Confused about the Sharpmaker

[Shmohawk]

I've had a Sharpmaker for quite some time and do use to touch up my blades.
As I learn more about sharpening (mostly from this amazing forum), it seems to me that while the Sharpmaker is fantastic for its ease of use, that use is extremely narrow.

Without any extra rods it will take forever to reprofile or resharpen a more than moderately dull blade.

It only has two angle settings and chances are that most factory sharpened edges will not be set at exactly one of those angles but rather somewhere in between. Which means that if you're using it to sharpen a blade that has not been reprofiled to one of those angles, which can't really be done with the rods it comes with, either you'll be hitting the shoulders with the 30 slots or microbeveling with the 40.

Is this correct?

Its main function as is without extra rods is just for microbeveling? (unless you happen get a knife from the factory that is exactly 30 or 40)

I feel like I'm missing something

[z1r]

I think you can say the same about most sharpening kits. They come with limited grits of abrasives and, those with angle devices, often don't match factory grinds.

I have successfully reprofiled several blades to 15 degrees using the brown rods. A couple of CRKT's that I promptly gave a away, several Opinels, and even a ZDP DF2. To be fair, the DF2 took forever. Since then, I bought a set of diamond rods for reprofiling "super" steels.

Heck, even with a whetstone, you will usually have several grades of stone ranging from aggressive to fine or ultra fine.

[Josh Crutchley]

I've had a Sharpmaker for quite some time and do use to touch up my blades.
As I learn more about sharpening (mostly from this amazing forum), it seems to me that while the Sharpmaker is fantastic for its ease of use, that use is extremely narrow.

Without any extra rods it will take forever to reprofile or resharpen a more than moderately dull blade.

It only has two angle settings and chances are that most factory sharpened edges will not be set at exactly one of those angles but rather somewhere in between. Which means that if you're using it to sharpen a blade that has not been reprofiled to one of those angles, which can't really be done with the rods it comes with, either you'll be hitting the shoulders with the 30 slots or microbeveling with the 40.

Is this correct?

Its main function as is without extra rods is just for microbeveling? (unless you happen get a knife from the factory that is exactly 30 or 40)

I feel like I'm missing something

Many members here use aftermarket bases to get other angles. You can also put something under one side to make small adjustments.

[James Y]

Sometimes I've still resharpened blades that weren't at 15 or 20 DPS. If the bevels were visible enough to see the blade angle as the bevel rests against the rod, I've held the blade at that position by sight, then changed my position and done it by feel. It takes bit of practice. Some people use a magic marker to determine the edge angle.

The first blade I ever reprofiled was with the Sharpmaker and its dark rods. This was back in 2002, the knife was a Sebenza in S30V, and the edge was much thicker than even 20 DPS. Yes, it took awhile, but I thinned the bevels down to 15 DPS, and finished a but with 20 DPS. At the time, I was OK going slower, because it was an expensive knife, and I was afraid of accidentally removing too much at once.

Not saying that's ideal, just saying it can be done. If it were now and I needed to heavily reprofile a blade, I'd probably get the diamond rods.

Jim

[Coastal]

Without any extra rods it will take forever to reprofile or resharpen a more than moderately dull blade.

I feel like I'm missing something

I stopped before reaching forever, and ordered the CBN rods. They work MUCH better for reprofiling and, in my opinion, the diamonds work even a little better yet. Still, taking a 20º SE down to 15º using the Sharpmaker, is a big deal, for me at least. Plain edge is not nearly as bad.

I'm probably among the least experienced sharpeners on this forum, though, so I'm sure there are secrets I'm missing.

I will say, as an inexperienced user, I think the Sharpmaker, useful as it is, could use some CQI: more angles, non-skid base, tighter slots, rods intermediate between diamonds and browns.

