Question on Delica Sharpening

P

pruitthall1

Joined
Sep 30, 2005
Messages
2
Hi all,

New to this forum, seems to be a genuinely good place to share information on Spyderco's and all associated with them. I've been a, dare I say it, Benchmade user for many years, but have always sharpened them on a Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker. I've always used the 40 degree settings and they get pretty darn sharp!

I bought a stainless-sided Delica the other day and it's only my second Spyderco. Woo-boy that thing is SHARP...think hair popper is the only way I can do it justice in description. That said, I'd like to keep the Delica just that way and in reviewing Sal's video the other night I came across where he stated (my words but his overview) that Spydercos are sharpened at the factory along 30 degrees.

I know 40 will give me a longer lasting edge, but I don't really care about that on this Delica :) I just want it to always stay scary sharp. My question to all of you Spyderco experts is: Would I be better off sharpening the Delica at 30 degrees, knowing I don't care in this case about edge longetivity and ONLY desire the hair popping sharp edge?

Yes, a newbie in many ways, but darn that Spyderco is sharp! Any help most appreciated, in advance!
 
Welcome aboard and enjoy your stay here. Glad you enjoy your Delica (just liek everyone around here) ;) BM makes some fine knives too so there's no need to be embarrased.
While I am pretty satisfied with 40° sharpening, I must confess I have a few Delicas and I sharpen them at 30°. Moreover, I found that all Spydies that come in VG-10, S30V or even ATS-55 (not to mention ZDP-189) can be shapened at 30° without any probems.
 
Dialex,

Thanks for the reply...it's what I was thinking, but it's always nice to hear from somebody that's 'done it'.

thanks again :thumbup:
 
I've always used 40 degrees. What happens if I switch back to 30? My guess is I'm going to have to spend a while to get it back to 30.
 
30 is definitely a good match to most of the factory edges on my Spydercos. However, with a slightly blunted edge, it's much faster to sharpen it at 40 degrees and it doesn't actually affect cutting ability much at all if the 40-degree portion is small. But it also makes the edge a little more durable.

It is not unusual for some users to do this on purpose on other knives because it works well. It will work just fine to sharpen at 40 degrees for several cycles, although you may want to do some sharpening at 30 degrees after a while to restore the thin edge.
 
pruitthall1 said:
Hi all,

New to this forum, seems to be a genuinely good place to share information on Spyderco's and all associated with them. I've been a, dare I say it, Benchmade user for many years, but have always sharpened them on a Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker. I've always used the 40 degree settings and they get pretty darn sharp!

I bought a stainless-sided Delica the other day and it's only my second Spyderco. Woo-boy that thing is SHARP...think hair popper is the only way I can do it justice in description. That said, I'd like to keep the Delica just that way and in reviewing Sal's video the other night I came across where he stated (my words but his overview) that Spydercos are sharpened at the factory along 30 degrees.

I know 40 will give me a longer lasting edge, but I don't really care about that on this Delica :) I just want it to always stay scary sharp. My question to all of you Spyderco experts is: Would I be better off sharpening the Delica at 30 degrees, knowing I don't care in this case about edge longetivity and ONLY desire the hair popping sharp edge?

Yes, a newbie in many ways, but darn that Spyderco is sharp! Any help most appreciated, in advance!
Click to expand...


Welcome to the party!

As I understand it (and please correct me if I'm wrong) the factory ships at 30 degrees but the Sharpmaker instructions say to sharpen at 40 degrees. Why? I'm too dumb to figure it out except that it is perhaps quicker, not necessarily better. I wish if they thought 30 degrees was the optimum angle to use (since they ship this wasy) they were profiled at 25 degrees and user sharpened at 30 degrees inclusive. Thoughts?
 
Spyderco ships the knives sharpened at 30 degrees not only for that awesomely sharp edge, but also so it will be easier to resharpen. However, they recommend resharpening at the 40 degree-inclusive angle so the cutting edge will be a little more stable under subsequent use. Eventually, if you resharpened this way enough years, you'd have to reprofile the shoulders of the bevel off using 15 degrees and finish the edge at 40.

Of course, those are only suggestions and its great to experiment. I find if I don't let the blade get too dull, a 40 degree touch-up is fine and not noticeable different, because the touched-up part is very subtle. But depending on the steel and blade grind, some knives' edges may tend to roll or chip if the very edge is kept at 30 degrees. Only experimenting will allow you to decide which types match which angle.
Jim
 
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