :D

[tonijedi]

I can get shaving sharp using the brown rods. I started to use them to finish the edges on my PE H1 after Vivi's recommendation and it works well.

[Wartstein]

Great!! Now I finally know what you guys look like!! :D :p

I can easily obtain this level of sharpness with a DMT coarse plate.

I can easily obtain this level of sharpness with a DMT coarse plate.

This is more my style :D

[Wartstein]

Brown medium rods. But just discovered that by reading your posts, Vivi. Beforhand I routinely always finished with the whites (fine, not ultra fine)

[elena86]

It depends on the steel ... for most steels I only need brown rods to achieve shaving sharpness