Stoked on my new Sharpmaker and Ultrafine Rods!

[ForealBoreal]

So my late birthday present came in and I got my sharp maker and the extra ultra fine rods. Super stoked. I am really impressed.
I can't seem to get them as sharp as I see other people with the same set up but I think that will come over time :)

[ChapmanPreferred]

Happy belated birthday. Yes, perfect practice makes perfect edges. :)

[burntrice]

Ignore 99% of youtube vids would be my advice, they all seem to be in such a hurry, missing half the edge, sitting at a funny angle and dragging the tip off the edge.

[AJF]

Ignore 99% of youtube vids would be my advice, they all seem to be in such a hurry, missing half the edge, sitting at a funny angle and dragging the tip off the edge.

Sounds like good advice. Is there, though, a video that gives helpful tips---and demonstrates proper technique---with the SM?

And, yes, I have viewed Sal's instructional DVD, but are there other good ones?

Andrew

[burntrice]

To be honest i cant say i've seen a good 'demonstration' ones, lots of good reviews though.
If you follows Sal's instructions you cant go wrong. I make sure of..

1) The main thing for me is not having to worry about the angle EXCEPT holding the knife vertical, this is a must, you may as well freehand otherwise.

2) A flat surface, standing with the SM about waist height.

3) Less pressure for the final strokes before moving to another stone, and only move when your happy. Many a time i've put a nice shiny edge on a knife, only to go back to the coarse stone because i wasn't happy.

4) Slow and steady wins the race :) You may need hundreds upon hundreds of passes when first taking a knife to the SM but the end result is worth it.

5) Strange but true, a course edge will take hair off your arm better than a polished one. The jagged edge will 'catch' the hair easier and therefor feel sharper. (remember the vid? Sal does a few strokes with a sak (i think) on the brown stones and shaves arm hair with it.

Although i've been using the SM for a long time it still seems a little hit and miss, somtimes it's "amazingly sharp" and other times its "tried some arm hair shaving and gave myself a skin graft" sharp.

[AJF]

Thanks, burntrice. That's a nice summary. I'm still on the learning curve with the SM, but nevertheless have been very pleased with what I've been able to do so far. I need to get more consistent, though, and figure out a little better what works for me and what doesn't.

Andrew

[Ankerson]

Personally I think Sal Glesser did the best Demonstration. :)

[Cave Dave]

Generally the sharpmaker works great on touching up new spydercos, but it may not be even touching the edge on other brands of knives.

I think without using a sharpie and without being able to identify and remove a burr you may not be terrible successful with the sharpmaker.

[Mr Blonde]

A belated happy birthday. I ordered my UF stoneds as an afterthought, added them to an order and was merely curious to see how they would work. Man, I should have gotten those UF stones way sooner. Once you get the hang of it, which you will, you'll absolutely love the performance you'll get from your edges.

Wouter

[Donut]

I used mine for a while from watching youtube videos and didn't watch the DVD with Sal. I was horrible at it until I watched the DVD. =\