Favorite Spyderco Sharpening Tools?

J

JD Spydo

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Nov 20, 2004
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Sure we all know Spyderco is one of the very best commercial producers of great cutlery. But many people tend to overlook the fact that Spyderco is also one of the premier producers of top notch sharpening tools as well. Of course most of you immediately think of the fabulous model 204 Sharpmaker kit that many of us here on Bladeforums has owned and used for a long time. But a lot of us here on BF overlook the fact that Spyderco has made some of the very best Sharpening tools of a wide variety that few people seem to be aware of.

There was one tool that sadly they discontinued that still remains one of my all time favorite sharpening tools and I'm speaking of the 701 Profile kit. I'm hoping that some day they will bring them back. I find the 701 Profiles to be the best manual tool for sharpening Spyderco's great serrated blades ( SPYDEREDGES). Also Spyderco has one of the very best small sharpening kits I've ever owned called the 400F kit. Their super good 302 Benchstones are the best ceramic benchstones I've ever used period.

Few people in this present time even realize that Spyderco actually made sharpening tools before they started making knives. Their GOLDENSTONE is one of the latest of great sharpening tools and I'm hoping that eventually those will be offered in several grits. But let's chat about Spyderco's sharpening tools shall we? What would you all like to see added or changed in that line up? Also who else would like to see the GOLDENSTONE in more grit selections? What changes or added features would you all like to see with the 204 Sharpmaker. OK let's talk :cool:
 
At home I mainly use the ceramic bench stones--medium most frequently but also fine and ultrafine. Also the Double Stuff (is that what it's called?) is great for portable use. And, of course, the Sharpmaker. I have a couple of Sharpmakers, one bought close to 30 years ago.
 
Lee48 said:
At home I mainly use the ceramic bench stones--medium most frequently but also fine and ultrafine. Also the Double Stuff (is that what it's called?) is great for portable use. And, of course, the Sharpmaker. I have a couple of Sharpmakers, one bought close to 30 years ago.
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Sounds like you might have one of the older 203 Sharpmaker units or even the one before that? Also during the late 90s there was a very little known sharpening kit called the GALLEY V. I got one right when they were being discontinued and I also got some of the extra stones you could buy at the time. Those "Cat's Eye" stones that came with the GALLEY V kit are awesome for sharpening PE Hawkbills, Recurves, and Reverse S blades.

The newer Doublestuff 2 stone is one of the few that I haven't gotten yet but I've heard nothing but good about that stone.
 
JD Spydo said:
Sounds like you might have one of the older 203 Sharpmaker units or even the one before that?...
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It's labeled Model 203MF. Came in a heavy duty plastic ziplock. I've been trying to recall when I bought it and the best guess I have is sometime in 1990. I know the Delica and Endura were new at the time and I bought that first Sharpmaker at a gun show along with a serrated Delica and later on an Endura.
 
I use sharpmaker to touch up every knife i have or to take off a burr of a freshly sharpened knife.amazing tool,also for serrations
 
I have a medium and fine sharpmaker stone. They were replacemememt stones that I bought. I dont actually have a sharpmaker. I just hold the stones in my hand and free hand my knives. Then I hit the edges with a hard-backed stroppe that I made. I have had no problem keeping shaving sharp edges on any of my knives.

Also I never use the flats for toughups, just the apexes of the stone.
 
Sharpmaker (with the VHS tape), a double stuff, the new Golden stone looks pretty good but I haven't seen one in person yet. I wish I had grabbed the profiles when they were available. I will eventually get the ultra fine stones.
 
I really hope that they release the profile kits. I know Sal said that they were too expensive to make again on here before. Anyways i have the sharpmaker and also the ceramic benchstones and love both of them.
 
