extra fine hones for the sharpmaker?

J D Wijbenga

J D Wijbenga

Joined
Oct 17, 1998
Messages
1,008
On some of my knives I like a very fine polished edge. For this the existing white stones are not fine enough.

Is there any change that Spyderco will make extra fine (1200 grit or finer) hones for the new Sharpmaker?
 
JD - the extra fine hones are fine grit hones re polished with fine diamond grinders. This cannot be done with an extruded part. I will, however, look into what can be changed in the "mix" to create a finer grit.
sal
 
Yes but relatively hard to find. Last saw them at Ironstone (now the Spyderco Outlet) and a bit pricey compared to the other 2 grits. Besides it won' t fit into the Sharpmakers slots! (:^)

L8r,
Nakano
 
Just so you don't forget, you can always use those big hones with the sharpmaker. I often lean up a big hone against one of the sticks on the Sharpmaker. It's held at the exact same angle, so it works fine. Kind of a pain, but I usually don't take many strokes on an x-fine hone anyway.

Joe
 
Thanks Sal, al be looking forward to your answer.

Joe: I have read about you trick an uses it with succes. Only problem is sharpening the inside of reverce curves, which can not be done on a flat stone.
 
I have ultra-fine bench stones in stock. $44.95, shipping included. E-mail or call 1-800-400-1980 if you're interested.

Dennis

------------------
Isn't it amazing how 2 cents worth of opinion takes up a quarter's worth of paper???

wrightknife@ixpres.com


 
There are couple disadvantages to using a Sharpsmaker to support bench hones for extra-fine sharpening.
1. You probably have only one bench hone and lose the two-sided stroke advantage of the V.
2. You increase the width of the honing surface which reduces the honing pressure (PSI)on your work.

I have found that round ceramic rods provide a very effective pressure for knife honing. A medium grit seems to cut pretty fast while fine rods sometimes improve the edge of a blade after I've used a 4000 grit water stone. Round ceramic rods work great on recurved blades.

I wish that Spyderco would made some round or oval rods for the Sharpsmakers. Both would work for straight and recurve blades while the right oval would be nice for serrations. I'd also like some diamond rods for reprofiling blades. I thin down every edge I touch.
 
Jeff,

I have a pair of coarse diamond 5/16" diameter rods made by DMT. They are 325 mesh diamond on 5/16 x 9 brass tubes. The diamond surface covers 160 degrees of the tube. They are item #SR2. I don't know if they are still produced.
 
Jeff is right about the losing the two-sided advantage when you lean one big benchstone against the Sharpmaker. This trick works best when you're doing the initial edge thinning or trying to get the initial burr. In both of those cases, I tend to work one side only for a while, then switch and work the other side only. Using a benchstone with the Sharpmaker works great in this case. However, when you're doing the final polishing, and switching from side to side between strokes, it can get old fast. Still, if you're desperate to find a way to use your Sharpmaker and get an x-fine finish, that's the way to do it.

The "less pressure per square inch" argument on switching to the wider stone doesn't hold quite as much water for me. With a wider stone, the pressure is much better distributed, and I feel I can get a more-controlled, more even stroke. I definitely prefer wider stones to narrower ones, unless I'm dealing with serrations or recurves.

Joe
 
Jeff - Spyderco produces a 30 degree (inclusive) professional sharpener using two "cats eye" shaped stones. Wide radius for plain edge, narrow radius for serrations. The thinner edge is preferrred by many chefs. The stones are 14" long. pricey (I believe Charlie at SFO has or can get them), but definitely nice. The plastic base that holds the stones is designed to be mounted (or clamped) to a table.

It is also possible to "grit down" the triangle using a diamond stone. It usually wears out trhe diamond stone though.
sal
 
Sal--

--Hey, I knew the rounded rods were a good idea. So how hard could it be for Spyderco to cut the 14" rods in half and make extra holes in a Sharpsmaker model to fit them? I assume the price could go down with smaller size and higher volume. I really don't have a good place in my kitchen to clamp a sharpener. (I do have a drawer full of steels, hones, strops, etc.).

PS. I guess that SFO is the Spyderco Factory Outlet rather than San Francisco. I got to wander by Golden the next time I head up to Boulder.

Joe--

--Regarding desireability of smaller honing contact area (higher PSI). I'm an old bench hone man by background and have probably accumulated months of honing time on 3" wide stones. I always preferred the concept of a wide, smooth, hone for finishing a knife, but I keep running across knives that seem to finish out better when I use round ceramic rods as my last hone. Sometimes the edge doesn't even seem to improve much with stropping after the rods.

For thinning an edge I learned as a teen that using the .75"-wide side of a medium-coarse aluminum-oxide rectangular stone (and high hand force) removed metal many times faster than equivalent force on the 3.0"-wide top surface of the stone. For some work I would even use the edge of the stone. When I would go door-to-door sharpening knives I couldn't waste time on the wider stone surface for rough sharpening. For knives made of cheap stainless I would never use the wide surface of a stone. I would just switch over to the side surface of a medium-fine hone and leave the edge a little rough for the customer. It was the only thing that worked on some of those chromed monsters.

[This message has been edited by Jeff Clark (edited 07 July 1999).]
 
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