What is the next step after the sharpmaker?

[DRKBC]

Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge Cliff it makes complete sense when you explain it that way. I will keep working on my technique and I will try applying some water to the stone and see where that takes me. And thanks other forum members for all your tips and advice I know very little and it's great to be able to ask the question and get so many great suggestions and opinions.

Dwayne

[11tonytiger]

Thanks Tony I will keep that in mind for the next time I am sitting around showing off cutting up paper and amusing myself.

DRKBC...Sorry about the negative post ,only meant to question the use of a blade sharpened beyond what is normally considered a workable edge. Again my apologies

T

[dalefuller]

DRKBC...Sorry about the negative post ,only meant to question the use of a blade sharpened beyond what is normally considered a workable edge. Again my apologies
T

Each of us probably has our own unique idea of what a workable edge is. I think a lot of us have enjoyed learning to sharpen, then pushed the envelope as far as we could go or wanted to go, then sort of backed off to the edge that made us individually comfortable with what our knives would do.

At least, that's been my experience. After a few years on this forum and BF, my sharpening skills and equipment had improved to the point where I was getting consistent and very sharp edges. I tested my edges with every new test that someone mentioned as well as using the edges for actual work. After a while, I was satisfied that I could push an edge's sharpness beyond what was necessary and even useful for the normal tasks that I had to do.

At that point, I began to develop a sense of what I wanted my edges to be for the jobs they would have to do and I've been satisfied with that ever since.

Trouble is... that "edge comfort zone" is different for each knife user, and some will always enjoy pushing their edges and "honing" their skills (pun intended) to ever higher degrees. That's fine. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have learned how to get to my "edge comfort zone".

[DRKBC]

DRKBC...Sorry about the negative post ,only meant to question the use of a blade sharpened beyond what is normally considered a workable edge. Again my apologies

T

Thanks Tony, you didn't need to apologize, but thank you just the same.

Dwayne

[dsmegst]

If and when I do strop, I use a plain leather belt. But I don't use the SM to sharpen much these days. I found that when I strop and hone to an extremely thin and sharp edge (0.5 micron), it has 2 negative effects. The edge looses bite and the edge is weak relative to a coarser finish. The finest I go is about 6 microns, which coincidently matches the SM's fine ceramic. It's sharp enough to push cut news print while still having some bite. And is tough enough for most jobs w/o needing frequent touch ups.

[Spook410]

Excellent question. This is something worth doing in the sheer enjoyment of steel and knives.

There are several paths. The one that works for me is 6 micron DMT paste on a smooth hardwood block (sharpen like you're stropping). Then 3 micron DMT paste on a (different) smooth hardwood block. Then green CrO2 polishing compound (.5micron) crayoned lightly on a leather strop. Gives a very pretty mirror edge. Leather strops are easy to make BTW.

[jnichols2]

This has been a good read. I'm still figuring just how sharp I really want my knives. Right now I stop the fine stone. Later I'll try out the ultra fne stone.

I think I have picked up that a hair splitting mirror edge isn't as useful for hard work as a edge from the fine stone. Is that correct?

[JD Spydo]

Forgive if this is something that has been asked a million times before. I use my sharpmaker and its been great. But I have seen the results that a lot of you get from stroping and using different polishing compounds etc.. What I am wondering is what would be a good sort of "starter kit" for a person to assemble to move to the next level of sharpening. Just a list of things you have found to be handy such as different compounds that you think are good etc.
Also do I have to spend a lot to do this?
Thanks.

Greetings "DRKBC" >>> Welcome to the Spyderco sharpening products arena. I have a lot to recommend for you to get. First of all the 701 Profiles have recently been discontinued. I personally bought 2 more sets for back up and I highly recommend you to get at least one set of them before they become impossible to obtain.

Second Spyderco has some really neat stuff that will sharpen many different tools. One being the Duckfoot sharpener which has also been recently discontinued as well. I think you'll be able to get one of those for a year or so because they sold pretty slow it seems.

The Spyderco GOLDENSTONE is truly a marvelous tool and one I like to experiment with a lot. and one last tool I think you should look at would be the slipstone. I use mine for a lot of sharpening jobs.

The 302 Benchstones are great but I do look for them to be around for many years to come. Personally I think Spyderco's sharpening equipment is just as cool as their cutlery. And remember a knife is only as good as it is sharp>> a dull knife is a pretty useless tool when you think about it.

[cesar]

Here in Brazil I use after sharpmaker the following sequence:

1 - A piece of leather with polishing wax (20 strokes each side of blade)
2 - A mug... yes, a ceramic mug! after all job, I use to finish the sharpening work to stroke the blade in the top of a ceramic mug (I use one only to sharp). Use 1/4 of the full circle of the top of the mug and pass the blade in that quarter each side. If your mug is white or clear, you will see a thin trace of steel lasting on the mug. Do it until all the blade is glass polished. You can use also the other 3 quarters of the circle too, but one at a time, and clean the mug to start over without steel.

