Sharp Maker may retire my Wicked Edge

RayseM

RayseM

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Joined
Feb 18, 2010
Messages
8,259
The Sharp Maker is so simple to use and versatile and most importantly to me - easy to leave out on my bench for whatever sharpening I am moved to do.

The results are very very good. For most working knives that start out with a decent edge the basic kit will get you hair splitting edges easily. Too much more than that and we'll have blood all over the kitchen when the not so knife savvy commence to chopping. My roation of EDCs get more than sharp enough for daily use and are tweaked to keen again with just a relatively few strokes - followed by a few light passes on the Knives + strop block.

The Wicked Edge is simply wicked at producing extreme cutting edges starting from very dull to razor sharp, but for me I find that I need to set an afternoon aside to "do my knives" and that misses the way I live. I have had a few very nice afternoons in the sun on the picnic table sharpening "the knives" but these 2 or 3 times a year sessions are not as satisfying as just stopping for a few minutes at the Sharp Maker.

Don't miss my point - The Wicked Edge is an awesome tool - very well engineered, simple to use and very effective at it's designated task. I am just finding that for me the Spydeco Sharp Maker is more than good enough, even more simple to use and so much less expensive. The compromises between using the two systems doesn't compromise my life and in fact the Sharp Maker has made keeping blades sharp more fun and less of a production. Thanks Spyderdco.
 
I am very excited to get my sharpmaker soon. I too have a wicked edge and want to see the comparison. My main reason in getting the sharpmaker is to keep it in my work truck so I can touch up my knives on the job site.
 
I am not too surprised it seems quite a few people who own the sharpmaker and some type of guided system use the guided system to reprofile the blade than the sharpmaker to maintain it as it's easier to do it that way. Enjoy your sharpmaker and wicked edge their both great systems and I imagine will work well together.
 
The Sharpmaker is great for touchups, but not the best for reprofiling. I go Edgepro and Sharpmaker. You really can't beat the finish on the SM. Did you get the diamonds?
 
I don't use my WE very much. On FFG blades it's hard to get the blade perfectly vertical in the vise. I check angles with an angle cube and the marked angles are usually off by at a degree or so. My coarse stones might be too worn down because they don't seem to remove metal very quickly at all. I never really get a perfect edge off the WE. I've watched all the videos on YT and read the WE forums but for some reason finishing a blade on the sharpmaker always yields a sharper edge for me. Go figure.
 
RayseM said:
The Sharp Maker is so simple to use and versatile and most importantly to me - easy to leave out on my bench for whatever sharpening I am moved to do.

The results are very very good. For most working knives that start out with a decent edge the basic kit will get you hair splitting edges easily. Too much more than that and we'll have blood all over the kitchen when the not so knife savvy commence to chopping. My roation of EDCs get more than sharp enough for daily use and are tweaked to keen again with just a relatively few strokes - followed by a few light passes on the Knives + strop block.

The Wicked Edge is simply wicked at producing extreme cutting edges starting from very dull to razor sharp, but for me I find that I need to set an afternoon aside to "do my knives" and that misses the way I live. I have had a few very nice afternoons in the sun on the picnic table sharpening "the knives" but these 2 or 3 times a year sessions are not as satisfying as just stopping for a few minutes at the Sharp Maker.

Don't miss my point - The Wicked Edge is an awesome tool - very well engineered, simple to use and very effective at it's designated task. I am just finding that for me the Spydeco Sharp Maker is more than good enough, even more simple to use and so much less expensive. The compromises between using the two systems doesn't compromise my life and in fact the Sharp Maker has made keeping blades sharp more fun and less of a production. Thanks Spyderdco.
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Not much I can add to this...you pretty much nailed it. It's kind of a different sharpening philosophy. With a complicated guided system you're more likely to let your knives get dull and wait longer between sharpenings. I keep the sm set up in my kitchen and give whatever I'm carrying about 20-30 seconds of work every couple of days (or as needed) and I've always got a hair whittling edge. Who wants to walk around with a dull knife because it's too much hassle to sharpen?! It's just too easy with the sm!
 
I find that my edge pro and my sharpmaker make a perfect pair. I need an easier way than the sharpmaker to rebevel my knives to the angles I like, conversely, I also need the sharpmaker for quick touch ups.
 
I got rid of my Edge Pro a couple of years ago. Too much mess and fuss. I just do the SM and freehand now.
 
I agree--in my case it's an Edge Pro Apex that's usually collecting dust while I use my Sharpmaker, though.
 
SolidState said:
The Sharpmaker is great for touchups, but not the best for reprofiling. I go Edgepro and Sharpmaker. You really can't beat the finish on the SM. Did you get the diamonds?
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No - I just bought the basic kit to see what it would do. I think the diamonds will be essential for changing bevel profiles or reworking very dull knives more easily. The basic set seems very well suited to maintaing already good edges. As others have noted - the Sharp Maker has it limitations, but these seem pretty slight for the daily needs of a knife user.
 
Well thats pretty much the best setup, wicked edge to set the bevel and make it pretty, then sharpmaker to keep it maintained easily. Im getting an edge pro soon and will use this method, because im tired of mirror polished microbevels on a crappy looking factory back bevel so im gonna splurge on the EPA 4.
 
