Spyderco Forums

I keep hearing about "the sharpie trick" when sharpening knives, and I have a very basic understanding of what it is, and what it tells you, but Id love to know more.

I know you mark the edge with a sharpie, then make a few passes with whatever you are using to sharpen, and see what parts of the sharpie are taken off, I just dont know how this helps, or what to do when I get different results.

My grandfather taught me to sharpen when I was 7, and Ive been using his methods (and hard arkansas stone) since then. He never said anything about sharpies, so a detailed explanation by someone in the know would be very enlightening! Thanks!

My understanding is that you use the removal of the ink as a gauge to alter your angle as you sharpen, in order to create an accurate and even bevel.

I never used to use it, but when I did, it was to see if I was hitting the edge. With my new guided sharpener, I use it to see if I have the right angle, if it wipes off all the sharpie in 1 swipe, its the right angle.

It just gives you a visual reference of exactly where you're hitting the bevel. It's most useful with guide systems like the Lansky, for making sure you're hitting the bevel in the right spot.

I stole one of Ankerson's edge pictures to illustrate. The blue "sharpie" is what is should look like when you apply the marker. It should color the whole width of the bevel.

The area of the red "sharpie" has the stones missing the shoulder and hitting just the edge (exaggerated for illustration). If this is what you're getting, then you are probably adding a microbevel. This can be good if that is what you're trying to achieve. If you merely want to sharpen at the factory angle, then it means that your angle is too wide.

If you get something like the green "sharpie", then you're angle is too narrow and isn't sharpening the edge. This is what you don't want to see for sharpening, but is what you want to see initially if you are re-profiling to a narrower angle. If re-profiling, it will look like this until you remove a lot of material off the shoulder, eventually working it down until the stones contact the whole width of the bevel.

What you want to see, when re-sharpening to factory, or whatever the current edge angle is set to, is the non-marker part. When you remove all the marker, it means that the whole edge is being sharpened.

jabba359 wrote:I stole one of Ankerson's edge pictures to illustrate. The blue "sharpie" is what is should look like when you apply the marker. It should color the whole width of the bevel.

The area of the red "sharpie" has the stones missing the shoulder and hitting just the edge (exaggerated for illustration). If this is what you're getting, then you are probably adding a microbevel. This can be good if that is what you're trying to achieve. If you merely want to sharpen at the factory angle, then it means that your angle is too wide.

If you get something like the green "sharpie", then you're angle is too narrow and isn't sharpening the edge. This is what you don't want to see for sharpening, but is what you want to see initially if you are re-profiling to a narrower angle. If re-profiling, it will look like this until you remove a lot of material off the shoulder, eventually working it down until the stones contact the whole width of the bevel.

What you want to see, when re-sharpening to factory, or whatever the current edge angle is set to, is the non-marker part. When you remove all the marker, it means that the whole edge is being sharpened.

Awesome stuff, Thanks jabba359.

I agree this makes great sense. I sort of found out the other day on my own sharpening my GB, ive done a lot of work with it since then, its still a razor!

I find it a lot better to use whiteboard markers though. It rubs off a lot faster, and if you missed the edge while coloring, then you can just wipe off the ink, unlike with a "permanent" marker.

Minibear453 wrote:I find it a lot better to use whiteboard markers though. It rubs off a lot faster, and if you missed the edge while coloring, then you can just wipe off the ink, unlike with a "permanent" marker.

+1 on that. I like to use a 10x loupe to examine the edge as well... I'm always amazed to find some marker right at the very edge where ther should be none :D