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I have never been very good at sharpening and have tried all kinds of methods.
Picked up a sharpmaker in trade a few years back, bought an ultra fine set of ceramic rods and have been pleased to say the least.
 
jhiggs1216 said:
I really hope that they release the profile kits. I know Sal said that they were too expensive to make again on here before. Anyways i have the sharpmaker and also the ceramic benchstones and love both of them.
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It was sometime back about 4 months ago that Sal said on the Spyderco.com forum that the company that made them had either lost the tooling or had to re-make it. Now he did indicate that it would be some time before they would make some more 701 Profiles but he did say that it wasn't a "No-Go" either so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I bought two extra sets of them when they were discontinued back in 2012. I do hope that they return and with more grit selections. I also want to see the GOLDENSTONE in more grit selections as well.

I'm really pleasantly surprised to hear that so many of you have the 302 Benchstones in various grits. Once you get the hang of freehand sharpening the 302 Benchstones are great for manual, freehand sharpening. I love every Spyderco sharpening tool I own and I use all of them during the course of a year.
 
I have been very happy with the Profile stones. Super handy for serrations of all kinds and just all-around terrific stones.
 
JD Spydo said:
It was sometime back about 4 months ago that Sal said on the Spyderco.com forum that the company that made them had either lost the tooling or had to re-make it. Now he did indicate that it would be some time before they would make some more 701 Profiles but he did say that it wasn't a "No-Go" either so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I bought two extra sets of them when they were discontinued back in 2012. I do hope that they return and with more grit selections. I also want to see the GOLDENSTONE in more grit selections as well.

I'm really pleasantly surprised to hear that so many of you have the 302 Benchstones in various grits. Once you get the hang of freehand sharpening the 302 Benchstones are great for manual, freehand sharpening. I love every Spyderco sharpening tool I own and I use all of them during the course of a year.
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That is somewhat good news that it is not completely ruled out. I just remember him saying on here that it was going to be cost prohibitive a while ago I believe so assumed it would be a no go. i have heard so many good things about the profile kits but they were discontinued once I learned of them and really got into knives and sharpening.
 
hank_rearden said:
will those (ceramic) bench stones sharpen the SxxV steels?
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I have had no issues sharpening up s30v. I have not tried s110v yet. I definitely wouldn't want to try to reprofile anything using them but for touching up and a refresh they work just fine.
 
jacksterp said:
I have been very happy with the Profile stones. Super handy for serrations of all kinds and just all-around terrific stones.
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The Spyderco model 701 Profiles are one of Spyderco's best kept secrets. You just have to own and use a Profile kit to appreciate it to it's full level of appreciation. It is one of the most handy of all the manual sharpening tools I've ever owned and used. When they discontinued them in 2012 I got 3 extra sets of them and I'm darn glad I did because it doesn't look like they are going to bring them back anytime soon.

I'm really getting itchy waiting for Spyderco to finally launch it's new GAUNTLET Sharpening kit. A good friend of mine seen a prototype of it at the 2017 BLADE Show and he said it looked like a very versatile tool and could probably sharpen about any cutting tool you might have. I don't know what the hold up is but whenever they do finally release it I will be one of the first in line to grab one.

I'm also anxiously awaiting their new GALLEY V kit that they are also going to introduce soon. I've got one of the older, discontinued GALLEY V kits and they have all kinds of sharpening tricks you can use. I'm sure the new Galley V will be hard to keep in stock once people see how great they are for sharpening bigger fixed blades. They are made mainly for culinary and chef's knives but the GALLEY V is a great sharpening tool.
 
I use a Wicked edge, but I really want to get a sharpmaker next with all the rods and such for quick easy touch ups.

I have to touch up using my wicked edge with the leather strop paddles, and it takes a little longer to clamp in and setup; though the touch up it’s self, is very quick.
 
Travis Santelmann said:
I use a Wicked edge, but I really want to get a sharpmaker next with all the rods and such for quick easy touch ups.

I have to touch up using my wicked edge with the leather strop paddles, and it takes a little longer to clamp in and setup; though the touch up it’s self, is very quick.
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I"ve been torn between either getting a "Wicked Edge" or an "Edge Pro". I've also looked at the Hapstone and KME units as well. Can I ask why you picked the "Wicked Edge" over it's competitors?

