Sharpmaker Use

[Ron_Miami]

How can I best avoid rounding the tip when using the Sharpmaker?

I am new to sharpening.

[yablanowitz]

Welcome to the forum, also known as Sal's living room

I'm sure that a search would turn this up a few times, but the short answer is: DON"T DRAG THE TIP OFF THE STONES! Stop your strokes with the tip still in contact with the rod, before hitting the base. That will prevent tip rounding

[TFin04]

Never try to get too close to the tip with the corners, you will slip eventually.

I actually bring the knife handle towards the center of the V when sharpening on the flats, it makes sure the tip keeps good contact with the stones.

Another easy tip (pardon the pun) to the Sharpmaker is to take a sharpie marker and color the entire edge of the knife. As you sharpen, you can actually see where you are cutting metal away and where you are not. This is especially useful for getting the tip nice and clean. Clean stones can make the job much faster as well.

Good luck!

[Ron_Miami]

Thanks for the welcome and advice.

I wish sharpening the tip was covered better in the DVD.

[JD Spydo]

That's really the best advice I also can offer. When I am sharpening a knife with a very pointed tip such as the Centofante II C-50 or my Boguszewski Spike I always never let the tip off of the stone. You really have to concentrate to do that but it's not all that hard. Please be pulling with your bottom end of the handle aimed somewhat downward for better control of a blade with that type of tip.

As long as you keep the tip on the stone I don't think you will run that risk of it slipping off the stone. Also when you get close to the tip of the blade then at that point you should try to be pulling the handle end of the knife just slightly downward as to avoid being in a position that would pull the tip off of the stone.

And please do a lot of your practice on old beat up pocket knives and old kitchen knives out of the drawer. It really helps a lot to practice on older, less important knives. And after you practice a bit go back and watch the video/DVD again a couple of times. Along with the video be sure to re-read the steps in the booklet that comes with the Sharpmaker. I can't stress enough to re-read the booklet and review the video: You'll be surprised what you might have overlooked the first go around. That's what I did when I got my first 204 Sharpmaker and I learned it pretty quickly without botching up a lot of my high end knives.