A little help for a very green member...

Chariotz4

Chariotz4

Joined
Jul 5, 2016
Messages
831
I seem to have recently gotten myself into the hobby of collecting sharp, pointy things and I was wondering what people's (re:those with more knowledge in this field than I) thoughts are on the Spyderco Sharpmaker sharpening system; specifically for someone who has never sharpened a blade in their life (I'm looking for something to sharpen all manner of edge types as well as serrations). Alternatively, if anyone has any other suggestions about a sharpening system/tool(s) that's comparable in price and utility, I'd love to hear them! As well, I currently have a very small collection of manuals, but I'm looking to purchase my first AO and was looking for some suggestions regarding that (price isn't necesarily a consideration as I'd be willing to save up for something in the $200+ range for a ZT or a benchmade for example, although I'm thinking less than $300CDN after tax). I have a visual preference for Tantos although that's not a deal-breaker/must for my potential purchase. Also, apologies in advance if I posted in the wrong section/if this post skips over some of the forum's etiquette!
 
The sharp maker is good. Slow, but good. You can learn a lot about sharpening while using it.
 
The worksharp is a great piece of equipment. The Ken onion edition is even better. I love mine n it works very well. Just start off practicing on lower end knives till you get the hang of it. I don't even use the guide any more. Just free hand, followed by some stropping. Good luck.
 
I have never used one, but understand the concept. It is a good system and for the money cant be beat. It will force you to learn about sharpening which is key. Probably the most important thing is start out with a softer steel that is easy to sharpen. Nothing will frustrate you more than trying to learn sharpening on a hard steel.

Good luck and have fun.
 
I'll echo onojoe, because his advice is sage advice that I wish I had had when I first got into knives. Start soft (I learned mostly on CRKT AUS8) and go slow, focusing on proper technique. Being precise with a somewhat forgiving steel will teach you as much if not more than a YouTube video. There is no substitute for practice on the sharpmaker, and with a little patience you'll produce great edges. Best of luck!
 
@Bill_Brasky That's perfect! I own a CRKT M16-13SF with AUS8 Steel so I guess I should be good to go then!
 
I'm not sure whether you mean automatic opening or assisted opening when you say AO, so I'm just gonna recommend for either. For an assisted knife, I'd say a Benchmade Barrage would be your best bet. It is available with a tanto blade. If you're in a state where you can own and carry an auto(Oregon is the only state where you can get a benchmade auto knife because their factory is in Oregon) I can't recommend the AFO 2 knife enough. I have one that I got recently. I haven't figured out how to post pictures on this forum, so I put it on my google drive and set it so that anyone with the link can view it. Here it is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2aS82jGPx5VZDliUXZLZk95cmc/view?usp=sharing
 
ostanley99 said:
I'm not sure whether you mean automatic opening or assisted opening when you say AO, so I'm just gonna recommend for either. For an assisted knife, I'd say a Benchmade Barrage would be your best bet. It is available with a tanto blade. If you're in a state where you can own and carry an auto(Oregon is the only state where you can get a benchmade auto knife because their factory is in Oregon) I can't recommend the AFO 2 knife enough. I have one that I got recently. I haven't figured out how to post pictures on this forum, so I put it on my google drive and set it so that anyone with the link can view it. Here it is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2aS82jGPx5VZDliUXZLZk95cmc/view?usp=sharing
Click to expand...

While I find myself drooling over auto's up here in Canada, they're sadly unavailable to common folk like myself, so I was referring to assisted opening blades when I mentioned that. In looking at benchmades, the barrage definitely caught my eye (especially at it's price point). Good to know it's recommended though.
 
American style "tanto" blades can be difficult to sharpen for beginners. I'd recommend starting out with something a little easier such as a more traditional drop point design with a shallow belly. Something in a fairly soft steel/HT so you can see results and work on technique.

The SharpMaker is an excellent sharpening system but I will say, you will never regret learning to freehand on a benchstone. Save your money and your time and work on that. You can stack a couple of coins to get up to the proper angle and then just hold that as you move the blade across the stone. Pretty simple really.

