Can a Spyderco Gayle Bradley be sharpened on the spyderco sharpmaker?

Bladenoobie1

Bladenoobie1

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Jul 20, 2012
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I've read instances where the inclusive edge angle of the Spyderco Gayle Bradley was wider than 40 degrees. Right now my sharpening options are limited to arkansas stones and a spyderco sharpmaker. I want to be able to put a 40 degrees micro bevel on the edge for ease of maintenance, but I don't exactly have the proper tools for re profiling. I do have some 320 grit ruby stones for my sharpmaker but they don't work too great on harder steels in my experience. I plan to order a Gayle Bradley soon so should I expect it to work on the sharpmaker or will I need to invest in some more sharpening gear? I love freehand sharpening, but I'm considering getting a DMT aligner for reprofiling folders. Would the diamond stones the aligner comes with be able to handle high chromium or wear resistant steels?

- Bladenoobie1
 
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My Gayle Bradley came with a 30 deg bevel so the Sharpmaker should be just fine. As with any type of sharpening, you should keep a sharpie (I personally like a dry erase maker) nearby. Use the sharpie on the edge so you can see if you are achieving the proper angle. If you need to reprofile you should look into the Diamond Rods for the Sharpmaker.
 
Good call on the dry erase. I am going to get some to put in my sharpening kit and ditch the sharpie. Must be much easier to remove.
 
Hard H2O said:
Good call on the dry erase. I am going to get some to put in my sharpening kit and ditch the sharpie. Must be much easier to remove.
Click to expand...

I really like it.... I had to use one out of necessity but i found i like it even better, not going back to the reg sharpie anytime soon.

Bladenoobie1, if you have some experience at freehand sharpening, you can always canter your blade slightly off of the straight 90 deg mark that you are supposed to keep your blade in while using the sharpmaker. So instead of holding your blade straight up and down in perfect 90 deg, you can tilt it slightly away to increase the angle. The real secret behind making the sharpmaker work properly is being SUPER consistent in the angle of your strokes.... Channel your inner OCD, find a comfortable position, center your shoulder to the sharpmaker and have at it. The M4 on the GB is very hard steel, the trick to keeping it sharp is to not let it get dull to begin with. Just stay on top of it and give it a few passes on the sharpmaker every week or so.
 
My Gayle Bradley had good factory angles, but...

If the angle on a knife is greater than 40* and you can't reprofile:

[video=youtube;z_mSNfJhW8o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_mSNfJhW8o&feature=plcp[/video]
(Around 8 or 9 mins)

Edited to add: The ultra fine stones are worth the money :thumbup:
 
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I'm fully aware how to use the sharpmaker and I'm decent with free hand. I just wanted to see if there were instances when the inclusive angle of the gayle bradley were larger than 40 degrees. Most people say they aren't so that shouldn't be a problem. I do have the ultrafine stones by the way.
 
CPM-M4 is awesome when finished on the ultra fine ceramic but you will want some diamond hones to fix damage and change angles. It's very hard and wear resistant so its going to take longer to sharpen. Work at a comfortable pace and hone lightly, trying to rush or pushing a little harder to grind faster will not work with this steel.

My method for sharpening M4 has typically been grind it low to about a fine or Xfine diamond finish then microbevel with the UF ceramic.
 
So if you already have a good bevel set, you can go straight to the UF ceramic to microbevel? Is there no need to start from the medium stone to put a microbevel?
 
Yep, only the UF.

It's best when the primary bevel is slightly refined though,
 
I love the dry erase idea. I'm always having to clean the sharpie off since I always get it on the side of the blade.
 
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