My thoughts on the Spyderco Double Stuff 2

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I was super stoked when I saw this in the mid year release catalog for 2017.
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I assumed from the beige color in the catalog picture and the thickness of the stone that the CBN coarse side was going to be a type of bonded stone (vitrified, resin,metal)
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Which would have been revolutionary from a big company
However upon release and with other photos it looks like its just a coated abrasive just like the CBN rods.

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No big deal.

The advantage to a bonded stones is better finish and renewed abrasive with cutting.
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However this stone seems like an awesome "barebones" field stone, I do like the worksharp field Sharpener but it is too bulky for true EDC and it has alot of training wheels attached to it that I do not need.

Also, I'm a huge fan of the OG double stuff stone and carry it everyday. It's not without it's shortcomings however. The brown alumina ceramic loads very fast. If a knife is dull enough it's going to take some time to re-establish an edge to finish on the fine side.
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Enter the Double Stuff 2 with coarse CBN side.

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First off. There is no noticable difference or advantage to CBN for hand Sharpening.

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It cuts like a 200 grit diamond stone out of box (extremely coarse) even though I believe I read elsewhere it is rated at 400 grit.

It eats any steel and cuts fast.

The trapezoid shape really allows me to get into those ricasso areas that are tough to hit sometimes.

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I imagine it would be excellent for recurves and serrations but I own none.

The drawback I've found with the stone is that it's difficult to get a nice precision polished cutting edge with such a huge grit jump to the fine stone. The fine stone just lacks the cutting power to smooth out the deep scratches from the CBN side.

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It is also not a renewable abrasive so once the CBN wears out it's just a smooth piece of metal.

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Most of the coated abrasives are insanely aggressive out of box until they break in and smooth out a bit. Then they last a while before going dead.

Light pressure will lengthen the life of the abrasive but I just let it happen and use as normal.


It's a very coarse and aggressive edge once completed. It doesn't push cut well either.
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My thoughts for improvement would be to change the grit from the coarse to a medium grit CBN, while some argue that the medium grit brown Alumina ceramic would have been a better choice over the fine white alumina ceramic. I'll argue that the fine white ceramic is the zenith of spyderco abrasives, It produces a great edge that does everything you want as long as the previous grit isn't too coarse.

I would also like to see spyderco offer a bonded stone in the future. Until then If I want bonded super abrasives I'll have to order stones from Russia haha.

Here is a video review with the stone in action



-Shawn
 
Nice review...I appreciate your frankness.

A question:

Would various grit 3M wet/dry sandpaper glued to glass be the ideal, low fuss sharpening solution in your opinion?
 
Nice review...I appreciate your frankness.

A question:

Would various grit 3M wet/dry sandpaper glued to glass be the ideal, low fuss sharpening solution in your opinion?
The Sandpaper is a no go for me. Too slow and too much of a pain to deal with, YMMV.
There's a billion ways and things to sharpen with but I have a fascination with abrasive stones, I like the idea of carrying a chunk of high tech, sharp abrasive and I won't settle for abrasive glued to paper haha.
 
Good stuff for corse edges in the field. Now do a rope cut test and then take it back to the bonded diamond stones and do another cut test.
 
Good stuff for corse edges in the field. Now do a rope cut test and then take it back to the bonded diamond stones and do another cut test.
That would be cool, one day I'll make that happen.
 
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Great review. I've been very excited for the DoubleStuff 2 since seeing it in the catalogue. I always found the medium grit on the original to build up too fast and cut away metal too slow for my uses.

I have been wondering, being that the diamond abrasive on these is bonded to a piece of steel, couldn't two different grits be applied to the same length of steel without losing strength enough to sharpen on it without it snapping?
 
I'd use the cbn side and my edge would shave then I'd put a micro with white stone.

Thanks for the review
 
Thanks Shawn,

I was hesitant seeing the discussion on the other thread. However, there’s also polished toothy approach where this combo might work, probably after breaking in.
 
I would assume that the CBN side will break in with use. They always start out a little rough.

I see the standard Doublestuff as more of an EDC/keep in your truck stone. The Doublestuff2 seems to me to be more of a field stone able to do both touchups and repairs in the field. A diamond stone to repair and reset bevels quickly in the field and a fine ceramic to debur.

Do you have any experience with the Falkniven DC4? This seems to be the stone that is closest in application to the Doublestuff2. I love the DC4 as a field stone.
 
I would assume that the CBN side will break in with use. They always start out a little rough.

I see the standard Doublestuff as more of an EDC/keep in your truck stone. The Doublestuff2 seems to me to be more of a field stone able to do both touchups and repairs in the field. A diamond stone to repair and reset bevels quickly in the field and a fine ceramic to debur.

Do you have any experience with the Falkniven DC4? This seems to be the stone that is closest in application to the Doublestuff2. I love the DC4 as a field stone.
I do actually, My A1 pro came with a DC4 and I also own the DC3. Good stones but I truly love the spyderco fine Ceramic. That's my favorite.
 
Hi Hero,

Thanx much for the review. 'Twas a long time in development. Hard combination to produce. I'm currently using the CBN side to re-profile my "Respect" model (8" blade).

sal
Thanks Sal, for everything, love the products.

-Shawn
 
Thx for the review. Very nice.

Looks like a throwback to the 701 set.

I agree that the fine is too fine. I personally find fine ceramic useless anyway. I get too much burnishing and burring, and a cutting edge that is too smooth and fragile to be of use. Diminishing returns.

Medium has enough aggression for heavier sharpening and leaves a little bite, yet is plenty fine enough to pop hair.

I won't have a use for this unless Medium is offered.
Shame. I otherwise LOVE it!

Sal, will there be a Medium? And if you're feeling frisky, care to share your thoughts on why you went with Fine?

Thx everybody!
 
Nice write up!

The regular version has been my fav field sharpener for about 4 years now. I bought both the double-stuff and DC4 back then but greatly preferred the Spydie and gave the other one away. I did not know there was a courser version too though, curious about that one now. On longer outings I usually just carry some wet&dry sandpaper along side it in case I really mess up my sharps (I use it for both knives and hatchets) but I've not needed to use it so far.
 
Great product, I'd like a medium with CBN too. The key to using the fine is a very light touch and scrub it clean often.
 
I've had my original Doublestuff for years. My medium grit side is getting darn near close to the same abrasiveness as the fine.
 
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