Maintaining a Sebenza with Spyderco Sharpmaker

[bhyde]

Honestly with the Sharpmaker I only have luck going freehand. It is my only sharpening system. If I put the rods in the jig they rarely match the edge angle on the knife closely enough to sharpen. This is because the Sharpmaker only has angle settings for 30 and 40 degrees inclusive, not including its 15 degree angle for sharpening scissors out its side.

This coupled with the fact the sharpmaker takes forever to grind the steels on knives these days means my blades take FOREVER to be ground to thay 30 or 40. I have zero luck with the diamond rods too. The steels skip off the diamond rods too much and don't grind smoothly. I feel like I have to hold the triangle rods in hand and match the angle on the edge. (This took alot of practice)

Does anyone else have this problem? What am I doing wrong? I think the sharpmaker is great for touching up edges. However if the edge is obtuse on say a D2 blade it will take me a month of straight grinding to get it sharp.

I have 2 sharpmakers.. Not even sure why anymore. Anyway, I started to use it as directed, but could not get what I consider a sharp edge.. So I bought an Edgepro Apex. Makes a sharp edge, but alot of fussing around, so I went back to the sharpmaker and did what I know how to do from years as being a machinist. Used it exactly as you are using it. One hand holding the stone and drawing the blade as I would a regular stone. I did this for a time and got great results..
The really sad part is, if you are going to use it in this fashion, why not just get a regular set of stones? Basically, its the same thing; Developing muscle memory. This is what I currently do. The spyderco sits in my camper awaiting sharpening duty as it's small, like about everything else for camping. The egepro sits in a box..I won't expound why I don't like guided systems...yet

Use care as you draw the knife at the end of the stroke to avoid rounding the point. Lift off at the end - avoid continued pressure as the tip passes the stone. Or, use the opposite motion, placing the tip first and push away rather than a draw stroke.

Don is right on the money here. You have a bit of a learning curve with the belly and tip..Pay attention to the sharpie mark..Especially drawing through the belly and tip. If you keep the blade parallel to the stones in the V as you pull down through the belly and tip, you will notice that you hit higher on the blade when you get closer to the tip, making the bevel progressively wider. Same thing goes for guided systems. It takes some getting used to, so practicing on cheap blades really is a good idea. Much cheaper than the $125.00+ it will cost to replace your blade IF your model of blade is still available from CRK.

 

[BilboBaggins]

I use it set at the 40 degrees and it is fine. It's what CRK recommends and I have no trouble keeping my CRKs sharp on it. I also wouldn't worry about harming your knife. The medium and fine sharpmaker rods aren't abrasive enough to really mess anything up if you aren't using too much pressure (which you shouldn't do anyway).

 

[JB in SC]

^^^^

Exactly

Sharpmakers require a light touch. Keep the triangles clean and don't apply too much pressure.

 

[ti lock]

This isn't really helpful. He wants instruction on the tool he bought to maintain his knife.
Despite your insight on the wicked edge, many people do not have the money for such a purchase. It was enough that they bought the knife that they did.

I was fortunate to have bought my first WE system for $100... it was used very little had up to 1000 grit diamond stones..

ApostleP is a pro knife sharpener ... here is his sharpmaker video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzJsB38iXEA

 

[bhyde]

I was fortunate to have bought my first WE system for $100... it was used very little had up to 1000 grit diamond stones..

That is a great price, but not typical. It may be if someone was vigilant as they are for their favorite knives.

Great deal for a top end system!

 

[Chessie]

I like my Sharpmaker. I use the 40 degree angle then knock the shoulder off with the 30 to give a smooth transition on my CRK Sebenza 21's (large and small). I then strop it. The only learning curve and piece of advice I can offer is to be careful not to increase the edge width towards the point. If you're not careful, you can easily end up with an edge that starts small close to the handle and ends wider towards the point. I have a nice working edge on my CRK's that doesn't break the bank in forcing me to spend $300 for a sharpener with only a handful of knives. And the two stones offered absolutely DO cut metal. It's been said that they do not from reputable people and I'm not sure where that comes from.