sharpmaker help

[bkkd]

o k do i need to sharpen at 30 and backbevel at 40?

or sharpen at 40 and backbevel at 30?

[wec12]

30 first, then 40... If you can, you can check the instructions. Good luck.

[tortoise]

There are actually little icons on the Sharpmaker telling which is for which. Don't feel bad, you have to look very closely.

[ghostrider]

You don't necessarily need to sharpen at 40*. Just a few passes at 40* to knock the bur off is sufficient. It also depends upon what you are sharpening (blade steel, grind, profile, etc...). With the premium steels like VG-10 or S30V you don't need to go to 40*, and you'll be wasting the steels potential if you do. Joe Talmadge (who is known as a sharpening guru) has commented on this many times.

If your sharpening something like AUS-8 or 440C then the 40* setting will work great, but even better if you first back bevel with the 30* setting. Remember that that video, was made with the idea that you'd be sharpening more than :spyder: 's on it.

[bkkd]

so can i just sharpen at 30 and leave it alone with the premium steels and not worry about the backbeveling?

[wec12]

Yes. But what you have to do is make sure you're not sharpening the "shoulders" of the edge. You can use Sharpie as a guide to see if you are doing right.

[TheSavageRabbit]

WEC12, would you consider ATS-34 to be a steel that does not require a 40* angle?

[wec12]

Well, TheSavageRabbit, I don't have Spyderco with ATS-34 (but do have ATS -55 on Dyad) and all my Spydie babies get used just a litte and for fun. Take ATS-55 for example, I did re-profile the edge to 30 degrees; after that, I did few LIGHT strokes on 40 fine/white rods and it works great. Like I said, depend on different uses... SOrry, hope this helps.

[bkkd]

ok i have been messing with my endura and have been sharpening at the 30 deg. setting and i think i have achieved scary sharp!.................i did make a few passes lightly with the white rods and the 40 deg. setting just to make sure no burrs were there, i dont think they were to begin with, but i may not be doing it right as the front half of the blade is sharper, just slightly more than the rear part of the blade, but im learning.

[iamerror]

I would think that AST-34 would handle 15 degrees just fine, as well as steels that are softer than this. But yeah, it does depend on what you plan on using it for.

[bowarrow2000]

ATS34 works very well at 15 deg. per side.

[Kaizen]

After endless hours on the Sharpmaker, I felt comfortable transitioning to freehand. This was only due to me getting schooled on the Sharpmaker first. It was great training wheels.

[A. Stanton]

Like the Sharpmaker instuctions recommend, for a tough working edge I maintain my knives at 40 degree. When you can no longer sharpen at 40, use 30, then back to 40.
The people at Chris Reeve, who sell $500 pocket folders, recommend a 40 edge on their knives also. And they also recommend no flicking of the blade!

[Harry White]

The people at Chris Reeve, who sell $500 pocket folders, recommend a 40 edge on their knives also. And they also recommend no flicking of the blade!

blasphemy! that's one of the reason's i love my Spydies -- they're so flickable.

flicking calms me down -- its therapy. if i can't flick, i'll die! :D

[bkkd]

doh!........ahh me i just dropped one of the brown sticks on the counter from about a foot high while taking it out of the holder in the base, it just took a small divot out, so i got lucky, i guess it just hit just right (or wrong) to take a chunk out.

it still works fine tho, i just put the chunked end in the base.

gotta watch out for those ceramics they will break, and fast too.

i still love the sharpmaker tho..........

gotta be careful.............