Originally Posted By: KenK
I've been noodling this since I first read the post yesterday.

I agree that you should stick to course until you start feeling and edge. Alternating doesn't really help at all.

Is M2 steel really harder than the Sharpmaker's ceramic sticks? - or at least that close to the hardness of the sticks? I wouldn't think so.

Like Stretch suggested, rather than investing in another sharpening system maybe its time to invest in some diamond sticks for your Sharpmaker. I've used mine mostly when getting a fast edge on really dull stainless steel knives, but it might help you with the M2.


A MUCH cheaper alternative to the diamond sticks(man are they messy to clean up after...They leave COARSE metal/diamond dust EVERYWHERE!) is to wrap wet/dry sandpaper around the ceramic sticks and hold them on with the black metal paper clamps they have at the office supply stores.
Use the flat sides, as the corners will not last at all.
They will make the sharpmaker capable of reprofiling for less than $10.00 total... The dimond sticks cost me a fortune, and they are STILL not corse enough!!!
The wet/dry paper is FAST and you can get a new surface when you need it, and best of all, you can have eight or nine grits ready to use in a few seconds... I find it is MUCH faster to go through a lot of grits than just a few... The transition between course and fine takes forever because it is very hard to get the course scratches out with the fine grit(or stone).
If you use a lot of grits, you only need a few passes(less than 10 per side) per grit.