I've told many people over the years that if you want to get maximum results from Spyderco's 204 Sharpmaker you absolutely must get all the extra stones you can get for it i.e. the Ultra-Fine, The 204 Diamond, The 204 CBN ect. I would like it better if there were a wide range of stones available from vendors who sell all types of different sharpening stones if Spyderco would be agreeable to that of course. I own two units of the 204 Sharpmaker ( one for home and one for work) and I use both of mine constantly.
 
Free-handing the Spyderco tri-stones is my most common tool for keeping my knives sharp. And if you get used to free-handing them, they are very portable as well. I carry one each, medium and fine, in my traveling bag.

For what it's worth, I have the EdgePro, and hardly use it. I think I got it because I wanted perfect edges. I used it few times and now it is sitting somewhere in the garage. I prefer the DMT diamond plates for any kind of major sharpening task.


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JD Spydo said:
I"ve been torn between either getting a "Wicked Edge" or an "Edge Pro". I've also looked at the Hapstone and KME units as well. Can I ask why you picked the "Wicked Edge" over it's competitors?

I've told many people over the years that if you want to get maximum results from Spyderco's 204 Sharpmaker you absolutely must get all the extra stones you can get for it i.e. the Ultra-Fine, The 204 Diamond, The 204 CBN ect. I would like it better if there were a wide range of stones available from vendors who sell all types of different sharpening stones if Spyderco would be agreeable to that of course. I own two units of the 204 Sharpmaker ( one for home and one for work) and I use both of mine constantly.
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The Wicked edge is just easy for me. You can sharpen both sides of the knife at once. It clamps to a table, or you can screw it down. All of the accessories either hide inside the unit itself, or in the bag with the unit inside as well. It looks cool, feels cool, and works very well! I can reprofile S110V and make its edge look Factory, but it’ll be hair whittling sharp too. All that in 10 minutes or so.

I own the Wicked Edge WE52/GO model. It is about $229, but I had to add in a angle finder $30, some strops $45. You don’t need these, but I wanted them. The base WE50/GO, or WE52GO are identical only a better bag comes with the deluxe WE52GO. They both include (2) 200grit diamond stones, and (2) 600 grit diamond stones, one for each hand. And everything needed to sharpen immediately out of the box.

So this system is the real deal I wanted the angle finder so I can use tenths of a degree. Or just be much more precise. It’ll sharpen down to about 12.5DPS all the way to about 30DPS. The factory says 15-30DPS, but I think those specs are rated for large kitchen knives haha. I’ve found with folding knives 2”- 4.5” 12.75 to 32DPS is pretty common adjustment range.

At the end of the day, there’s a ton of media on wicked edge, tons of stones, strops, and accessories too.

I looked at a KME, and a edgepro, I even considered a Sharpmaker with all of the accessories that would have cost about $200 bucks.

First of all, I think the KME is very wobbly. Even the KME base is not really a base. And the blade rotation is a pretty cool idea but, I’ve heard of issues with it. I like the included stones though, a wide variety of diamonds.

The edgepro seems fine but you can only sharpen one side at a time. So, I think you’d be readjusting the blade, or removing the knife to check your apex often to make sure it’s even, and not drifting to one side.

When I started a thread on my Wicked Edge, several people chimed in saying; “My edge pro sucks” there were at least (3). Cant remember specifics. I’m not trolling, and I really don’t know why they think that. I’d look in to it, if I were needing to buy one lol.

I cannot freehand sharpen. That is why I bought a Wicked Edge, mixed with really difficult S110V steel, and being OCD about how my bevels look there was no other option for me. They start at about $199, And you can use all the WE stones and strops on it! No need to ever upgrade it either. Just add more stones.

Wicked Edge’s warranty service is the absolute best too! I lost a screw and damaged my clamp that was my own fault, they took care of me. I had one in my mailbox a few days later, without question. Thank you wicked edge is all I can say!




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