can a spyderco sharpmaker sharpen any blade?

It has its limits like anything. Longer blades are harder on the sharpmaker. When you get it watch the video it comes with, then jump on you tube and start watching videos. You won't know what works for you untill you try it.
 
Welcome to the paperwheels forum!
I find the sharpmaker great for keeping my pocket knives fit for carry. Follow the instructions and don't let your knives get extremely dull and you'll have good results. To put an edge on extremely dull knife like some of my Queens in d2 I used sandpaper or a diamond stone against the rods. Once the bevel is set I just maintain with the ceramic rods.
 
benchmadelover123 said:
just ordered my self a spyderco sharpmaker, i don't know any thing about sharpening.... any advise?
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I didn't coin this phrase but find it's spot on, it should be called the "SharpKEEPER" not "SharpMAKER". Having said that, I like it, A LOT! Have 3 of them stashed around in different palces.

They work great at maintaining an edge or micro bevel that is already at or slightly less than the Sharpmakers preset angles, i.e. 30 or 40 degrees. Changing bevel angles, especially large changes, can be frustratingly slow with the stock "sticks". Search the archives for inexpensive alternatives for XXC, XC stones that will speed up the bevel changing process. Once you have the bevels on your knives within the 26-30 or 36-40 degree range you'll be able to keep your blade razor sharp with little effort using the sharpmaker.

Again, Search this forum for "sharpmaker" and you'll find a months worth of reading.
 
The best advice is to learn how to sharpen. If you don't know anything about sharpening, as you say, you're putting yourself in a deep hole. Any system will sharpen a knife if you know what you're doing. But if you don't, you'll have to rely on luck.

The Sharpmaker is a good system, but it has limitations, as people have already pointed out. There are workarounds for its limitations, but you have to know what you're doing. Fortunately, it doesn't take that much time to figure out what you're doing -- lots of threads and links for that. But it does take some time and effort.
 
Harpoon1 said:
I didn't coin this phrase but find it's spot on, it should be called the "SharpKEEPER" not "SharpMAKER". Having said that, I like it, A LOT! Have 3 of them stashed around in different palces.

They work great at maintaining an edge or micro bevel that is already at or slightly less than the Sharpmakers preset angles, i.e. 30 or 40 degrees. Changing bevel angles, especially large changes, can be frustratingly slow with the stock "sticks". Search the archives for inexpensive alternatives for XXC, XC stones that will speed up the bevel changing process. Once you have the bevels on your knives within the 26-30 or 36-40 degree range you'll be able to keep your blade razor sharp with little effort using the sharpmaker.

Again, Search this forum for "sharpmaker" and you'll find a months worth of reading.
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^ That. Right there, that's a good summary. It does a great job of keeping an edge in good shape, but for repairs, re-profiling or setting bevels you will NEED something else as well.

Incidentally, I have an EdgePro, a Wicked Edge, and a Kalamazoo belt grinder, all of which cost a MINIMUM of four times as much as the Sharpmaker. And I still pull out the Sharpmaker quite often. That says something right there, I think. :)
 
Komitadjie said:
yep, I pull out my sharpmaker to dull my knifes if I feel like I need pratice sharpening my knifes as well. sorta hard to put a hair popping edge on an already sharp knife!

those sharpeners are expesnive but there are other options which are just as cheap adn work much faster.
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The biggest thing is to make sure whatever system or tool you are using is actually removing metal from (sharpening) the edge. It can get very confusing when you start talking bevels, micro bevels, convex, scandi, microns, grits, slurries, and so forth. You can find yourself removing lots of metal from the blade, but never actually touching the edge and so your knife never seems to get sharper.

Although far from perfect, the sharpie coloring on the edge is a great way to start the process.
 
benchmadelover123 said:
any advise?
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Well first off, congratulations!

Second off: Practice a lot and pay attention to what you're doing while you practice.

When the brown hones are shiny and the white hones are black or dark gray, they won't work as well as when they're clean. You can clean them with a cleanser such as Comet, Barkeeper's Friend, or Bon Ami, but the Magic Eraser and its generic alternatives work well and rust erasers (they're actual erasers filled with abrasive grit) work even better (but they make that eraser mess).

Now even though all sharpening is steel removal, it can help to separate it into grinding and honing. Grinding is gross steel removal for either thinning out an edge or removing nicks from an edge (you don't actually ever remove a nick, you remove the steel to the right and left of it and a little below it). Honing is removing steel at the very edge (sometimes, it's just bending/forcing/smearing rolled or rippled steel back in place).

The Sharpmaker absolutely rocks at honing for people who use a light touch and practice. It's also quite slow at grinding. If you're new to sharpening or prone to making careless mistakes (I'm still in one of those categories), that's not so bad as it minimizes the damage made by those mistakes. When you can no longer resist the urge for faster grinding, then would be the time to look for diamond Sharpmaker hones or a coarse, silicon carbide or aluminum oxide benchstone from a hardware store (or 8,000,000 other options).

Good luck!
 
eccvets said:
yep, I pull out my sharpmaker to dull my knifes if I feel like I need pratice sharpening my knifes as well. sorta hard to put a hair popping edge on an already sharp knife!

those sharpeners are expesnive but there are other options which are just as cheap adn work much faster.
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True, and I CAN get better edges off of the EP and the belt. But if I need to make a quick touch-up on an edge that is starting to go, the fine rods on the Sharpmaker do a great job, more or less they act just like a ceramic steel. I've found it especially good for kitchen knives in that way, if you get one with a little roll on it where it touched a plate or something, a couple swipes on the fine rods will put it right again without grinding additional life off of the blade. Probably would not work QUITE that easily for more modern, harder steels, but most of the knives I have to work with that way aren't expensive ones.

And honestly, for USING edges? The ones that come off the fine rods carefully used are quite suitable for general use. Are they AS sharp as the ones you get off of sub-micron belts or high-grit waterstones? No. Will the tape you're cutting or the carrot you're whacking up really care all that much? Probably not either. I guess there's technical-sharp and using-sharp. Most of mine are as sharp as I can get 'em, just because I enjoy it. They're far sharper than they really NEED to be for the jobs I apply them to. How often do I really need a pocket knife you could do eye surgery with? :D
 
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