- Joined
- Aug 8, 2000
- Messages
- 1,044
Initially, let me say that using a Spyderco Sharpmaker 204 can be both very easy and at the same time very difficult. Let me explain.
Until I bought a 204 I was using a Fiskars Roll Sharp and it worked alright for me, because I didn´t know of anything better. My friends where very impressed of the sharpness I could achieve. Well so was I.
But then I met a guy who was making his own knives and his blades were unbelievely sharp. My ones were not even close! And for the first time in my life I experienced the feeling of actually being able to shave my forearm. When I asked the guy how he could achieve this fantastic result, he simply answered: Sp 204.
Hm, what was that?
To make the story short. I bought a 204 and started sharpening my knives. My knives were suddenly much sharper than before. However, I was not able to put on the same kind of extreme edge as that guy! I was watching Sal´s video, I was doing exactly the same motions as he did. I was patient, I was accurate, I was everything. But my knives were still kind of blunt. So, what did I do wrong??
The answer came to me some 3 weeks later, as one of my friends watched me sharpening and complaining Suddenly he said: Why are you leaning the knife leftward while sharpening the right hand side of the knife and why aren´t you putting as much pressure on the knife as on the other side?
Pardon me?
He was right, my sharpening angle was not consistant. I discovered that I didn´t feel comfortable sharpening the backhand side. I didn´t put as much force to it as to the forehand side and the angle was much more steep. And subsequently, the lesser pressure resulted in a somewhat sissy motion, taking off very little steel, comparing to the other side.
Now, to rectify this, one can go in two ways. Either increase the pressure on the backhand side and alternate the sweeps, or (this works best for me), do 2 or 3 softer motions on the backhand side to one on the forehand one!! And, most important, WATCH THE ANGLE!
Hope this helps all of you guys, having similar difficulties as myself and only hearing of others bragging, how well they succeed to sharpen their knives (especially on the 204).
And finally, I don´t believe that everyone here on this forum is able to put on that famous scary sharpness on his knife. It´s not that easy. And maybe not necessary either??
Regards, and stay sharp
Until I bought a 204 I was using a Fiskars Roll Sharp and it worked alright for me, because I didn´t know of anything better. My friends where very impressed of the sharpness I could achieve. Well so was I.
But then I met a guy who was making his own knives and his blades were unbelievely sharp. My ones were not even close! And for the first time in my life I experienced the feeling of actually being able to shave my forearm. When I asked the guy how he could achieve this fantastic result, he simply answered: Sp 204.
Hm, what was that?
To make the story short. I bought a 204 and started sharpening my knives. My knives were suddenly much sharper than before. However, I was not able to put on the same kind of extreme edge as that guy! I was watching Sal´s video, I was doing exactly the same motions as he did. I was patient, I was accurate, I was everything. But my knives were still kind of blunt. So, what did I do wrong??
The answer came to me some 3 weeks later, as one of my friends watched me sharpening and complaining Suddenly he said: Why are you leaning the knife leftward while sharpening the right hand side of the knife and why aren´t you putting as much pressure on the knife as on the other side?
Pardon me?
He was right, my sharpening angle was not consistant. I discovered that I didn´t feel comfortable sharpening the backhand side. I didn´t put as much force to it as to the forehand side and the angle was much more steep. And subsequently, the lesser pressure resulted in a somewhat sissy motion, taking off very little steel, comparing to the other side.
Now, to rectify this, one can go in two ways. Either increase the pressure on the backhand side and alternate the sweeps, or (this works best for me), do 2 or 3 softer motions on the backhand side to one on the forehand one!! And, most important, WATCH THE ANGLE!
Hope this helps all of you guys, having similar difficulties as myself and only hearing of others bragging, how well they succeed to sharpen their knives (especially on the 204).
And finally, I don´t believe that everyone here on this forum is able to put on that famous scary sharpness on his knife. It´s not that easy. And maybe not necessary either??
Regards, and stay sharp
