-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
do i need new sticks?
- Thread starter ulua
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 3, 1999
- Messages
- 2,052
Could you go into a little detail as to how you define "moderate use" or "show a little wear"? What kind of wear do you see on the medium rods? If you are seeing diminishing performance, have you tried cleaning the rods? There are several good threads regarding the cleaning of a Sharpmaker if you do a search.
I think it would take a long time to wear out a Spydreco ceramic sharperner. The medium will wear faster than the fine and ultra-fine though. My local knife shop has two old model Sharpmakers that they use a lot, and never clean them, and they seem to work fine still.
Post some pictures if you can.
If you have had it for 10 years and it came with the diamond sleeves, then it must be the old style. In that case I would suggest getting a new one just for the improvements made on the base.
I think it would take a long time to wear out a Spydreco ceramic sharperner. The medium will wear faster than the fine and ultra-fine though. My local knife shop has two old model Sharpmakers that they use a lot, and never clean them, and they seem to work fine still.
Post some pictures if you can.
If you have had it for 10 years and it came with the diamond sleeves, then it must be the old style. In that case I would suggest getting a new one just for the improvements made on the base.
moderate use is the 4-5 x a year i sharpen my spyderco plus the family
and friends who need my help with serrated kitchen knives.
i'll clean the sticks while sharpening w/ the eraser...and they can go into the dishwasher or comet on a sponge.
the medium rods have a curve in the center but not so great as to mess
with my spyderco serration. the fine rods appear as new. i will not go for
diamond anything again till i get the word on how long they last in the real world.
i read a magizine article last year (popular somthing) it talked about a new
industrial process that held the diamonds in place with molten (carbide?)
so they didn't fall off like sand on sand paper.
i like your suggestion of getting a new sharpener but then i'll have new expensive rods that i don't think i really need. (my kids already have their own, so i can't hand it down)...the best upgrade would be to buy the new injection molded
plastic base, as a trade in for the customers who have supported the company over the years, for what ever the fee of course. just to be clear,
if you own the old style base, send it to spyderco, for a fee, they send you a upgrade. it's a bad idea if it hurts the company, because we support them
and want them to be strong,healthy and making great product. there is also
goodwill in all industry.
thanks for your thoughts!
and friends who need my help with serrated kitchen knives.
i'll clean the sticks while sharpening w/ the eraser...and they can go into the dishwasher or comet on a sponge.
the medium rods have a curve in the center but not so great as to mess
with my spyderco serration. the fine rods appear as new. i will not go for
diamond anything again till i get the word on how long they last in the real world.
i read a magizine article last year (popular somthing) it talked about a new
industrial process that held the diamonds in place with molten (carbide?)
so they didn't fall off like sand on sand paper.
i like your suggestion of getting a new sharpener but then i'll have new expensive rods that i don't think i really need. (my kids already have their own, so i can't hand it down)...the best upgrade would be to buy the new injection molded
plastic base, as a trade in for the customers who have supported the company over the years, for what ever the fee of course. just to be clear,
if you own the old style base, send it to spyderco, for a fee, they send you a upgrade. it's a bad idea if it hurts the company, because we support them
and want them to be strong,healthy and making great product. there is also
goodwill in all industry.
thanks for your thoughts!
- Joined
- Apr 3, 1999
- Messages
- 2,052
Four to five times a year doesn't seem like enough time to wear them out. Anything's possible I suppose.
I didn't realize that you could trade in the bases. I bought the newer one when it first came out, so too late for me. I keep planning on mounting the older one on my work bench, but then realize it would probably be in the way for other jobs. I just consider the other ceramic rods to be backups for the time that I manage to drop one and break it.
I didn't realize that you could trade in the bases. I bought the newer one when it first came out, so too late for me. I keep planning on mounting the older one on my work bench, but then realize it would probably be in the way for other jobs. I just consider the other ceramic rods to be backups for the time that I manage to drop one and break it.
- Joined
- Apr 3, 1999
- Messages
- 2,052
OK, I misunderstood your post about the trade idea.
$74 is high for a Sharpmaker in real world prices. New Graham has them for under $47.
$74 is high for a Sharpmaker in real world prices. New Graham has them for under $47.
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2005
- Messages
- 1,135
Sounds crazy but one of the best things to clean your rods (or any stone for that matter) is WD40..
A friend of mine got me to use it by telling me about how that he had a stone that he had used hard for years, and it had just lost it's "teeth" and was pretty much no good for sharpening. He had used soap/ pads etc. with no success.
At a point of frustration he tried WD40 as a last ditch effort before he threw away the stone.
It cleared out the pores in an amazing way. - and the stone sharpened like new.
I have used it on my sharpmaker rods, and arkansas/ Carborundum and have experienced the same results.
Just spray a good amount of WD40 on a rag, and rub the sticks rigorously.
If there is metal in the pores, you will see it on the rag. When you stop seeing disscolorment on the rag, just use a little soap and water to clean the WD40 off if you wish - or you could just leave it.
Be Well,
sp
A friend of mine got me to use it by telling me about how that he had a stone that he had used hard for years, and it had just lost it's "teeth" and was pretty much no good for sharpening. He had used soap/ pads etc. with no success.
At a point of frustration he tried WD40 as a last ditch effort before he threw away the stone.
It cleared out the pores in an amazing way. - and the stone sharpened like new.
I have used it on my sharpmaker rods, and arkansas/ Carborundum and have experienced the same results.
Just spray a good amount of WD40 on a rag, and rub the sticks rigorously.
If there is metal in the pores, you will see it on the rag. When you stop seeing disscolorment on the rag, just use a little soap and water to clean the WD40 off if you wish - or you could just leave it.
Be Well,
sp
thanks for all the help!
now i know i don't need new rods. i still think the trade in the base idea would be lots cheaper than $47. it seems only fair to the customers that
that support the company. it would stop me from figuring out how to make my own base with a 2x4 and some pc7 glue...
now i know i don't need new rods. i still think the trade in the base idea would be lots cheaper than $47. it seems only fair to the customers that
that support the company. it would stop me from figuring out how to make my own base with a 2x4 and some pc7 glue...