1st Spyderco! And a newbie question

M

Meneldor

Joined
Dec 28, 2018
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Hi all,
Just got my first Spyderco (and not likely to be the last), a Manix 2 in CPM S30V with the G-10 handle. I can really see why these knives have such a devoted following: factory edge, fit and finish, deployment - all are top-notch.

Here’s the question: This is my first knife in this steel, and I’m not overly experienced with sharpening the higher-end steels. I plan to keep it sharp with regular honing, but how much of a bear is it to resharpen from butter-knife dullness back to hair-popping?

I’m pretty good free-hand sharpening softer steels (SAK, Buck’s 420HC, 8CrMOV13, AUS8, etc), and have a variety of stones, diamond hones, and ceramic hones. Any advice muchly appreciated!
 
I CAN hand sharpen, but since I got a WorkSharp I haven’t improved my hand sharpening game. In my limited hand sharpening experience (I’ve only done 3 or so) S30V blades none were butter knife dull. I found it a bit more difficult to sharpen than I expected both by hand and on the WorkSharp. It probably took me 20 minutes doing it by hand. The process wasn’t terrible, but harder than sharpening my usual high carbons.
 
Meneldor said:
Hi all,
Just got my first Spyderco (and not likely to be the last), a Manix 2 in CPM S30V with the G-10 handle. I can really see why these knives have such a devoted following: factory edge, fit and finish, deployment - all are top-notch.

Here’s the question: This is my first knife in this steel, and I’m not overly experienced with sharpening the higher-end steels. I plan to keep it sharp with regular honing, but how much of a bear is it to resharpen from butter-knife dullness back to hair-popping?

I’m pretty good free-hand sharpening softer steels (SAK, Buck’s 420HC, 8CrMOV13, AUS8, etc), and have a variety of stones, diamond hones, and ceramic hones. Any advice muchly appreciated!
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Like most, I use what Sal states above and do so for all of my folding knives. They handle everything from 1095-S110V and then some.
 
Congratulations!
That's a nice first Spydie.

Get yourself a Sharpmaker.
Try to not let the knife get too dull.
 
The key with the sharpmaker is to maintain a sharp edge. Going from butter knife dull to sharp is very time consuming.
 
Thanks for the advice. I will be sure not to let the Manix get dull at all, and will definitely look into a sharpmaker. Judging by how much I’m enjoying this one, I have a funny feeling I’ll be drooling over a delica or endura sometime soon.
 
like others have said get yourself a sharp maker as it makes life easy and s30v is no problem to sharpen after that just strop now/then, oh and welcome to the forum.
 
Oh man, it's over now. Welcome to the sickness, oh and I'd try a Delica next. I believe everyone should at one point own a Delica and Dragonfly.
 
I am not at all a good sharpener, but just last night I was able to get a PE and two SE Spydercos, and even a large kitchen knife, very sharp on the Sharpmaker, in maybe ten minutes. As said above, just touch them up before they get too dull. I highly recommend getting one. It's worth the investment.
 
Cscotttsss said:
Oh man, it's over now. Welcome to the sickness, oh and I'd try a Delica next. I believe everyone should at one point own a Delica and Dragonfly.
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Funny, that’s what the guy at my local knife shop said! Then he handed me the Ikuchi. Damnit. ;)
 
Amalgam. Sorry, it's my favorite spyderco. Try one, you'll probably like it ;)

Pm2s and 3s are great as well!

As for sharpening, s30 isn't hard to sharpen, just takes more time than simple steels. I do love my sharpmaker though. Just the brown rods are enough imo. Don't let them get dull and you should be good!

I recommend to get the diamond or cbn rods as well. After 12 or so touch ups, use the diamond or cbn to thin the edge down.
 
OP: congrats on the knife. The Manix 2 is a great knife !

Hand-sharpening will work just fine. These days, for S30v, S35vn or M390 variants, I mostly use a Spyderco medium benchstone (alumina ceramic, ~600-800 grit equivalent). For other steels I add a pass on a fine benchstone, but feel medium is perfect/enough for these steels & for practical use: they shine with a bit of bite.

Why I hand-sharpen ? Because my dad taught me :)
 
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ferider said:
OP: congrats on the knife. The Manix 2 is a great knife !

Hand-sharpening will work just fine. These days, for S30v, S35vn or M390 variants, I mostly use a Spyderco medium benchstone (alumina ceramic, ~600-800 grit equivalent). For other steels I add a pass on a fine benchstone, but feel medium is perfect/enough for these steels & for practical use: they shine with a bit of bite.

Why I hand-sharpen ? Because my dad taught me :)
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That’s where I learned to hand-sharpen too! (From my dad, that is, not yours. Although I’m sure he’s a great guy ;) )

I’ve tried hand-sharpening some harder steels (maybe once or twice), but never had much luck. Maybe some finer-grit stones _and_ a sharpmaker is what’s needed here. Because I clearly have not spent enough money on this hobby.
 
Dragonfly Delica Endela Endura

Dragonfly - perfect small knife
Delica - not for me
Endela - in the middle of Delica / Endura - so maybe perfect size?!
Endura - great folder for food prep but hugh
 
Careful, it all starts with that first spyderco and before ya know it your getting packages delivered almost weekly and you tell yourself this is the last one and you'll never spend over $200.....you eventually will end up over at CRK website;)
 
Well... as to your original question, Sal & ferider pretty much covered it. The hand sharpening technique that works well for you won't be any different, it'll just take more time. I use Spyderco's S30V probably 75% of the time, either in my Paras or in my Sage 5. It's no problem to maintain. It's a bit more of a problem to restore.

Here's my suggestion... since you already have some stones that work for you, invest in a couple of strops, one loaded, one bare. Use them to touch up the edge at the end of the day. Strop the edge with the loaded strop, wipe the edge, go to the bare leather for a few passes, clean the blade good, and you're ready for tomorrow. That's how I handle the S30V that I use. It stays shaving sharp with very little metal removal.

If you need more than the strops and your stones, I too would recommend the Sharpmaker. I've used them for 11 or 12 years now on everything from 420HC to ZDP-189 (not recommended, BTW). They do an excellent job of maintaining an edge that has the right bevel angle for the Sharpmaker's settings. That would be a 15 or 20 dps angle. The Sharpmaker will even restore a well-used edge at either of those angles, but as mentioned by another poster, you'll end up short on time for other activities, and having a greatly expanded vocabulary (definitely not PG).
 
Thank you. Stropping is a skill I need to learn more about, and this is a good opportunity (and these forums have everything one needs) I can get hair-shaving edges on softer steels with my current gear, but a guy can always learn more.
 
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