Are Sharpmaker UF Rods Worth It?

P

pastormarty

Joined
Mar 22, 2010
Messages
157
I have the Spyderco Sharpmaker with 4 sets of rods - diamond, medium, fine and ultrafine. The diamond are definitely nice when I need to reprofile or address a neglected blade. The medium and fine that came with it I use as well. But I can't tell if the UF really gain me anything over the fine. My questions are:
Has anybody else noticed the same thing, that you don't use the UF that much?
Is the UF handy for certain steels that take a very high polish? I have knives in 1095, 1095CV, VG10, 12C27, H1 and ZDP-189. I have heard that something like M390 takes a very keen polish, but I don't know if it is any more fine than some of the steels I already have.
If the UF rods are just not that valuable then I may try to post them for trade.
 
I find that the ceramic sticks sharpen up the knifes that I have used it on. I make my own sharpner with them. there is no guessing if you are holding your knife at the right angle. if you like email me at ginrickie1@juno.com and I will be more than happy to send you a picture of it.
 
I have seen folks on other knife forums rave about the UF Spyderco stones.

I am going to be trying one out soon.

I have had great results with their fine and medium stones so far.
 
Whether the UF stones are worth it to you or not will depend upon the kind of edge finish you like. The UF rods do make a difference when you like to finish off your edge at around 8000 grit kind of refinement. Some people like coarser edges and the UF will pretty much be tits on a boar hog for them.

If I've reprofiled, I can pretty much bring a dullish edge to hair splitting with the brown rods by microbeveling. The fine and UF rods pretty much make it just that much more hair splitting. I mean less resistance, more fillets from a single strand and so forth. :D
 
Personally I think it depends on what kind of edges that the user would want. I find that the ultrafine stones do an excellent job of polishing the bevel of the knife steels that I own although it tends to clog up at times with the metal filings. It definitely gives you a greater degree of "sharpness", but is that edge absolutely necessary? More than anything, if you can't tell the difference, it would mean that your hand sharpening technique needs some work for the stones to show their potential.

In the end, it's up to you. But seeing as how they are a good value for what you pay, I would personally just keep them for when that time comes and you want a really refined edge.
 
I'm happier with my purchase of the UF rods (which are great for honing) than I am with the purchase of the diamond rods (which kind of help, but are insufficient for rebeveling).
 
I find that the UF rods are a good interim step right before stropping.
I am no sharpener believe me, but with the Sharpmaker and the Brown, Fine and UF rods and a bit of leather even I can bring just about any steel (some take longer) to scary sharp.
I also have the diamond rods, but have yet to use them. Got them as part of a trade. My next sharpening project will be to find an old beater blade and give it a full reprofile … haven't tried that yet …

Sorry to be so long - Bottom line is yes, I think the UF rods are worth it and they do take my edges to the next level.

~ Edge
 
In a word, Yes.
The ultra fine stones are great. But remember, use a light tough. The less pressure you use the better the edge will be. If I'm really on top of it my ultra fine rods replace my strop.
 
Chris Pierce said:
In a word, Yes.
The ultra fine stones are great. But remember, use a light tough. The less pressure you use the better the edge will be. If I'm really on top of it my ultra fine rods replace my strop.
Click to expand...

Do you feel the light touch would also apply to the other grits from diamond coarse through medium and fine?
 
They work for me, adding another level of polish compared to the fine stones.

I have used a 10x loupe to observe the edge they create, it is very precise and consistent.

MTHall720 said:
Do you feel the light touch would also apply to the other grits from diamond coarse through medium and fine?
Click to expand...

The diamond stones require a light touch so as to avoid stripping the diamonds from the substrate.
 
MTHall720 said:
Do you feel the light touch would also apply to the other grits from diamond coarse through medium and fine?
Click to expand...

I think so, but it will vary with different grits. With the Medium stones I don't think that you have to use a particularly soft touch, but then you must be more and more gentle with each successively finer stone. When I use my medium stones I start with pressure that is about the weight of the knife and go more and more softly from there. You really don't need much pressure in general. If the edge is contacting the stone then work is happening. I have heard it said that all you need is a coarse stone and a strop. Some folks believe that with different pressure you can use the coarse stone to produce a fine edge then strop it to remove the bur. I've always had more than just a coarse stone, so I've never tried it.
 
I personally love my Sharpmaker and my UF rods. The Sharpmaker was my first real sharpener, so with it I have seen my first real sharp edges. I also have a Lansky Diamond Deluxe system with the metal stand and their Ultra Fine hone and Super Sapphire hone. I use the Lansky for reprofiling, repairing, and sharpening really really dull blades and my Sharpmaker for maintenance. I had a situation with my Kershaw Bump when I first got the Lansky, I had to reprofile the Bump and when I got to the Super Sapphire it wouldnt polish the entire edge because of the recurve, so I finished up on the Sharpmaker.

My point is, I need the system for my knives, which a few of them are recurves. And I like the edge after finishing up on the UF rods. It did take me a while to break in the UF stones though. That might be whats wrong with your UF rods, they might just not be broken in yet.

BTW the edges Ive done most with my UF rods are S30V, Sandvik 14C28N, and 8CR13MOV.. They all took an okay polish, not perfect because Im new at sharpening and I still suck, but the blade then really took the best polish (which was very close to a mirror finish) was my Spyderco Tenacious in 8CR13MOV. But that might just have been because it isnt a recurve so it is easier to sharpen.
 
I have had the Sharpmaker for some time now but I think I may have been using too much pressure. I have just one Diamond rod (made the mistake of not reading more carefully when I bought it as a single rod). It certainly does save a lot of time when the blade needs a good amount of work done. Although I don't hae the UF rods I have heard a lot of positive comments on them.
 
Ares1307 said:
I personally love my Sharpmaker and my UF rods. The Sharpmaker was my first real sharpener, so with it I have seen my first real sharp edges. I also have a Lansky Diamond Deluxe system with the metal stand and their Ultra Fine hone and Super Sapphire hone. I use the Lansky for reprofiling, repairing, and sharpening really really dull blades and my Sharpmaker for maintenance. I had a situation with my Kershaw Bump when I first got the Lansky, I had to reprofile the Bump and when I got to the Super Sapphire it wouldnt polish the entire edge because of the recurve, so I finished up on the Sharpmaker.

My point is, I need the system for my knives, which a few of them are recurves. And I like the edge after finishing up on the UF rods. It did take me a while to break in the UF stones though. That might be whats wrong with your UF rods, they might just not be broken in yet.

BTW the edges Ive done most with my UF rods are S30V, Sandvik 14C28N, and 8CR13MOV.. They all took an okay polish, not perfect because Im new at sharpening and I still suck, but the blade then really took the best polish (which was very close to a mirror finish) was my Spyderco Tenacious in 8CR13MOV. But that might just have been because it isnt a recurve so it is easier to sharpen.
Click to expand...

I dunno about breaking in but Sal did mention in the sharpmaker video to rub your stones against each other.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top