[Woodpuppy]

^that’s what I use, CBN rods for reprofiling or repairing a badly dulled knife. Sometimes I stop with the brown rods, sometimes I go to the white. Almost everything gets the 30-degree setting, and every new knife needs reprofiling. Sharpening is a very individual ergonomic thing, all in the way you hold the knife. I don’t do a 20-dps microbevel.

[Takuan]

The standard out-of-the-box Sharpmaker is more of a knife-maintenance system. You’ll need to get the diamond or CBN stones if you want to reprofile extremely dull (or badly ground) blades. I own quite a few different sharpening systems, including angle-guide clamp systems, diamond plates, Japanese water stones, and a Sharpmaker. I use the Sharpmaker for 90%+ of my sharpening because it is so quick and easy to use, and it gets consistently good results. I just keep it out on my kitchen table so I can sharpen on a daily basis. I own the diamond stones (for reprofiling) and the ultra-fine stones (for daily touch-ups). I don’t recall the last time I used my clamp system, and I only really use the bench stones for my scandi-ground knives. Anything below 15° or above 20°, I sharpen free-hand, but virtually all of my knives are at 15° (kitchen knives) or 20°(most folders and fixed blades).

[prndltech]

If you just buy Spyderco and Chris Reeve knives, your pretty much set with a sharpmaker.

Although I use either the diamond or CBN (don’t remember which I bought) rods and the brown rods only. I do not touch the white rods…. Ever.

I have other stones/plates and sharpening systems (that are motorized ) but I just love how easy it is to maintain on the sharpmaker. I’d call it a sharp keeper though, I use other things if I need to hog off lots of metal although the diamond rods do work efficiently, I reprofiled an s90v military to 15° per side fairly quickly.

If I could only have one sharpening system… the sharpmaker would probably be it.

[kennethsime]

I’m paraphrasing from memory here, but I’m pretty sure that Sal mentions in the instructional DVD that your goal is to use the Sharpmaker to apply a microbevel at 40°. This is slightly more obtuse than most factory edge angles, and is easily done with the brown rods. Eventually, you’ll want to thin the shoulders down, which is what the 30° setting is for.

[Shmohawk]

I guess my question really is this...

The OOTB Sharpmaker is great for what it is but I want to be able do more than just put a microbevel on my knives.

I can buy diamond or CBN rods, but even with those I feel like the Sharpmaker is limited in its versatility in regard to angles.
Without doing much research there seem to be other OOTB systems, not much more expensive than just the diamond rods, that offer much more versatility OOTB. And you can get extras for those as well to make them even more versatile.
The Work Sharp Precision for example.
I have no experience with it but it just seems like it can do way more than the Sharpmaker.
It may be more of deal to setup or not have the ease of use of the Sharpmaker but for me it seems likes its worth sacrificing that for the versatility.

Obviously the real answer is to learn to freehand

But until that happens, I'm just not sure if or why I should be investing in and sticking with the Sharpmaker.

[wrdwrght]

At the very least—and it is by no means a small thing—the SharpMaker is a teaching tool.

Once you learn its lessons, you can keep using it, perhaps adding more abrasive diamond or CBN rods for the more wear-resistant steels that Spyderco offers us.

Or you can graduate to a more involved guided system, or take the SM’s lessons into freehanding.

I freehand, but grab the SM from time to time for reminders…

[TkoK83Spy]

Just get a Work Sharp Precision Adjust, even splurge on the upgrade kit. Even without the upgrade kit, I find it much easier to work with, get much better results, and it's also around $30 cheaper than a standard Sharpmaker. The Sharpmaker is being easily passed by other sharpening systems these days.

[RustyIron]

I feel like I'm missing something

Remember, the Sharpmaker is just a tool. It does some things really well, and other things not as well. It's the nature of tools. You're off to a good start, and maybe some day you'll decide that if you had a couple different tools, you'd have more versatility.

Consider the lowly hammer. Out of curiosity, I just went down to the garage an in the space of a minute, counted eighteen. Each does one thing better than the others. Could one hammer suffice for everything? Probably not. Do I need more? Probably not.

