My First Spydercos - Sharpness Question

C

cameron.personal

Joined
Jan 24, 2005
Messages
27
I just purchased my first two Spydercos, a Ronin and a Yojimbo, and they are fantastic!
I love the Janich design and both knives are of inspiring quality. :D

In a little playing around with them I noticed that the Ronin is much sharper than the Yojimbo. Is this usual?

The Ronin will shave hair off my arm effortlessly amazing... :)
The Yojimbo takes a bit of work to get it to shave hair...

The Ronin will slice the corner off a piece of paper like... something really sharp (I can't think of a good example) I have never owned a knife this sharp before.
The Yojimbo seems to tear the paper rather than slice it...

Considering the different steel types is this difference in sharpness normal?

I have absolutely zero experience in sharpening knives (and zero experience with any other Spydercos), I would be terrified I would ruin my new $180 knife by attempting to sharpen it. As I live in Colorado would I be better to take the Yojimbo back to Spyderco to have it sharpened?

I have another Yojimbo (a blue one) on it's way to me now and I will see if it is the same is the (black) one.

Any help from you guys would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Cameron
 
if you are in the area and can access spyderco directly to get sharpened i would do that instead of sharpening yourself..i think that the spyderco sharpener is a good tool for sharpening and for learning to sharpen..i never sharpened any of my spydercos till i got the sharpener and now if seems much easier than the first time i did it..shaves the arm hair well
 
Every new Spyderco just out of the box are able to slice paper or shave hairs without the slighest effort, it made the reputation of Spyderco: "the sharpest knives out fo the box".
If the edge of your Yojimbo is sharpen but doesn't cut enough, maybe it has been used before, I suggest you take it to Spyderco for resharpening.
 
I'd like to echo Senate, Spyderco knives are allways shaving sharp right out of the box in my experience. Was the Yojimbo used by someone before you bought it? The excellent customer service should be able to sharpen the blade as new for you.
 
Every Spyderco I have owned has been nasty sharp out of the box - I have owned many and handled even more. No exceptions, so I would contact the factory and will wager they would be happy to sharpen it for you.
 
It may just have a slightly rolled edge.Try stroping it on your blue jeans and see if that brings out the edge.
 
Have it resharpened by Spyderco since you have no experience with sharpening.

I only have three Spydies--Endura, Civilian, and Military. While the Endura and Civilian could pop hairs easily, the Military struggled. The Millie was sharp, but it struggled due to the presence of a burr. I stropped it until the burr was gone, but the edge would dull and develop flat spots during easy use (e.g., opening letters). It wasn't until I sharpened the knife that this problem went away.

Spyderco's edges are legendary. Since you don't know how to sharpen, just stop by the factory. They'll put on an edge that you probably won't be able to produce yet. Plus, you can pick up a Sharpmaker, a relatively trouble-free way to keep your knife sharp. And you can even take a look at the different models. :D
 
cameron.personal said:
I would be terrified I would ruin my new $180 knife by attempting to sharpen it.
Click to expand...
It just so happens that Spyderco makes on of the best sharpeners around; the Sharpmaker. You can purchase one online for about $45.00, and you should have no problems getting a scary sharp edge on either knife.
 
Cameron,
I own a business in Aurora, if you want e mail me and we can meet someday and I will show you how the sharpener works, give you some tips etc.
I own about 20 spydercos and use their sharpener for almost every knife. Email Jack142@aol.com
You knife should of been real real sharp. But all knives have different geometry and do cut differently. I have a replaceable blade sheet rock knife. It wont slice paper like one of my other knives.
My large cold steel thats a real thick blade wont cut paper like a thin sharpe shrade knife.
enjoy your knives, they are quality, treat them right and they will last a long time
Jack
 
Hi Cameron, Welcome to this Spyderco forum as well.

I answered your question on the Spyderco site forum. Hope that helps.

sal
 
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