Manix II Lighweight in S110V

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Bigfoot870

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Jan 20, 2016
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I've been sharpening knives on oil stones for many years (my Dad came from a commercial fishing family, and he taught me at a young age). Over the years I owned many "cheap" folders, mostly USA made Gerber, and locally manufactured (Pictou, NS) Grohmann fixed blades. A few years back, I got into 1095 CS fixed blades (TOPS, ESEE, Becker), and got much more serious with my sharpening. I invested in a couple of Arkansas hard stones, and made a two sided leather strop......one side with green "rouge" and one side with none. I had a lot of fun, sharpening to shaving sharp.

Recently, I purchased my first Spydie, a Delica4 FFG, then another Delica, and now I have a Manix II Lighweight in S110V on the way.

I can get a good edge on the Delica's VG-10 blade, but not as good as I'd like. With the Manix II LW on the way, I think it's time for me to rethink my sharpening methods, as the small FFG blades are different than I am used to, and I know that S110V is a whole different game.

Online, I've looked at the Work Sharp, Sharpmaker and Lansky Crock Stick manual systems. Is the Sharpmaker my best bet, knowing that I will touch up often, and not let my knives get too dull? Also, do I need to use diamond products?

(PS - I posted this on the Spyderco forum, but the thread went off track, before I got my answer)
 
It depends on your budget, how much polish you want, and whether you're willing to use a guided clamp system. If going over 600 grit I'd use diamond from start to finish, preferably with a clamp system like the KME or Wicked Edge. If a toothy working edge is your thing then a sharpmaker with the diamond rods (which are 400 grit from what I've read) for profiling will work fine. I ended up going the full wicked edge route with a 2017 f&s pro setup for my own supersteels, but it definitely wasnt cheap (~$1000+recurring 6, 3, 1 micron diamond lapping film costs).
 
Mattysc42 said:
It depends on your budget, how much polish you want, and whether you're willing to use a guided clamp system. If going over 600 grit I'd use diamond from start to finish, preferably with a clamp system like the KME or Wicked Edge. If a toothy working edge is your thing then a sharpmaker with the diamond rods (which are 400 grit from what I've read) for profiling will work fine. I ended up going the full wicked edge route with a 2017 f&s pro setup for my own supersteels, but it definitely wasnt cheap (~$1000+recurring 6, 3, 1 micron diamond lapping film costs).
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I did say, "Online, I've looked at the Work Sharp, Sharpmaker and Lansky Crock Stick manual systems. Is the Sharpmaker my best bet, knowing that I will touch up often, and not let my knives get too dull? Also, do I need to use diamond products?", but to clarify, I don't want a powered or guided sharpener, my budget will be approx $150 CDN, and I don't plan to buy any additional "super steel" knives.......honest.
 
I have no experience with a lansky, but the worksharp isn't great for high vanadium steels and removes a lot of metal. I think the sharpmaker with diamond or cbn rods is your best bet.
 
I’m not a very experienced sharpener, but have had good luck keeping my S110V PM2 sharp with my Sharpmaker and judicious stropping. When I let the knife get dull, I used a powered system (WSKO) to bring it back, but that required some learning.

People will say that diamond is best for S110V and they’re probably right. However the standard Sharpmaker rods have been meeting my needs for maintaining an edge thats good enough for me. People (myself included) refer to the Sharpmaker as the “Sharpkeeper” with supersteels. That’s been my experience.

Note that if you don’t get a lot of info here, the Maintenance & Tinkering forum is really great for these questions. Highly experienced folks are all over these types of questions there (in a good way). Maybe a mod could move this thread if necessary.
 
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Go diamond. Learn to freehand sharpen with them...more fun!
 
Bigfoot870 said:
I've been sharpening knives on oil stones for many years (my Dad came from a commercial fishing family, and he taught me at a young age). Over the years I owned many "cheap" folders, mostly USA made Gerber, and locally manufactured (Pictou, NS) Grohmann fixed blades. A few years back, I got into 1095 CS fixed blades (TOPS, ESEE, Becker), and got much more serious with my sharpening. I invested in a couple of Arkansas hard stones, and made a two sided leather strop......one side with green "rouge" and one side with none. I had a lot of fun, sharpening to shaving sharp.

Recently, I purchased my first Spydie, a Delica4 FFG, then another Delica, and now I have a Manix II Lighweight in S110V on the way.

I can get a good edge on the Delica's VG-10 blade, but not as good as I'd like. With the Manix II LW on the way, I think it's time for me to rethink my sharpening methods, as the small FFG blades are different than I am used to, and I know that S110V is a whole different game.

Online, I've looked at the Work Sharp, Sharpmaker and Lansky Crock Stick manual systems. Is the Sharpmaker my best bet, knowing that I will touch up often, and not let my knives get too dull? Also, do I need to use diamond products?

(PS - I posted this on the Spyderco forum, but the thread went off track, before I got my answer)
Click to expand...

Yup.
Diamond stones ONLY and an Edge Pro = high level of satisfaction with S110V.
 
I can touch up pretty much any steel on stones freehand, but if the edge is really messed up or needs a reprofile, you pretty much have to have a guided system or just be extremely good at freehand and own diamond stones.
 
Watching Michael Christy videos on Utube helps some. I doubt I’ll ever be at his level...good sharpening role model though.
 
4mer_FMF said:
Note that if you don’t get a lot of info here, the Maintenance & Tinkering forum is really great for these questions. Highly experienced folks are all over these types of questions there (in a good way). Maybe a mod could move this thread if necessary.
Click to expand...

I was hoping that Sal would chime in............
 
ScooterG said:
Go diamond. Learn to freehand sharpen with them...more fun!
Click to expand...

What grit diamond stone(s) do you suggest? What about diamond compound for a leather strop.......Micron size(s)?

I love freehand sharpening and have a lot of hours logged on whetstones.

I don't need hair splitting sharp, but I do want shaving sharp.
 
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Get the diamonds for the Sharpmaker. The Lansky with diamonds works well, too. A big plus over power sharpeners is that the manual Sharpmaker and Lansky systems will not burn your edge or take off too much metal.
 
Bigfoot870 said:
What grit diamond stone(s) do you suggest? What about diamond compound for a leather strop.......Micron size(s)?

I love freehand sharpening and have a lot of hours logged on whetstones.

I don't need hair splitting sharp, but I do want shaving sharp.
Click to expand...
Not sure on all the grits, just what works for me. I’m not doing mirror polished by any means yet, but more toothy.

Falkniven DC521 - One side is diamond and the other ceramic. I use this for knives that get dull or that have chips.
DMT Fine (600 grit) - I use this for quick/light sharpening on hard steels.
Spyderco Medium stone - Used for everything after one of the above two
Spyderco Fine stone - Used for everything after the medium stone
Knives Plus Strop - Last step

I’ve haven’t gotten into different strop compounds but that’s probably next.
 
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