Sharp Maker may retire my Wicked Edge

singularity35 said:
Its not the steel, its not the tool, its the technique.
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Did you read the part where I said the ONLY knives I have trouble with are the ones with Super Blue?
Is there a different technique for sharpening Super Blue I'm not aware of??

I think it IS the steel, and I'm asking if anyone else has had this same issue with any of their light gray Spydercos on the SharpMaker.
 
Kreyzhorse said:
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.
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WE and sharpmaker serves different purposes. Did you try to reprofile blades with basic steel like S30V/S35VN on sharpmaker? I did. Several times. Using moldmasters 150 grit and ruby 80 grit. It took at least an hour. Never again. As much as I hated to drop $$$ on WE, I glad that I did.

uxo2 said:
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.
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I agree with you about electric gizmo, but keep in the mind that WE has nothing to go with electricity. It is manual system.
 
Totally agree. For very light touchups and reprofiling I free hand or use a lansky DMT turmbox set. The sharpmaker is for when I need to even out edges or get stuff super sharp. Sharpmaker is a very nice set that if paired with a Norton stone for reprofilimg it would pretty much be all that you would need for sharpening.
 
Wicked Edge and Sharpmaker are 2 different systems..

The WE can do everything the Sharpmaker can do and a lot more..

The Shapmaker CANNOT do everything the WE can do.

I have and use both.. I also use the paper wheel system.. I choose what to use based on what I need done.. And how much time I have..
 
Rasco said:
Did you read the part where I said the ONLY knives I have trouble with are the ones with Super Blue?
Is there a different technique for sharpening Super Blue I'm not aware of??

I think it IS the steel, and I'm asking if anyone else has had this same issue with any of their light gray Spydercos on the SharpMaker.
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Hey Rasco, there's nothing really special about sharpening superblue IMO. Bring the edge to an apex and remove any burr then put a microbevel on it if you wish. If you aren't getting it sharp on the sm then it's likely you haven't properly executed one of the aforementioned steps. Superblue is probably one of the easiest to sharpen steels I own. Back to basics. Good luck. :)
 
I leave my sharpmaker out on the bar in the mancave. In the evenings before bed on whatever knife I am carrying, I swipe a couple of times on the fines and then a quick two strokes on the strop. When I pick up whatever I am carrying in the morning, they are razor sharp and ready.
 
Rasco said:
Did you read the part where I said the ONLY knives I have trouble with are the ones with Super Blue?
Is there a different technique for sharpening Super Blue I'm not aware of??

I think it IS the steel, and I'm asking if anyone else has had this same issue with any of their light gray Spydercos on the SharpMaker.
Click to expand...


Super Blue is easy to sharpen for me. My guess is that your edge angles don't match up to the stone angles. If you use the Sharpie trick, you'll probably find that your edge angels are more obtuse than the stone angle you're using, meaning you are grinding down the shoulders of the edge, not refining the apex. Your other knives that sharpen well for you would have edge angels that match up to the Sharpmaker stones.

Another possibility is that your Super Blue edge is very dull. The Sharpmaker stones are slow to recover a very dull edge.
 
Surfingringo said:
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!
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I agree, and also keep them set up on my kitchen counter at all times.
I bought it for my wife(now ex) years ago for kitchen knives, and I never thought I would use it as I have always used flat stones. Before I would at times let a knife go dull just because I was to lazy to get out the stones and oil, and then clean and put them away just for a touch up. I now touch my knives up on the SM every time I use one, and a knife never gets dull enough for me to need the stones. I seldom reprofile.

There was a time when I liked sharpening with stones, but after doing it for years at least three times a week with a few knives I lost the pleasure I got from it. Was a butcher/meat cutter, and had a game processing business.
 
Rasco said:
For some reason, I cannot get SuperBlue sharp on the SharpMaker.

Any ideas...?
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I used the Sharpmaker on a Super Blue Dragonfly the other day. That was the first time in I'd used the SM in quite a while, so my technique probably wasn't spot on. However, after working through medium (flats only) - fine (corners, then flats) - uf (corners, then flats), I got probably the sharpest edge I've ever had.

The one thing I did was go light, light, light on my pressure.

As others have mentioned, mark the edge (sharpie, tool maker's dye, whatever you've got) and make sure that the SM is removing material out at the very edge. That and go light (a lot lighter than you'd think) on your pressure.
 
Thanks for the tips fellas, I will try going a little lighter and see what happens.
My technique may be a bit off because I'm trying to sharpen my ManBug on the SM and maybe I'm not used to such tiny strokes?
Or maybe I am applying too much pressure? Still haven't been up to my folks house where my EPA is, so I'll give it another try before I give up and put it on the EPA :P
 
I sold my wicked edge and bought a Kalamazoo 1x42. The wicked edge produced some great edges with maximum effort and time. The Kalamazoo if far more versatile and I can do 10 knives in the time it used to take to do 1, including long blades and machetes etc.

At the end, I would dread pulling out the wicked edge, but I was usually pleased with the result.

It definitely has its place in the sharpening world.
 
I put my Super Blue Stretch on the SM this morning. I noticed right away that one side was out of whack. The sharpie test showed the SM was hitting up at the shoulder between the flat grind and the bevel... not good! Some eyeballing showed that the factory bevel looked to be a nice 30 on one side but probably 40+ on the other. Out came the DMT coarse stone and after about 15 minutes that bevel was down to something (hey, I'm free handing here!) the SM could deal with. A few passes over the medium and fine SM rods and she is screaming sharp!
 
I've got the SM and bought the diamond sticks as well as the ultra fine ones. Now I can re-profile and sharpen a knife to razor sharpness using the SM and a strop. The diamond sticks are really a necessity, was not getting anywhere using the brown, coarse ones.

Still, I think I want to try the Wicked Edge. It looks like a cool system and I'm always looking for newer and better ways of sharpening. The one problem I have with the SM is the tip on one side is always a little larger than the other side. As sharp as the knife comes out, I never feel totally confident in my strokes. Being right handed, it feels good when I'm using the right side but not when I am using the left--something about coming across my body make it fell like it's misaligned.

Anyway, from what some have said about their experience with the WE makes me want to try it.

By the way I just bought the Ken Onion Work Sharp and am not impressed at all. I'm practicing on a couple of Delicas and while I can get them sharp they are far from razor sharp. I'm pretty sure that's going up for sale here soon.

But bottom line: Get the diamond sticks for your SM!
 
Im still new to sharpening and have a question. When you have a new spyderco with a factory edge thats never been sharpened maybe used very lightly. What stones are best to use to just touch up the edge or if i want to make the factory edge evaen sharper? I have the ones that came with the sharpmaker and then i have the ultra fine stones with the red marking.
 
So I am on the same page as everyone: is it the tri-angle sharpmaker by spyderco? do not know if diff models so want to verify. becuase i was looking at the worksharp ken onion but the tri-angle is $100 less. love to pocket that money if same or better experience with tri-angle sharpmaker
 
KyleMS11 said:
Im still new to sharpening and have a question. When you have a new spyderco with a factory edge thats never been sharpened maybe used very lightly. What stones are best to use to just touch up the edge or if i want to make the factory edge evaen sharper? I have the ones that came with the sharpmaker and then i have the ultra fine stones with the red marking.
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The white set that came as standard with the SharpMaker - yes fan of fanboys, the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker 204MF - will get your new Spyderco knives very very sharp - more than most people can stand. Your arm hairs fall away and bleeding is ever so easy :cool:.
 
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