Sharpener said my Spiderco Delica VG10 is cheap steel & hard to sharpen

James Y said:
OP mentioned in his post that he couldn't get it sharp on his Sharpmaker. Which to me is almost unimaginable, as VG-10 is ridiculously easy to resharpen on a Sharpmaker.

Jim
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I missed the Sharpmaker mention.
Several things dont gel.
If the forum member is indeed a hit and run type (who posts and then never returns to a thread, as others have mentioned), something might be starting to smell a little foul ...
Unless of course its a fake knife.
We will see, if the forum member returns to tell us more or not.
 
VG10 isn't cheap, it's just midrange compared to the high-end modern steels available today in terms of wear resistance. I can touch up my VG10 kitchen knives back to a shiny 6000 grit finish in 5 minutes with a whetstone, and I'm not even good at freehand. That edge will last a couple weeks before really requiring another sharpening.

I think this sharpener you've found isn't very good, or he isn't interested in sharpening anything other than soft steel. Either way, I'd avoid him.
 
knarfeng said:
It isn't cheap, and it takes a VERY fine edge. It is one of the best melt alloys for cutlery steel available. Your sharpening guy is obviously unused to anything beyond standard kitchen knives in 420HC.
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I used to think VG10 was ridiculously hard to sharpen before I really halfway learned how to sharpen a knife blade.
 
VG10 is not my favorite, but will indeed get sharp. Not sure if one would call it cheap. Maybe he has big money (hehe).
 
If your sharpener thinks vg10 is hard to sharpen because it is a cheap Japanese steel, the expensive Japanese steel, zdp189, will drive him crazy.
 
TheEdge01 said:
I used to think VG10 was ridiculously hard to sharpen before I really halfway learned how to sharpen a knife blade.
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Yes. The most common mistake when people start sharpening is that they don't spend enough time on their courser stones and are pushing too hard. Let the stones do the work for you, take your time, and do a good job.
 
James Y said:
OP mentioned in his post that he couldn't get it sharp on his Sharpmaker. Which to me is almost unimaginable, as VG-10 is ridiculously easy to resharpen on a Sharpmaker.

Jim
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Idk, I find it very hard to resharpen almost any steel from true dullness on the sharpmaker using the angled jigs. I have even had very little luck using it to reprofile with the coarse diamond rods.

Especially if the angle on the knife is wider than 40 degrees inclusive.

I essentially consider the sharpmaker to be a microbeveling machine when using the angled jig. I basically never use the preset angles and rather just freehand with the rod in one hand and blade in the other.
 
Lapedog said:
Idk, I find it very hard to resharpen almost any steel from true dullness on the sharpmaker using the angled jigs. I have even had very little luck using it to reprofile with the coarse diamond rods.

Especially if the angle on the knife is wider than 40 degrees inclusive.

I essentially consider the sharpmaker to be a microbeveling machine when using the angled jig. I basically never use the preset angles and rather just freehand with the rod in one hand and blade in the other.
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Yea, the Sharpmaker is really more for maintenance when it comes to harder steels and if you're knife doesn't match the set angle they aren't really doing you any favors.
 
You can use the sharp maker rods flat like a stone too just put it in a towel or something so it doesn't move around. You can also move your wrist and lock it in to get different angles. Or make your own jig to hold them at different angles. If you want to reprofile they do have 400 grit diamond or cbn stones for the sharpmaker too. Pretty versatile system.
 
Secondary bevel angle below 15 or 20 deg pr side, and then microbevel on 15 or 20 = (relatively) short time back from dull to sharp :)
 
Mo2 said:
You can use the sharp maker rods flat like a stone too just put it in a towel or something so it doesn't move around. You can also move your wrist and lock it in to get different angles. Or make your own jig to hold them at different angles. If you want to reprofile they do have 400 grit diamond or cbn stones for the sharpmaker too. Pretty versatile system.
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There are also slots on the bottom of the sharpmaker for laying two rods flat. Or you could even elastic band three rods in a bundle that looks like ^V^ when viewed end on. The middle stone will present its flat upwards.
 
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This thread is funny for a variety of reasons on the top is that it was started by a user who has been here for ~7 years and posted a total of 6 times with 3 being new thread and 3 beings posts only only ever posting in 1 thread twice.
 
PirateSeulb said:
This thread is funny for a variety of reasons on the top is that it was started by a user who has been here for ~7 years and posted a total of 6 times with 3 being new thread and 3 beings posts only only ever posting in 1 thread twice.
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It's hilarious, but I'll bite. It's a bored admin. :D

I own two VG10 knives out of some? what? 70+ knives? I don't like VG10, I prefer better steels for the task at hand. I bought two Boker Kwaiken knives in spite of the fact that they are primarily made in VG-10 b/c I like Kwaikens. VG-10 is not my goto steel, but brands force you in to buying whatever steel they are designed/manufactured in.

