KE Bushie and Sharpmaker

[mike1975]

Hi, I have a Fiddleback KE Bushie, just a quick question - can a Spyderco Sharpmaker be used effectively, I wouldn't want to wreck the blade - is it ok to use on any knife.

 

[Tim the Wizard]

The short answer is no. Fiddleback Forge knives are consistently more obtuse at the cutting edge than the sharpmaker's preset 30 degree and 40 degree inclusive settings.

The long answer is yes. You can break the design of the jig by tilting the knife and achieving contact at angles distinct from the preset angles.

You can take one of three approaches:

1. Mark the edge with a sharpie and tilt the spine of the knife away from the rods until sharpie is being removed from the very apex of the cutting edge. This will repair and re-apply a microbevel at the edge. You could even use the rods for this and not even put them in the sharpmaker.

2. Have the knife re-profiled to under 20 degrees inclusive and then use the 20 degree setting (I can do this for you if you like, for a service fee)

3. Use a different jig to match the angle or sharpen by hand with stones or a strop

This is assuming you have a convex-ground Fiddleback with a compound bevel at the edge. It won't work with a scandi.

 

[swonut]

It won't wreck the blade, but it also probably won't get it as sharp as it came initially without a lot of work or some tricks. But don't let that stop you from trying and learning along the way. Just be careful of the terms that people throw around because it can be a little confusing. More obtuse means smaller angle. Andy's knives have a convex grind, but not a convex edge. I don't think Andy uses a Microbevel, but that doesn't mean you should not try one out.

Regardless, I'd look into stropping as I see it as an easy way to maintain an edge, especially while travelling or just screwing around (I use green compound (avail for a few bucks at a hardware store) on a piece of cardboard as the carrier.)

 

[Tim the Wizard]

Thanks swo. When I use more obtuse I actually mean larger angle. As in, the knives have a higher degree angle than the sharpmaker settings. For smaller angle I would use the term acute.

I agree with you on stropping, but it won't improve the geometry of the blade or do much to repair damage unless you are stropping with wet/dry automotive sandpaper, or a medium with comparative low grit and particle size.