The Sharpmaker requires that you have a 15 degree back bevel upon which you add a 20 degree micro-bevel. The 20 degrees is a bit more acute than most of the V ceramics that I ever heard of.

The setup works great for Spyderco knives out-of-the-box. I have had to apply a new back bevel to ever ZT I used it with... I settled on thinning and convexing thicker blade stock but for smaller, thinner knives it is pretty much bullet proof and I still use it.

I usually finish up witha strop to get the edge I want - depending on the blade steel.