Getting my spyderco razor sharp?

[Crispycrunch77]

Hey people of BF, I'm new here and wanted to ask a simple question. I have a bunch of spydercos (dragonfly 2 salt, delica 4, native 5, tenacious, endura, resilience, PM 2, Manix2, police and many more. And as most of you know if you've ever ordered a spyderco is that they come RAZOR sharp. However I'm having trouble getting the blade back to being razor sharp. I have multiple sharpening tools like 2 worksharp sharpeners, a bunch of sharpening stones and I've been using the sharpmaker for the last few months. I've seen people who can get their knives back to being razor sharp but I can not. I'm not sure what exactly I'm doing wrong or if I'm skipping a part I'm not sure. Is there a better sharpener out there? Am I not putting in enough time or something? I do 30 passes on both sides of the blade on the 2 sets of rods it comes with but it just never seems to get any sharper. I've taken a sharpie and ran it along the edge to make sure I was getting the right angle and I do but still it doesn't get very sharp. Please help!!!!

 

[Cereal_killer]

First, stop counting strokes, the number of passes you make has NOTHING to do with it!

Step 2: embrace the burr! If you're not creating a burr you're not sharpening, simple as that...



Visit the maintenance sub-forum for sharpening tutorials and advice.

 

[augustus88]

Step 2: embrace the burr! If you're not creating a burr you're not sharpening, simple as that...

That's it!!! Simple as that. Once I figured that out, shaving sharp was pretty easy.
I sharpen one side until I feel a burr on the other. Then I switch sides and even out the edge width. Next I refine both sides with finer and finer stones, followed by stropping.

Doesn't matter what type of sharpening device you use. Some are faster and some more precise. Some even feel superior because they freehand (the person not the sharpening device ). ALL can produce successful scary sharp results once you create a burr.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Take the coarsest simple sharpening stone you have, and use it to do nothing but create an obvious burr ('obvious' = seen or felt, or both) on one of your simpler knives, i.e., one with a basic, low-alloy steel that doesn't actually need something like diamond to be sharpened. Then use the same stone to 'flip' the burr to the other side and reduce the burr (use lighter pressure) until you can see it's noticeably sharper. Then keep on doing that with even lighter pressure, until it's sharper still. If along the way, you notice the edge is getting noticeably more DULL again (indicates lack of control of the held angle), then STOP, re-create the burr again and go from there, paying more attention to the held angle. Once you have the feel down for that, any other sharpening device you may try, and any finer stones you use will be much, much more effective and easier to use.

It all comes down to the burr, and understanding why it's important -->: it's the proof the edge has been fully apexed, and is therefore becoming as sharp as it should be.

The 'Sharpie method' doesn't guarantee that, and often lies about perceived progress, because the ink comes off too easily. And as mentioned, counting strokes is of no use at all, really. Each knife and each sharpening will be different, and there's no predicting how many strokes are needed to get the job done. That's what the presence of the burr will tell you, whenever it happens. Watch for that instead.


David

 

[bgentry]

As I said in Secret #6 of The Seven Secrets Of Sharpening, the real secret to the burr is to make sure you form a full length burr.

It's really easy to stop too soon when you feel a burr form in one part of the blade. You've got to keep grinding away until you get that burr along the entire length of the edge.

Secret #7 goes right along with this because once you figure out the burr, you also figure out that "razor sharp" can happen with very coarse stones, which is very useful actually.

Good luck.

Brian.

 

[miso2]

You have already had great advice here. I would add a few minor things regarding burr detection.

There are basically two ways to detect a burr, visually or tactilely.
For visual inspection, you can see a burr with right illumination like below (the white line on the edge is a burr running across the full length of the edge). This doesn't work for a small burr after a fine stone, though. Alternatively, you can use a microscope, which might allow you to detect subtle burrs. I have not used this method extensively myself.

For tactile inspection, you can use either your finger nail or the belly of a fingertip. I am not good at using my nails for this and use fingertip belly. If you rub your fingertip belly with the edge bevel with a edge trailing motion (not leading!) like stropping, a burr would scratch the fingerprint ridges, which you can easily feel. This feeling should go to the other side as you flip the blade. This is how you know that what you felt was a burr (this applies to the visual method as well). I can feel really minuscule burrs with this method.

Hope this helps and a good luck to your sharpening!

 

[FK]

One additional comment.

Burr removal,, a very small burr sometimes will not be removed completely and prevent "shaving sharp" final results.

Lite pressure and strokes that are more parallel to the edge will help final small burr removal.

I also use a leather strop with 1 micron diamond paste to remove the very small burr on some steels.

Regards,
FK

 

[aleforme]

I use my Sharpmaker quite a bit and agree completely with the above advise regarding the burr. I will add that once I have move into the finer stone, I progress to as light a touch as a possibly can on the last few strokes. I start with normal weight strokes but really try to barely skim down the rods on the last few strokes. This has taken some practice because as you decrease the pressure on the strokes, you tend to loose contact with the rod a easier. These very light strokes have really made a different in the sharpness levels I get with the SM.

 

[Numbersman23]

The Sharpmaker takes plenty of time, if the knife is not already fairly sharp. Take your time, and don't press hard. Pick a knife with fairly easy to sharpen steel first, to build your confidence, and a suitable edge angle. My BK-11 dented my confidence, because I just couldn't get it sharp. Once I worked out that the factory edge was at a different angle than the Sharpmaker likes, I just kept at it, and it is now fairly sharp, but it still needs a bit more work. My Izula II, however, got screaming sharp very quickly. So get used to the different steels and different angles.