Cold Steel makes some fairly affordable fixed blades in AUS-8, and CRKT folders in the same. They are good for practicing and great quality.
 
Sulaco said:
American style "tanto" blades can be difficult to sharpen for beginners. I'd recommend starting out with something a little easier such as a more traditional drop point design with a shallow belly. Something in a fairly soft steel/HT so you can see results and work on technique.

The SharpMaker is an excellent sharpening system but I will say, you will never regret learning to freehand on a benchstone. Save your money and your time and work on that. You can stack a couple of coins to get up to the proper angle and then just hold that as you move the blade across the stone. Pretty simple really.

Cold Steel makes some fairly affordable fixed blades in AUS-8, and CRKT folders in the same. They are good for practicing and great quality.
Click to expand...

I do have an old partially serrated CRKT summit series (I think that's the model?) with a drop point as well as another blade with a razor edge tanto (so nothing particularly easy to practice sharpening besides kitchen knives). Also, while I would consider buying a benchstone and learning how to freehand sharpen blades, I was wondering how I'd be able to sharpen serrations with it...? Thanks for the feedback though; I definitely have some things for me to think about now. Also, I guess looking at some of the posts on here, would it be to my benefit to purchase a cheap drop point or spear point blade, etc. just to practice my sharpening skills?
 
I'm happy with the Sharpmaker.

I hang with the low end steels... 1095, AUS-8, VG-10... Sharpmaker makes quick work of this stuff.

So does the Double Stuff.

Come to think about it, so's the coffee mug and the car window.
 
I own a sharpmaker and I like it. But my feeling is that is meant only for touch ups. Unless you spend some more money and get the diamond coated rods, which will serve you well for reprofiling. The grit on the gray and white stones is sooooooooo fine. I usually don't go any further than the flats of the gray stones. The whites give you a higly polished edge which is not all that desirable for certain tasks (think kitchen knives against ripe tomatoes!).

If you plan on fixing a really blunt or damaged edge... take a deeeeep breath and expect to take a while. My recommendation is that you grab a cheapo bench stone (traditional carborundum oval stone from the hardware store) and lay it against the rods so you can actually benefit from the semi-guided system (maintaining the angle as long as you keep the blade vertical at all times) and also from the higher grit of the cheapo stone. If you get a DMT Diasharp or Duosharp instead of the carborundum... well... much better! Once you have stablished your bevels, refine them on the gray and white stones of the Sharmaker.
 
Check the excellent section for sharpening. There's there's surprisingly a lot of depth & history to this very seemingly simple and very basic skill which in essence is just scraping something in a rock.

IMO while Sharpmaker is a very good systems, it takes more handle and is more of a intermediate level. It takes more familiarity with a blade, it's nuances, unless you have a couple of cheapo practice knives to sacrifice. This system does allow more angles and fairly easy to get into.

There's also beginners sharpeners that use guides for preset angles like the Lanskys or Smiths. Easiest I think are the pull throughs, but they take some finesse and offer 1 angle.

The more experienced I think just go back to scraping rocks. Water rocks.

Unless you plan on having little effect or take some heart ache, probably not a good idea starting to getting into sharpening with one of your better knives.
 
Thanks for all the feedback so far everyone; I'm starting to realize that there's a lot I don't know that I don't know...:)
 
I have a lot of sharpening systems, in fact I just got the work sharp by ken onion, haven't practiced on it yet but wait till this weekend. I use the spyderco sharpmaker a lot, usually for " tune ups" IMHO, no matter what system a person uses, its the practice and experience that counts. also no one system is good for every knife,
 
For a beginner, sharpmaker + the diamond (or CBN) rods is a good start. Don't go near any powered equipment, until one is familiar with what sharpening about (read the stickies under Maintenance subforum).

Another option is to get the Washboard, by our member HeavyHanded. A good learning tool, and can be used for a wide range of steels.

Good luck!
 
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