Benchmade 710 and Sharpmaker... need help!

S

Slowstarter

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Mar 21, 2006
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So, I finally got my dream-knife, the mighty Benchmade 710 D2, and so far I love it. It´s big, strong and beautiful... but how do I keep it sharp? I have the Spyderco Sharpmaker (no diamond rods) and I only want to keep it sharp (no re-profiling). I don´t need it to split hair, just a sharp and strong edge. What angle should I use? 30 or 40, should I use the corners or the flat sides of the rods? brown or white? any special technique? Please share your knowledge! I need to know cause after I got the mighty 710 I can´t se myself ever needing another folder (well...).
Cheers!
 
Have you watched the video? 30 or 40 in some cases is just a matter of preference. D2 will be fine with either angle. Preferred angle also depends on what knife is used for. Recurve on 710 is not too big, so you can use both flats and corners. Usually you go corners to flats, brown (coarse) to white (fine). If edge is not bad and you just want to touch it up, you can skip brown and just use white. Sharpen knife couple of times and you will know what works better. The best thing about Sharpmaker is that it is very difficult to screw anything up while using it.
 
Do you have the sharpmaker yet? If so it should have a DVD that should answer most of your questions.

The most important thing you need to know is if you are removing metal at the very edge. To do this take a sharpie and color the very edge where the small bevel is on both sides. I would put the rods into the 30 deg slot and then make a few passes on each side lightly. Look at the knife to see where the sharpie is being removed and this lets you know where you will be removing metal. If it is at the very edge then great. If not move to the 40 deg slot and try again.

I would suggest using the flats of the stones as the recurve is fairly mild and it should work (I think, maybe someone will confirm). You want to alternate sides and stop the stroke with the tip in the middle of the rod. If you drag it off the rod you will eventually wear the tip off.

The best way is to frequently touch up the knife so that it never gets dull and then you don't have to spend a lot of time sharpening. If the knife is still fairly sharp put the white fine rods in and alternate sides using light pressure. Keeping going until it is as sharp as you want. I would then do another maybe 10 passes per side using the least amount of pressure possible. You should be set.

If it is dull then start with the brown rods and work it until it is sharp and able to pop at least a few hairs off your arm. Then move to the white and do as above.

If you really want to get it sharp after you are done with the sharpmaker pull out your phone book or an empty box of cereal. Lay either on a flat surface a lightly strop the blade at an angle that seems like it is just under the angle the knife was sharpened at. You might make the knife more dull the first few times and that is because you are at too steep an angle and are rounding off the edge. I would shoot for less steep and lightly pull the knife across the glossy cardboard in an edge trailing motion (opposite as what you did on the sharpmaker). This should get your knife to really pop hairs off your arm with a little practice. Once you get the sharpening bug you can then move up to more expensive equipment and diamond spray to strop with. The diamond spray has made a big difference in getting that scary sharp hair whittling edge.

You might get a little frustrated at first but keep practicing and one day the little light bulb will flick on and you will have the sharpest knives in town.
 
effer said:
Have you watched the video? 30 or 40 in some cases is just a matter of preference. D2 will be fine with either angle. Preferred angle also depends on what knife is used for. Recurve on 710 is not too big, so you can use both flats and corners. Usually you go corners to flats, brown (coarse) to white (fine). If edge is not bad and you just want to touch it up, you can skip brown and just use white. Sharpen knife couple of times and you will know what works better. The best thing about Sharpmaker is that it is very difficult to screw anything up while using it.
Click to expand...

Yeah... what he said! :D
I've carried my 710 as my EDC since the day I got it when it first hit the marketplace. I do touch-ups with the Sharpmaker and regular sharpening with an EdgePro. No problems with the recurve if you are careful to maintain the edge relationship. I happen to like 20 degrees on my edge. With D2 it might take you a bit of time to initially set that edge without the diamond rods, but even with the brown stone you'll get there after a while. Use a marker to be sure for your first few sharpenings.

Stitchawl
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
Do you have the sharpmaker yet? If so it should have a DVD that should answer most of your questions.

The most important thing you need to know is if you are removing metal at the very edge. To do this take a sharpie and color the very edge where the small bevel is on both sides. I would put the rods into the 30 deg slot and then make a few passes on each side lightly. Look at the knife to see where the sharpie is being removed and this lets you know where you will be removing metal. If it is at the very edge then great. If not move to the 40 deg slot and try again.