RayseM said:
The Sharp Maker is so simple to use and versatile and most importantly to me - easy to leave out on my bench for whatever sharpening I am moved to do.

The results are very very good. For most working knives that start out with a decent edge the basic kit will get you hair splitting edges easily. Too much more than that and we'll have blood all over the kitchen when the not so knife savvy commence to chopping. My roation of EDCs get more than sharp enough for daily use and are tweaked to keen again with just a relatively few strokes - followed by a few light passes on the Knives + strop block.

The Wicked Edge is simply wicked at producing extreme cutting edges starting from very dull to razor sharp, but for me I find that I need to set an afternoon aside to "do my knives" and that misses the way I live. I have had a few very nice afternoons in the sun on the picnic table sharpening "the knives" but these 2 or 3 times a year sessions are not as satisfying as just stopping for a few minutes at the Sharp Maker.

Don't miss my point - The Wicked Edge is an awesome tool - very well engineered, simple to use and very effective at it's designated task. I am just finding that for me the Spydeco Sharp Maker is more than good enough, even more simple to use and so much less expensive. The compromises between using the two systems doesn't compromise my life and in fact the Sharp Maker has made keeping blades sharp more fun and less of a production. Thanks Spyderdco.
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Well said,thanks for posting.
 
Damn guys, the WE was on my wish list but it sounds like The Sharpmaker fits my philosophy better. I'd rather, and do, spend a couple of minutes on touch ups rather than spending a bunch of time using another device.

I used the SM last night to touch up my SnG. Used the fine and superfine stones and finished by stropping on a piece of cardboard. The SnG returned to shaving sharpness with less than 10 minutes work. There is no reason to carry a dull knife.
 
The beauty about the WE is that if you keep a log with your settings its pretty easy/fast to just clamp and touch up the blade. I have the 1200/1600 ceramic stones for that.
I also have the SM which I use for kitchen knives.
Sm is also good to take for camping ;-)
And yes, for the money the SM is a great sharpening tool
 
SolidState said:
The Sharpmaker is great for touchups, but not the best for reprofiling.
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+1
I am using Sharpmakers for more than 8 years. Love it. Great tool. The best $40 I ever spent. Still I wouldn't want to use it for reprofiling or repair. Last summer I bought WE Sport & field and love as much as my sharpmaker. I use both tools WE for heavy steel removal-reprofiling S110V Native was a piece of cake, than I maintaining edges on sharpmaker. Very seldom I am using anything except flats of medium Rods.
 
As others have said, the Sharpmaker and the Wicked Edge (or Edge Pro) make an excellent combination, provided you profile your edges to either 30 or 40 degrees inclusive. But the WE/EP systems are much, much better at reprofiling obtuse and/or uneven factory edges than the SM, especially when you're using hard, high-end steels. They are much better at repairing edge damage. And they are better at refining edges to a high degree.

The SM shines at touchups for nearly sharp, properly profiled edges.
 
I love the sharp maker for maintenance, it's just so quick and simple to do a few swipes every few days, but I use an edge pro to put the initial bevel and sharpening. Especially since many knives these days seem to come with significantly steeper angles than the 40 deg inclusive on the sharpmaker (I know you can tilt the blade but I find that's not as repeatable for me as keeping it strait up/down) So I use the edge pro to set an initial edge that's shallow enough to maintain with the sharpmaker. I actually wish I still had my old single angle sharpmaker base that was 44-45 degrees inclusive it worked for more knives out of the box without a re-profile. I don't even use the fine sharpmaker stones, just the medium for a few swipes after the edge pro and for touch up weekly or so. It's perfect for kitchen knives use them, wash them, a couple swipes and they stay wicked sharp. My sharp maker lives on my counter.

I find doing so I can go a long time in between having to break out the edge pro again for a knife, which is good because the edge pro is a messy pain to use, but I would never ever want to re-profile a harder steel with steep angles on a sharpmaker. I also find that if I set the bevel with the edge pro and just touch up with the sharpmaker my edges have definitely become sharper (not a ton but noticeable) compared to just the sharpmaker or the lansky/sharpmaker, and they seem to last longer between major sharpenings.
 
For some reason, I cannot get SuperBlue sharp on the SharpMaker.

I'm using the standard coarse and fine stones and I also have extra fine, but usually by the time I move on to the fine stones, the edge is garbage and I have to go back to the coarse.
I've gotten very good results on my SB Spydercos on the EPA with Chosera stones, but the results I get on the SharpMaker are horrible.
S30V does fine on the SharpMaker, as does AUS8, etc, just Super Blue is a nightmare.

Any ideas...?
 
I've been using my sharpmaker going on 20yrs.
And I'm not even considering a electric gizmo.

It takes out the joy.

May be when I get arthritis I'll get a wicked whatever.
 
Rasco said:
For some reason, I cannot get SuperBlue sharp on the SharpMaker.

I'm using the standard coarse and fine stones and I also have extra fine, but usually by the time I move on to the fine stones, the edge is garbage and I have to go back to the coarse.
I've gotten very good results on my SB Spydercos on the EPA with Chosera stones, but the results I get on the SharpMaker are horrible.
S30V does fine on the SharpMaker, as does AUS8, etc, just Super Blue is a nightmare.

Any ideas...?
Click to expand...

Its not the steel, its not the tool, its the technique.
 
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