Sharpening a plain edged Spyderhawk with a Sharpmake

G

Gypsy

Joined
Aug 9, 2000
Messages
43
I'm not new to the sharpmaker but I am really having trouble sharpening a plain edged Spyderhawk. It was factory sharpened with an edge greater than the sharpmaker's. The sharpmaker instructions say to use the edge of a white stone for hawkbill style blades. I did this but very litte metal was being removed so I swiched to the edges of a brown stone. I use a magic marker on the edge so I know where I'm at and I clean the stones frequently. I have been at it now for 2 evenings and still can't get the edges to meet.

This is mt first experiance with VG-10. Is VG-10 harder to sharpen than other steels? Is it intended for factory sharpened serrated knives rather than plain edged? Will the edges meet if I just keep at it? Please give me some advice, especially if you have the same knife and sharpener. I hope the only answer isn't 'get the Spyderco diamond stones'. But if that's what it takes I wish I would not have gone with plain edged.

Thanks a heap to all that respond!
 
Don't have a Spyderhawk, but I have a Delica in VG-10. It will sharpen on the Sharpmaker, but be prepared for the first sharpening to take nearly forever. Also, start on the brown hones and give up hopes of being done after just 40 alternating passes. With a hawkbill blade, this may be more tiring, but it can be accomplished.

Still taking too long? Don't buy the diamond sleeves just yet (save your money for more Spyderco knives). Get sandpaper and glue or rubber-cement it to the brown hones so that it's tight against at least one corner.
 
I've wondered about the Sharpmaker a number of times (by the way, I've never seen one in person, nor have I seen the video). Here's
why:

My first Spyderco purchase was a VG-10 FRN Delica, and at the same time, I bought a Gatco sharpening system. After buying the Razor's Edge video, and basically employing their technique, I was able (basically the first time) to get the VG-10 Delica shaving sharp, in about 5 minutes. I didn't count the number of passes, etc. but it was fast enough for me.

The other factor, it would seem to me, is the width of the hones. The Gatco rig has hones are are probably 1" wide, which appears to be considerably wider than the hones with the Sharpmaker. Granted, I doubt I could successfully sharpen a serrated edge with the Gatco rig, but I don't have many (1?) SE knives anyway.

So, the reason I've never bought a Sharpmaker is because it seems (?) like it would take a long time to get results, compared to my current rig and technique. Any opinions?
 
Plenty, thanks. The ones about the Sharpmaker, though, are that it's easy to set up, easy to learn, easy to put away, and will subject your blades to lower amounts of unnecessary scratches than other systems (freehand, Gatco, EdgePro...). Also, it's friendly to all sorts of curved or curvy blades (such as bill-hooked Spyderhawks, recurved BM710's and Emerson Commanders), and is serration friendly.

You can use a Sharpmaker on all sorts of cutting tools whereas most guided sharpeners are specific to a category of cutting tools. After watching the Sharpmaker video, the first thing I sharpened was a potato peeler. I don't know how long it took before I tried it with a knife.

Not for everyone, but it is for me.
 
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