In SD lessons, some of practice is needed. We use a piece of meat to show the effects of a cut against body and my Manix 2 sharpened this way reach a cut about 1ft wide and 2 1/2 inches deep without pressure in angle 1 cut (slashing up right to down left 45 degrees, right hand).

[DRKBC]

Greetings "DRKBC" >>> Welcome to the Spyderco sharpening products arena. I have a lot to recommend for you to get. First of all the 701 Profiles have recently been discontinued. I personally bought 2 more sets for back up and I highly recommend you to get at least one set of them before they become impossible to obtain.

Second Spyderco has some really neat stuff that will sharpen many different tools. One being the Duckfoot sharpener which has also been recently discontinued as well. I think you'll be able to get one of those for a year or so because they sold pretty slow it seems.

The Spyderco GOLDENSTONE is truly a marvelous tool and one I like to experiment with a lot. and one last tool I think you should look at would be the slipstone. I use mine for a lot of sharpening jobs.

The 302 Benchstones are great but I do look for them to be around for many years to come. Personally I think Spyderco's sharpening equipment is just as cool as their cutlery. And remember a knife is only as good as it is sharp>> a dull knife is a pretty useless tool when you think about it.

Thanks JD so do you use the other tools in conjunction with the Sharpmaker or on their own. Do you use the profilers for to judge and help set the angle of the edge?

[DRKBC]

Here in Brazil I use after sharpmaker the following sequence:

1 - A piece of leather with polishing wax (20 strokes each side of blade)
2 - A mug... yes, a ceramic mug! after all job, I use to finish the sharpening work to stroke the blade in the top of a ceramic mug (I use one only to sharp). Use 1/4 of the full circle of the top of the mug and pass the blade in that quarter each side. If your mug is white or clear, you will see a thin trace of steel lasting on the mug. Do it until all the blade is glass polished. You can use also the other 3 quarters of the circle too, but one at a time, and clean the mug to start over without steel.

In SD lessons, some of practice is needed. We use a piece of meat to show the effects of a cut against body and my Manix 2 sharpened this way reach a cut about 1ft wide and 2 1/2 inches deep without pressure in angle 1 cut (slashing up right to down left 45 degrees, right hand).

Just used a ceramic mug to finish one of my knives and I must say it worked great. Particularly on the knife I was working on which was a Tanto blade, chisel grind. I found the tip of the blade a lot easier to sharpen on the surface of the mug as I could apply a light consistent pressure on the blade against a stable object and it was also great for removing the bur on the flat side. Thanks for the tip Cesar!

[cesar]

Simple solutions work best! Here in Brazil we are unfortunate compared to US market, but we never leave quality in work despite absence of resources. Here we don't have laws to carry knives (what is an advantage for knife users), but we haven't top brand knives available, and when it is found the price is twice or trice the US value. My Manix 2 cost me about USD 200 and my sharpmaker about USD 120. Sharpening materials are even more hard to find, so we need to use what we have in hands to make our knives sharp as best as possible. Another tip is that if you have a dull knife and haven't your sharpener available, use the bottom of the mug in same technique I tell in my previous post as coarse sharpener. Finish the sharpening with the top of the mug as fine sharpener. You will be impressed!

Thanks!

Cesar

[dbcad]

Each of us probably has our own unique idea of what a workable edge is. I think a lot of us have enjoyed learning to sharpen, then pushed the envelope as far as we could go or wanted to go, then sort of backed off to the edge that made us individually comfortable with what our knives would do.

At least, that's been my experience. After a few years on this forum and BF, my sharpening skills and equipment had improved to the point where I was getting consistent and very sharp edges. I tested my edges with every new test that someone mentioned as well as using the edges for actual work. After a while, I was satisfied that I could push an edge's sharpness beyond what was necessary and even useful for the normal tasks that I had to do.

At that point, I began to develop a sense of what I wanted my edges to be for the jobs they would have to do and I've been satisfied with that ever since.

Trouble is... that "edge comfort zone" is different for each knife user, and some will always enjoy pushing their edges and "honing" their skills (pun intended) to ever higher degrees. That's fine. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have learned how to get to my "edge comfort zone".

Dale has stated an answer to the OP's sharpening question quite well :) I still go for a sharper edge even though I know the uber, uber sharp edges are fleeting and are in real use unsustainable :D

Still it's a source of enjoyment for me to try get the edges as fine as I can. Whenever I can achieve another rung on the asymptotic curve of sharpness I smile :D

I've gone back to the SM and have figured out that my skill level is the only limiting factor with this tool. Sharpening is a skill/art that none of us will perfect. We can only continue to climb the curve that will never quite reach it's limit

Bottom line is what makes the individual happy. The SM has no theoretical limits :)