Best sharpening angle for Sebbie

S

Serpico

Joined
Nov 24, 2009
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I just ordered a Spyderco sharpmaker with the medium, fine, and ultra fine ceramic rods. I know the sharpmaker gives you the option of 30 or 40 degrees (15 or 20) per side. Which angle does s30v steel perform better at? If I use the 15 degree angle, will it hold that edge long or is it better the go with 20 degree and sacrifice some sharpness for better edge retention?
 
20 per side on the sharpmaker is the closest to how it ships from CRK.
If you want a more acute angle, you're going to have to reprofile it.

That being said, I use it with 20 per side and it's plenty sharp.
 
im not an expert...but i would stick with the 20 per side...to go down to the 15 perside you would need to reprofile, and you would need the diamond rods for the sharpmaker to to that effectively...or thats what ive gathered...i have a sharpmaker that will be arriving tomorrow...
 
I also have a sharpmaker with the medium, fine, and bought the ultra fine rods as well. For ANY of my CRK, I use the 40 degree ( 20 degrees per side ). This is the angle CRK recommends also. In my experience, the 40 degrees puts a tough, long lasting edge on all my CRK. If you wanted to go with the 30 degrees ( 15 degrees per side ), you would have to reprofile it, it would have a sharper edge, but it would be far less durable and certainly would not last as long........ My recommendation, definately go with the 40 degrees ( 20 degrees per side ). I also only use the flats of the rods stopping the point in the middle of the rod to preserve the point. Its a great sharpening system. The medium will put a sharp edge on it quickly, when you go to the fine, it will seem at first to dull it, but its just taking the burrs off. Keep at it and the fine rods will make it like a razor. Then I go to the ultra fine rods, when your done with them, you will have the razor....I do wanna get the diamond rods for those reprofiling jobs as I am sure it would be alot quicker than with the brown mediums.
 
Use 15 degrees and reprofile it then put a 20 * micro bevel. Best of both IMO and I use my knives on the farm from bushcraft, skinning and cutting water pipes.
 
I just reprofiled (actually the term is rebeveled) a sebenza of mine to a 15 degree angle per side (30 inclusive). It has been a long proces (a little more than 3 hours) taking it in easy and careful steps so as not to damage the blade with scratches or damaging the point.

S30V, being a super steel is said by some to benefit more/have more performance from a more acute angle and could deal with a smaller angle.

I'm still trying it out though.
But, it is totally possible to sharpen it at 30 degrees, mine is sharp :)
 
marthinus said:
Use 15 degrees and reprofile it then put a 20 * micro bevel. Best of both IMO and I use my knives on the farm from bushcraft, skinning and cutting water pipes.
Click to expand...

I did this to my small sebenza and was shocked how sharper it made it. It also makes it much easier to touch up. I first tried just to reprofile it to 30 degrees but I now prefer the micro-bevel.
 
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marthinus said:
Use 15 degrees and reprofile it then put a 20 * micro bevel. Best of both IMO and I use my knives on the farm from bushcraft, skinning and cutting water pipes.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I did too. I first sharpened my UMNUM to 15 per side, I honestly couldn't tell much of a difference from 15 to 20 per side. The next time i used my sharpmaker, I used 20 per side and put on a micro bevel. It doesn't look as good but it performs the best in my opinion. It you are going to rebevel anything with the sharpmaker, you will NEED the diamond stones. Even with the diamond stones, it took me a few hours.
 
I reprofiled my Mnandi to 30 inclusive in around a half hour(I was timing it but by the time one TV show was over I was done) with a DMT aligner kit. It's working out great because about the hardest use my Mnandi will see is cutting a cigar in half. I tested it out because cigars roll edges real easy and after several cuts through a cracked cigar there was zero rolling.
 
zyhano said:
I just reprofiled (actually the term is rebeveled) a sebenza of mine to a 15 degree angle per side (30 inclusive). It has been a long proces (a little more than 3 hours) taking it in easy and careful steps so as not to damage the blade with scratches or damaging the point.

S30V, being a super steel is said by some to benefit more/have more performance from a more acute angle and could deal with a smaller angle.

I'm still trying it out though.
But, it is totally possible to sharpen it at 30 degrees, mine is sharp :)
Click to expand...

+1 on 30 degrees. The knife is much sharper.

I keep mine in good condition with regular stropping on loaded and unloaded leather. :thumbup:
 
Does anyone know what angle the old spyderco sharpmakers were? The ones with only one hole per rod? And would this be ok to resharpen a small Sebenza?
 
Both my Small Sebenzas did not match up with the sharpmakers 40 degree sharpening angle. They were reprofiled on the Edge Pro. ( I went a little gung ho while using the EP but I love the results) I used the EP around the 18 setting, but I did not take the blade profile into consideration and it was sharpen at a much steeper angle. (Thus the WIDE bevels)

Both knives are incredibly easy to touch up on the Sharpmaker at 30 degree. I honestly don't even have to take it to the Sharpmaker as I can just strop it back to life. :thumbup:

Here is my small 21. (My EDC)
DSC00886.jpg


Here is my small CGG. (Comes out on special occasions)
DSC00561.jpg
 
How do you know when it has reached the new 30 degree angle from 40? Is there a way to check or measure?
 
Reeper22 said:
How do you know when it has reached the new 30 degree angle from 40? Is there a way to check or measure?
Click to expand...

You can mark the edge with a permanent marker and just watch where the stone is hitting by seeing where the ink is being removed.
 
Personally I usually do 20 or thirty strokes on each corner/flat of each stone on 30degs and then sharpen according to my use/dullness on the 40deg side. I like the "back bevel" idea that Sal has... and because of the slight variances with the human hand you pretty much end up with a convex edge... me likeeee.
 
Im thinking about buying a small sebenza. How easy are they to keep sharp with a spyderco sharpmaker? I have the old model.
 
Like others here, I use the Edgepro on my Sebenza. I like how it gives the blade truly flat edge bevels - I found that sometimes they can arrive slightly convex from the factory. This machine is also set at a deeper angle than the original height of the factory grind which makes for a better edge, such as for slicing because of that, I always thought. I set mine to around the red 15° angle or sometimes go a little heavier to the next black down the rod which is 17°.

Also, and it's maybe a poor judgement on my sharpening skills, but I would occasionally finish off by adding a small secondary edge bevel with the Spyderco Sharpmaker down to the Ultra fine stones. The combination of the Edgepro and Sharpmaker makes for a superb carry knife :)

To be critical, because of the higher angle, my knives may be a bit weaker than some people would prefer but I will only use it carefully and it's a more pleasant experience for me this way. For anything heavier I would use a fixed blade anyway so I enjoy having my Sebbie with this grind and as sharp as I can possibly have it.

Mark
 
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