First time sharpening...how easy is it?

W

waterford

Joined
May 19, 2012
Messages
156
Hi,

I am fairly new to knives and purchased the Spyderco Dragonfly in VG-10 several months ago and it about ready for a light sharpening. I plan on purchasing the Spyderco Sharpmaker soon. However, I never have sharpened a knife before
in my life. Is sharpening the VG-10 steel really easy for a first timer and how long should it typically take to get it razor sharp??

Thanks!
 
VG-10 is an easy steel to sharpen and holds a decent edge. If you've don't have a lot of sharpening experience, the Sharpmaker is a great tool.
 
VG-10 gets pretty sharp pretty easily. Just make sure you have the burr knocked off completely as it a notorious steel for wire edges.

Using the sharpmaker is about as easy as it gets. To help hold the angle, you can make up and down passes consecutively instead of lifting the blade off the rod and starting again from the top.
 
I'll say this from experience. Buying an expensive sharpener is no substitute for skill, steadiness, and patience.
 
The sharpmaker does take some getting used to, as do all sharpening systems. It's all about consistency. You have to keep your hand perfectly vertical and make slow, even strokes with basically no pressure (very important). Applying a lot of pressure is bad news. Use 20 degrees per side, or what you'll really be doing is reprofiling which takes hours on a sharpmaker, especially without the diamond stones. If you're just touching up the edge, it just takes a few minutes.

Also make sure you only get the tip on the flats of the stones, not the corners (or you'll blunt the tip). Also make sure not to stop the tip while it is still on the flats, otherwise it will blunt the tip as it rolls off the edge.
 
Thanks!
I will watch some You Tube videos also. Hopefully I can first a video where the person is sharpening correctly!
 
Use a sharpie on the blade edge, this will let you know where contact is being made. Today I put a case peanut on the sharp maker, it wasn't getting sharp. I put marker on the edge, it was contacting the edge on one side but the other side was contacting way up. Then I got the diamonds out, everthing was smooth sailing after that, both edges were 20 degrees 40 inclusive.
 
Practice on some beater knives first. It will help you get a feel for what you are doing.

I've got a DF with a VG-10 blade. Good little knife. It does take a little more time to sharpen that some of the other steels, but I don't find it hard to sharpen.

Ric
 
Rather than watching videos, grab an old kitchen knife and practice on that. Experience is the best teacher.
 
+1 for marking the edge with a Sharpie before starting.

Another +1 is to remove any burr by lightly dragging the edge in the endgrain of a piece of wood.
 
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