Like most things in life--sharpeners, hammers, tacos, high-heel shoes, paisley ties, Hummel figurines--there is an optimum number to possess. You just need to figure out what it is.

[Sharp Guy]

I tend to agree with the OP. I basically only use my Sharpmaker(s) to touch up the edges until I decide it's time to reprofile. Then I do that on a really nice Hapstone V7. Thing is...I still use my Sharpmaker way more than I use my Hapstone. In fact I haven't used my Hapstone on a long time but I use my Sharpmaker quite often. A lot of this is because I have a whole bunch of knives I can rotate through. If I only had one or two knives I'd have to reprofile more often and therefore use the Hapstone more. The Sharpmaker would still be used most often though

[Evil D]

I think it was JD that once called it the "Sharpmaintainer" and I think that's accurate. You certainly can reprofile with one but it's much slower than other sharpening tools. I don't think I'd want to be stuck with only a Sharpmaker, but I definitely won't live without one. It's my daily toucherupper and absolutely essential for serrations.

[Coastal]

Just get a Work Sharp Precision Adjust, even splurge on the upgrade kit.

Done, and done.

[Jason Paul]

I also got a Sharpmaker first, and like it pretty well. After reading the forums beforehand, I already knew it was more of a sharp keeper, but that was sufficient for me at the time.

After getting a bit deeper into the hobby, I wanted something with more flexibility, so I ended up getting a KME. It's basically a better quality version of the Work Sharp Precision Adjust. It's "better" than the Sharpmaker; more flexible in both angles and grit, and also locks into place rather than relying on my own motor skills.

My plan was (and I suppose still is) to use the KME to reprofile my knives to just under 30 dps inclusive, then use the Sharpmaker at that setting for maintenance. I may not do that for everything, but just as a general plan. That way I can get things thin at the edge, while keeping the simplicity of the Sharpmaker for maintenance.

Several here have and love their Work Sharp Precision Adjust systems, so you might go with that. It's quite a bit less than the KME.

One thing about the Sharpmaker though, is that it's quick & easy to set up, use, and put away. In many cases for friends & family, just a few minutes on the Sharpmaker makes a noticeable difference on their (often very dull) knives, especially kitchen knives that tend to be thinner than pocketknives.

A while back my daughter brought all of her and her roommate's kitchen knives over for me to sharpen. These were all kitchen knives, ranging in size from probably a 3.5" paring knife to an 8" chef's knife; maybe 8-10 knives total. They're all cheap knives that I probably couldn't have cut myself on without really trying. I ended up spending maybe 30-45 minutes on the Sharpmaker (40* slots) to sharpen all of them, and the difference was very noticeable.

I could have done a much better job on the KME, but it also would have taken much longer. You set up the KME to really sharpen a knife, not really just for a touch-up. This is where the Sharpmaker comes in handy IMO.

Jason

[TkoK83Spy]

Just get a Work Sharp Precision Adjust, even splurge on the upgrade kit.

Done, and done.

Light pressure and the thing is pretty effective for the price. A few of us use it sometimes and there's some posts in the "community sharpening journal" thread.

I find the Precision Adjust, for reprofiling if not comfortable free hand...and a Sharpmaker for touch ups is a pretty solid combo for not that much money compared to other guided systems. (Which I would love, but spend too much on the darn knives themselves!)

[cabfrank]

Everytime the Precision Adjust comes up, it reminds me that I am tempted to get one. It also reminds me that I need a new Sharpmaker that has 30 degree angle settings also, and I think I want that more.

[Takuan]

It's my daily toucherupper and absolutely essential for serrations.

Agreed. Sharpening serrations without a Sharpmaker would be tedious. I always carry one plain edge and one serrated knife on a daily basis, so I need something that can handle serrated edges as well as plain. I use my Sharpmaker to make sure my knives never get dull enough that I have to pull out one of my clamp systems or my bench stones.