Lazy Man breaks down and flattens stones: What about the Sharpmaker?
Lazy Man breaks down and flattens stones: What about the Sharpmaker?
It's true. If a chore doesn't excite me, it's liable to get pushed down on the list of priorities. Flattening stones is one of those things. The overwhelming majority of my sharpening is on CGSW diamond matrix stones. They don't dish much, so that's not a problem. When they get dark, I clean them up with Barkeeper's Friend because that's what the Interwebs tells me to do.
Recently, the performance has been degrading. The stones just haven't been cutting as quickly. One doesn't need to be named De Beer to understand what's happening to the topmost layer of diamonds. They were obviously becoming less sharp than they were previously.
I got out my glass plate and some aluminum oxide powder and went to town. There was an almost negligible amount of dishing, but I kept going until it was completely gone. The result was stones that are noticeably sharper than they were previously. You can feel it with your fingertips or by the way it works on knife blades. They cut much more quickly now. I think stones are not unlike drill bits and lathe tools: Keep them sharp, and you'll do better work more easily. Moving forward, I'll be more proactive on stone maintenance.
Any coarse surface will become smoother if you keep rubbing on it. Think about rock and glaciers. Think about Sharpmaker rods and knife blades. It's inevitable that the rods will become smoother over time. I've never heard of anyone resurfacing their Sharpmaker stones. Is it a common practice I've just overlooked?
Re: Lazy Man breaks down and flattens stones: What about the Sharpmaker?
RustyIron wrote: ↑Sat Dec 30, 2023 12:22 amAny coarse surface will become smoother if you keep rubbing on it. Think about rock and glaciers. Think about Sharpmaker rods and knife blades. It's inevitable that the rods will become smoother over time. I've never heard of anyone resurfacing their Sharpmaker stones. Is it a common practice I've just overlooked?
Thanks for the reminder to resurface the stones occasionally. I'm also intensely curious if the same process (I use Silly-cone Carbide powder from Brownell's, on a glass plate) will refresh the Sharpmaker ceramics? Why wouldn't it?
Steel novice who self-identifies as a steel expert. Proud M.N.O.S.D. member 0003. Spydie Steels: 4V, 15V, 20CV, AEB-L, AUS6, Cru-Wear, HAP40, K294, K390, M4, Magnacut, S110V, S30V, S35VN, S45VN, SPY27, SRS13, T15, VG10, XHP, ZWear, ZDP189
- Brock O Lee
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- Location: Victoria, Australia
Re: Lazy Man breaks down and flattens stones: What about the Sharpmaker?
Pardon my ignorance Rusty, but I am surprised that you were able to flatten diamond stones with aluminium oxide powder? Did you perhaps mean "silicon carbide powder"? Even then, SiC is a lot softer than diamond, and would not be able to cut diamond. Curious how that even works?
I have flattened many waterstones with SiC powder on a glass sheet. I have a well worn and slightly warped Sharpmaker medium stone that I once tried to flatten using the same technique. I made some progress, but gave up after a few hours. SiC cuts ceramic, but I found it was a slow process, and I ran out of patience.
The surface ended up being slightly more coarse than OEM, and not as uniform, and it kinda ruined the stone for me. A better option in theory would be to use a cheap diamond stone of sufficient grit, but I have not tried that.
Hans
Favourite Spydies: Military, PM2, Shaman, UKPK
Others: Victorinox Pioneer, CRK L Sebenza 31, CRK L Inkosi
Favourite Spydies: Military, PM2, Shaman, UKPK
Others: Victorinox Pioneer, CRK L Sebenza 31, CRK L Inkosi
Re: Lazy Man breaks down and flattens stones: What about the Sharpmaker?
Brock O Lee wrote: ↑Tue Jan 02, 2024 4:57 amPardon my ignorance Rusty, but I am surprised that you were able to flatten diamond stones with aluminium oxide powder? Did you perhaps mean "silicon carbide powder"?
Hey, Brock.
Thanks for the feedback on dressing Sharpmaker rods. I'll remember this if my rods ever start performing unsatisfactorily. I certainly don't want to wreck them.
Regarding the aluminum oxide, it was not an error. It's what the manufacturer recommends. He's put a lot of research and experimentation into the creation of these stones, they perform great, so I'm going to assume he knows what he's talking about. My own knowledge is limited, and anything I could say about it would just be ill-informed hypothesis.
Wait... I lied.
I can't resist the urge to formulate ill-informed hypotheses. Perhaps the goal is to hog back the underlying matrix and leave the diamond particles intact. That sounds reasonable, right?
Happy New Year!
- Brock O Lee
- Member
- Posts: 3383
- Joined: Thu Jul 21, 2011 3:34 am
- Location: Victoria, Australia
Re: Lazy Man breaks down and flattens stones: What about the Sharpmaker?
That is indeed plausible given that the manufacturer recommends it and you were successful. Interesting!
Happy New Year, and many flat stones!
Hans
Favourite Spydies: Military, PM2, Shaman, UKPK
Others: Victorinox Pioneer, CRK L Sebenza 31, CRK L Inkosi
Favourite Spydies: Military, PM2, Shaman, UKPK
Others: Victorinox Pioneer, CRK L Sebenza 31, CRK L Inkosi
Re: Lazy Man breaks down and flattens stones: What about the Sharpmaker?
You must be a brother from another mother. We must create an I.I.H. fraternity.
As an aside, I was not aware of a US-based source for resin bonded diamond stones. I thought the Ukranian stones from gritomatic were the only source. So thanks for that.
https://cgsw.us
Steel novice who self-identifies as a steel expert. Proud M.N.O.S.D. member 0003. Spydie Steels: 4V, 15V, 20CV, AEB-L, AUS6, Cru-Wear, HAP40, K294, K390, M4, Magnacut, S110V, S30V, S35VN, S45VN, SPY27, SRS13, T15, VG10, XHP, ZWear, ZDP189
Re: Lazy Man breaks down and flattens stones: What about the Sharpmaker?
Did I type that too fast? I'll type slower: I'm proposing an Ill Informed Hypothesis fraternity, because I am prone to making IIHs also, and am pleased to find another who likewise cannot resist. I'm saying that those of us who are prone to toss out half-baked ideas with no evidence, need to stick together. Of course a dedicated sub forum. That goes without saying. And a secret handshake. And coffee mugs. And maybe a pole dancer.
Steel novice who self-identifies as a steel expert. Proud M.N.O.S.D. member 0003. Spydie Steels: 4V, 15V, 20CV, AEB-L, AUS6, Cru-Wear, HAP40, K294, K390, M4, Magnacut, S110V, S30V, S35VN, S45VN, SPY27, SRS13, T15, VG10, XHP, ZWear, ZDP189
Re: Lazy Man breaks down and flattens stones: What about the Sharpmaker?
Right on, brother.
That's the most well-considered idea I've heard this morning.