Bit the bullet; Bought a Sharpmaker 203

S

Steelwolf

Joined
Jul 19, 1999
Messages
443
After much reading and thinking, I finally decided to buy the Spydie Sharpmaker. Went down to the local B&M store (King of Knives). Found they only had the 203. Figured on conversion rate and shipping and fees and thought AU$99.95 wasn't too bad.

Got to go home and play with it straight away. Wasn't too happy. First point is the shop's fault. The Sharpmaker had evidently been used before. There were a few slices on the plastic body. Close inspection of the rods showed some metal deposits. But I'm not too fussy.

Next point... how come no one every mentioned the rods were soooooo smooth? I read "medium" and "fine" and thought of Japanese waterstones, Eze-Lap diamond hones, Lansky diamond hones, Arkansas stones. But nothing prepared me for how smooth they are. Waaay smoother than the "fine" for my Lansky diamond hone. It makes the Eze-lap fine feel like coarse. (And I'm only comparing the medium rod here.)

Now I suddenly understand why everyone was talking about how long it would take to reprofile an edge with this thing. I could sandpaper a profile with 1200 grit paper faster than this thing can. What is the grit on the Spydie stones anyway?

Anyways, just wanted to have this on record so that newbies can have an idea of how smooth it is.
 
Hmmm...I've used the 203 for quite a while now. With the brown stones turned so that you sharpen down the "corners" of the stones, I've found that you can reprofile an edge relatively quickly. The white stones are VERY smooth; but then again they are more for polishing the edge than removing steel.
My normal routine is to use the corners of the brown, then go right to the corners of the whites. After that I finish the edge on a loaded leather strop and shave some hair.
smile.gif
 
Been playing with the 203 for quite a while now. Most of my knives now posses a hair popping edge. The hairs either don't see it coming (doom on them) or they do and just fall off in fright!
biggrin.gif


But it was a little hit and miss at the start. The burr that it raises is so small that it is difficult to apply the guidelines laid out in John Juranitch's book.

Now I've got to get a couple of dry twigs and try whittling to make sure it's not a wire edge I've got.
 
Did you know that the 204 model has been out for a while?

------------------
Wayne.
"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
http://members.aol.com/knivesuk/
Certified steel snob!
 
I know, but does the local bricks and mortar knife shop know?? Nope.

Asked the counter staff and all she had the cheek to do was open the accompanying booklet and try to find a refernce to it. I debated on whether I should point out that if it's a newer model it would not be referenced in the instruction booklet of an older model, or whether I should just let her be and stop antangonising her. I asked about a store re-order sheet, or a store catalog and she didn't have any.

They were the only store I saw with the Sharpmaker, my other regular sources only carry DMT, Eze-Lap or Lansky. Anyway, the 203 and 204 share the same rods, right? Only the ability to change angles is what differentiates them?
 
Yes, the Spyderco Sharpmaker models 203 and 204 use the same rods. I agree, the Sharpmaker rods are too smooth to hog much metal off an edge quickly.

FWIW, for about 3x the price of a Sharpmaker you can get an EdgePro Apex model that offers *many* more angle options with absolutely rock solid control. Plus it has the ability to reprofile an edge a lot more quickly than with the Sharpmakers due to the range of stones available. I recommend getting the $35 stone upgrade kit with the Apex model to get all the stone grits and the polishing tapes. But it does make the total price approach 4x the price of a Sharpmaker.
http://business.gorge.net/edgepro/

Of all the sharpeners I've used over the years, the Sharpmaker was my favorite until I got the EdgePro Apex. If your edges just need touching up and/or you are good with coarser bench stones for heavy reworking of an edge, the Sharpmaker is probably better bang for the buck than the EdgePro. But if you need to seriously rework the edges or want totally repeatable precision, EdgePro is a much better unit to use.
 
Now get yourself a leather strop for those wire edges, and you'll discover a whole new meaning of the word sharp.

------------------
If firearms cause crime, then matches cause arson.
 
In fact, no the 204 and the 203 DON'T use the same rods. The rods from the 204 fit in the 203 but the rods from the 203 are slightly too big to fit in the 204 base. Thus if you wanted the new base (like I did) to use with the 203 rods, it won't work. Sorry.

------------------
Wayne.
"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
http://members.aol.com/knivesuk/
Certified steel snob!
 
Wayne,

Thank you for correcting my inaccurate statement on the sizing of 203 and 204 rods. After handling the 203 & 204 (but not at the same time) the rods looked very much the same to me. I'll have to get my eyeballs recalibrated.

Mea Culpa. Thanks again,
Greg
 
Strange but my 203 rods and 204 rods are interchangable I can use either one in either base!
 
Thanks guys. It don't matter anyhow. We're still a little behind the times down under. As I mentioned in another thread, no-one down here seems to have heard of the VG-10 Spydie Viele (though thankfully, they have finally brought in the ATS-55 Endura and Delica models.)

Now... someone tell me when Sal Glessar decides to make a diamond rod for the Sharpmaker.
smile.gif
 
Spyderco does make diamond sleeves for them and they been out for at least 5 to 6 years that was the last time i bought them..
semper fi. ceya... CEYA KNIFE DESIGNZ
 
Where can you find those sleeves? I haven't seen them in any of the on-line stores that I've been to.

BTW, I feel like a total loser. This afternoon, I popped in to one of my regular haunts. There aren't any more DMT hones on display, but they had the Sharpmaker 204 there!!! And for the same price!!! Arrgggghhh!!

Can't win.
frown.gif
 
Steelwolf the sleeves are not made anymore have not been for years they are working on some new ones but it will be awhile before they are ready. Having problems with the diamonds sticking.
 
Ok, so I am still novice at the knife thrill. How does the Sharpmaker differ from this Lansky I just purchased??
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top