Glen Sims
Posts: 30
Joined: 14 March 2007
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Sharpmaker tips to produce shaving sharp edges.
A forum member recently sent me a PM asking for some hints and tips on how to get the most out of his Sharpmaker as he was not getting good results. Hopefully this will help.
The most common reason why knives do not get sharp on the Sharpmaker is due to the knife’s existing edge angle. Some knife manufacturers put a cutting edge of greater than 40 degrees and I have seen new knives with a 50 degree plus edge. In my opinion, this is way too obtuse for a filleting or kitchen knife. The SM only has 2 settings, 30 degrees which is normally only used to reprofile the edge ( primary bevel ), and the 40 degrees, which should be used for the cutting tip ( secondary bevel ). Once your knife has a 30 degree primary bevel, you will only need to use the 40 degree setting to maintain a shaving sharp edge.
SM Tip 1 – Use a felt tipped marker pen and colour the cutting edge of the knife you are having difficulty in sharpening. Use the corners of the brown rods and make 3 or 4 passes on each side. Look at the edge. If the marker pen has been removed all the way down to the tip of the cutting edge, you should be getting great results.
If the ink is not being removed at the edge, then the primary bevel is greater than 40 degrees and you are only removing steel from the shoulder of the edge and not the edge itself. This is probably the most common reason why people don’t get the results they require, as no edge sharpening is actually happening.
If this is what is happening to your knife, you will need to reprofile the edge. Depending on the properties of the knife’s steel, this can be fixed quickly or might take some time and patience. Most filleting and kitchen knives are heat treated soft ( RC 54-56 ) so as the edge doesn’t chip, but only rolls. These should be quite easy and quick to reprofile. Use the corners of the brown rods in the 30 degree setting only and make 20 passes one side, then 20 passes on the other. Do this 3 or 4 times, then do the marker trick again to see if you have reached the edge. You can avoid this process if you have competent skills using a coarse stone ( a diamond stone like an Ezi Lap or DMT works well) and can manually set a primary edge of around 30 degrees.
SM Tip 2 – To quickly set a primary 30 degree bevel on your knife using the SM, purchase a few sheets of SIC sandpaper ( wet and dry ) in the following grades – 240 and 400 grit and 4 small alligator clips. Cut to size and wrap the 240 grit around both rods and fasten on the rods at the corners with alligator clip. Use the flats of the stones with the sandpaper attached and sharpen as per normal, rotating from side to side. This will remove steel much faster than the corners of the brown rods. Keep checking using the marker pen. Once you have reached the edge, use the 400 grit in the same manner, about 20 passes on each side should do. You can then use the SM in the 40 degree slots, as per the instructions to put on a great edge.
Hope this helps a little
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