KNIFE STEEL INVENTORY
80CrV2, 4 (all Winkler)
154CM, 3 (all Emerson)
1095, 4 (all ESEE and KA-BAR)
420HC, 3 (all Buck and Gerber)
AUS-8, 1 (all 5.11)
BDZ-1, 1 (all Gerber)
CPM-154, 1 (all Spyderco)
D2, 1 (all KA-BAR)
VG10, 2 (all Boker)
O1, 3 (all Randall)
And all the rest are 3V, CPM-20CV, CTS-XHP, M390, M4, S30V, S35VN, S110V, ZDP189.... super steels.


Nonetheless, anybody claiming to make a living as a knife sharpener who cannot sharpen a knife should be looking for other work.
 
calldoug said:
Spiderco Delica VG-10
Question; Is Vg-10 cheap Japanese steel

The knife sharpening guy ( does it every day ) who sharpened knife said its cheap japanese steel and that's the best I can do. ( note others tried to sharpen this knife before)
I got very upset and said this is VG-10 do you even know what that is?
He said I sure do its cheap Japanese steel and hard to sharpen and that's about as sharp as you will get it.
Im starting to think he is right.
I bought this new and paid a lot for it thinking I had some great amazing lifetime knife.
I just bought a knife for ten dollars that is much sharper than this.
I also sharpened it on my expensive Spiderco sharpener and could never get it very sharp.
I have aus 8 cold steel knives and $15 high carbon Opinel steel knives that are MUCH sharper than this, actually some are razor sharp.
I am pretty upset, this knife was like $70 or so.
So please tell me what you think.
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I think you should send it to me. Just cover the shipping and I'll get it sharp.
 
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SpyderPhreak said:
Simple answer. Fake knife or a sharpener that has no clue what he’s doing.

I can put an edge that will shave on cast iron, but it won’t last too long. I wonder if the correct answer is both a fake knife AND a bad sharpener? o_O
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This is what I was thinking. I've seen fake Delicas, but even those wouldn't be hard to get sharp. There are far more real Delicas out there than fakes anyway. In all likelihood it's a real delica and a terrible sharpener.
 
BladeScout said:
I missed the Sharpmaker mention.
Several things dont gel.
If the forum member is indeed a hit and run type (who posts and then never returns to a thread, as others have mentioned), something might be starting to smell a little foul ...
Unless of course its a fake knife.
We will see, if the forum member returns to tell us more or not.
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I am here
I am starting to think maybe it is a fake
This is a sincere post
How do I tell if the spyderco is real??
I will look online for a better knife sharpening guy and go see one
becuase now I am very curious after reading all your posts
 
He is absolutely right about one thing, VG-10 is dirt cheap, in price that is.

Sal and Janich have expressed the choice on VG10 was selected over other steel because it's "dirt cheap" in past threads on spyderco forum. You can go search and verify this, it's there and I quote the dirt cheap part because that's exactly what they said.

Just because spyderco charges a super premium for the finished product made from vg10 doesn't mean it's an expensive steel by any stretch of the imagination.

The steel itself is semi decent, better than AUS-8 less so than 154cm, so it's still on the lower end of the steel spectrum.
 
Ganzofan said:
He is absolutely right about one thing, VG-10 is dirt cheap, in price that is.

Sal and Janich have expressed the choice on VG10 was selected over other steel because it's "dirt cheap" in past threads on spyderco forum. You can go search and verify this, it's there and I quote the dirt cheap part because that's exactly what they said.

Just because spyderco charges a super premium for the finished product made from vg10 doesn't mean it's an expensive steel by any stretch of the imagination.

The steel itself is semi decent, better than AUS-8 less so than 154cm, so it's still on the lower end of the steel spectrum.
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Regarding the bolded, source, please? I just did an advanced search on the Spyderco forum for posts by Sal that include the phrase "dirt cheap" and got 0 hits. A search for "vg-10" by Sal got 46 hits, none of which include the phrase "dirt cheap". The only hit for a post by Michael Janich that includes the words "dirt" and "cheap" is in reference to types of pants that aren't cheap but don't show dirt. If what you say is true, I'd like to read the full context; not just your interpretation. Thanks.
 
At a supply shop in Japan (something like 4x35x250 mm)
VG-10: Y3,500
ZDP-189: Y6400
ATS-34: Y4,000
D2: Y2,400
440C: Y2,700

It is cheaper than ZDP-189 for sure, but not the cheapest in common knife steels here.
G.Sakai may have a really good deal on VG-10 from the manufacturer, though.
 
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