check out pics of hook points under microscope

http://www.texastackle.com/pointmaker.htm

WOW!

I disagree slightly, anything looked under that high of a magnification looks bad. I could use a high enough power on the sharpest blade in the world and make it look like the rocky mountains.

In the real world, any one of those hooks are fine to use, I see the advantage of the pointmaker being to resharpen hooks, not to sharpen new hooks...

Wonder what a bass's mouth tissue would look like magnified that much?

well it still looks cool....

Grnhead, you're right about the magnifying part..the point of all this is to what degree will you go to paying attention to details..if you're out fishing for fun and lose one every now and then, who cares..if you're fishing in a tournament and lose one it could easily cost thousands even hundreds of thousands..and, even if you sharpen every point to perfection it's still no guarantee you'll land every one but it does put odds in your favor

No thanks! My current hooks make me bleed already!!!

Shane

My Gamakatsu and Owners will go thru a fingernail out of the package. Why would I want to spend that kind of money for a suture needle?

I notice how the unsharpened hooks have color and the sharpened hooks are shiny. I wonder if corrosion will affect them more. Having to sharpen hooks out on the water takes time. So much time I could afford to lose a fish every now and again vs spending my time sharpening hooks.

Well it seems to me that if you get too fine a point it will be too thin (too much of the original material removed) and it will constantly be breaking and then you end up with a useless hook without a point at all.

All of the hooks that they show are sticky sharp right out of the package, usually. Thats sharp enough for me and the fish.

Wow, here is a topic I know something about as I own an industrial tool sharpening company. http://www.cookssharpening.com I have been wanting to do this hook inspection for quite some time, but just have not gotten to it yet. I have inspection equipment that will allow me to inspect cutting edges (or hook points)up to 200X. In my business, I advertise we can sharpen tools better than when they are new. It would definately be possible to achieve a sharper point through honing or grinding than it would through the chemical process I believe is used in hook manufacturing, but I also have never felt the need to sharpen my Gamu hooks. I define sharpness as the relationship between the geometry of the cutting edge, and the finish quality the cutting edge is ground to. Even though you may polish a cutting edge to near perfection, if the geometry is incorrect, you will have cutting edge failure. Hone the point "too sharp" the point will bend or break. Hone the point too blunt, you will loose penetration. Over heat the point (which would be very easy given its size and lack of coolant, and you will kill the temper. Getting it right would require some practice, good eyes, a steady hand, and patience, but it would definately be possible to achieve the desired result. Also, you better have the ability to inspect your work. Radio Shack has a 30X hand held magnifying glass that has a light and sells for less than $30. I wouldn't buy one without the other.

What's the magnification on those pictures?

I call BS. Everyone of those tips is bent or mushroomed like it was done intentionally. And the magnification doesn't look like enough that you couldn't see that mushroom with the naked eye. I haven't seen any quality hooks come out of the package with the tips bent like some of those.

the magnification is 200...Scott, call it BS or anything else you want, it's fact i.e. the microscope can't lie, have an opinion, or be uninformed..it just doesn't care...it shows what "IS"..Tim, you raised a good point about geometry..I've found that 25-30 degrees is the optimum..less than that, the point is too weak and more than that it's harder to penetrate..the angle on the sharpened ones in pictures is about right..it's a trade off for sure between sharpness and strength of cutting edge or point.

Interesting machine. Might work great with some older hooks but right out of the package hooks are sharp enough to penetrate fishy flesh. Could save you some money on hooks in the long run.. the very long run.

30 years in machine shops, and my own fishing experience, tell me that Tim Cook is right about the hardening. Grind off the surface hardening and your perfectly sharp point will bend way too easily.

That was always my gripe with the hooks I used before all the premium hooks came into existence. I would put this wonderful point on them, and it would fold over the first time I hit a rock. I would prefer the factory sharpening on the Owners I use to that machine. Just my two cents, YMMV.

Well, BS may have sounded a bit harsh and I apologize for that. I still have a hard time believing that if those hooks were mushroomed and bent like that, they would bite so readily into a fingernail (or finger). As mentioned, however, it's probably a good niche market for older hooks. Good luck.