I would suggest using the flats of the stones as the recurve is fairly mild and it should work (I think, maybe someone will confirm). You want to alternate sides and stop the stroke with the tip in the middle of the rod. If you drag it off the rod you will eventually wear the tip off.

The best way is to frequently touch up the knife so that it never gets dull and then you don't have to spend a lot of time sharpening. If the knife is still fairly sharp put the white fine rods in and alternate sides using light pressure. Keeping going until it is as sharp as you want. I would then do another maybe 10 passes per side using the least amount of pressure possible. You should be set.

If it is dull then start with the brown rods and work it until it is sharp and able to pop at least a few hairs off your arm. Then move to the white and do as above.

If you really want to get it sharp after you are done with the sharpmaker pull out your phone book or an empty box of cereal. Lay either on a flat surface a lightly strop the blade at an angle that seems like it is just under the angle the knife was sharpened at. You might make the knife more dull the first few times and that is because you are at too steep an angle and are rounding off the edge. I would shoot for less steep and lightly pull the knife across the glossy cardboard in an edge trailing motion (opposite as what you did on the sharpmaker). This should get your knife to really pop hairs off your arm with a little practice. Once you get the sharpening bug you can then move up to more expensive equipment and diamond spray to strop with. The diamond spray has made a big difference in getting that scary sharp hair whittling edge.

You might get a little frustrated at first but keep practicing and one day the little light bulb will flick on and you will have the sharpest knives in town.
Click to expand...

Best overall post I've seen in a long time.

What he said.
 
I happen to like 20 degrees on my edge.
Click to expand...

How can you get that stitchawl? It's set at 30* & 40*?

Anybody knows what the factory bevel is? I heard something like 45* but that's hear-say.
 
stitchawl said:
I happen to like 20 degrees on my edge. With D2 it might take you a bit of time to initially set that edge without the diamond rods, but even with the brown stone you'll get there after a while.
Click to expand...


Do you mean 20 deg per side or 20 deg inclusive? If inclusive how do you pull that off with the sharpmaker?
 
Benchmades are usually set at 22deg per side. You have to get the bevel down 2deg to even touch it with the sharpmaker.
 
I found the same thing with my 710. Had to re-profile it to even work with the 40degree setting on the sharpmaker. Lots of hard work but it did finally get sharp. I reprofiled at 30degrees and then micro-beveled at 40.
 
I found the same thing with my 710. Had to re-profile it to even work with the 40degree setting on the sharpmaker. Lots of hard work but it did finally get sharp. I reprofiled at 30degrees and then micro-beveled at 40.
Click to expand...

Me too! Only do you put the 40* microbevel on with the diamond rods first or start off wit the brown rods? Something went wrong because my 710 is really sharp but I have to scrape my arm pretty darn hard to cut a hair. :confused:
 
cziv said:
Wish I could afford one bro.
Click to expand...

Paper wheels are cheap. :)
They work well too! Combined with a Harbor Freight motor and a rheostat... a couple of buffing wheels... maybe a leather stropping wheel. All together, cheaper than an EdgePro, and make some dandy edges!

I wish I had the space to set up a motor! :(

Stitchawl
 
my 710 in d2 was bought when 1st intro years & years back . i never had any problem maintaining a good edge. i'm wondering if later production may have an obtruse bevel
 
swimmerdude1127 said:
I have a 710 and a Sharpmaker... I use the 40 degree angle, works really well. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Ditto! My 710 is doing real well with the 40 degree angle on my Sharpmaker.
I'm very satified with the edge. Do watch dragging the tip over the rods though as a prior poster mentioned.
 
cziv said:
Me too! Only do you put the 40* microbevel on with the diamond rods first or start off wit the brown rods? Something went wrong because my 710 is really sharp but I have to scrape my arm pretty darn hard to cut a hair. :confused:
Click to expand...

if its feels really sharp but will not pop hair then you have a burr, you need to strop it and that should remove the burr and make it scary sharp.
 
710D2 is a really good knife. I only have a Sharpmaker, so if the edge goes dull, I'll send it in to LifeSharp, and they'll put a brand new edge on it, but usually needs that only once a year. Touchups and a leather strop with some green rouge keeps it in cutting form, and no burrs to be found after that!
 
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