Sharpening advice for Sebenza w/ Sharpmaker?

S

seventytwo

Joined
Mar 6, 2008
Messages
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Hey all,

I am now a proud owner of a large regular Sebenza and yes I was bitten by the bug and have a small on the way as well. The things we do with too much free time in front of the computer!! Anyway, I bought a Spyderco sharpmaker as advised by the CRK website. I want to be sure I am prepared to do the most efficient sharpening job when the time comes. Do I go for 15 degrees or 20, or both? There seem to be some suggestions out there but I wonder what is considered the golden rule if there is any.

Thanks for the advice!
 
IME, magic marker the edge and start at 20. You may find that factory CRK angle is greater then 20. If it is, then you have a bit of work ahead of you, Or slip some more aggressive abrasive paper on the rod to get them down to 20.
 
While I love the Sharpmaker for a good many tasks, I do not like the Sharpmaker for the Sebenza. I would either return your unused sharpener and exchange it for what I'm about to suggest, or keep it for sharpening just about everything else and purchase what I'm about to suggest in addition to...

I'd get one of the finest-grit Lansky or DMT diamond-coated sharpeners, preferably the one that folds up like a balisong. I believe the finest stone is color-coded green by one of the two companies (maybe both), with a blue, coarser-yet-still-fine grit on the other side.

If you really plan on using your Seb, the more agressive diamond surfaces will more quickly re-profile your edge (if you want to), and resharpen it. I've been doing a fair amount of woodworking with oak and cedar lately, and don't know what I'd do without diamond-coated sharpeners. The Sharpmaker will resharpen and polish your edge simultaneously, which may be fine for you if you don't plan on using the snot out of your knife. My goal is to eventually wear my blade down to a nub.

I like the marking of the edge suggestion above, which would work with just about every sharpening system. Good idea!

Professor.
 
I prefer the Lansky system with their diamond tools.

I have a number of shareners, including the Sharpmaker. They all work, but I find the Lanksy is the easiest to get really good results. It is also much easier to re-profile the edge with the Lansky than the Sharpmaker.

The trick of darkening the edge with a black magic maker makes it much easier to see exactly where the stone is touching the blade. Rub the stone on the blade briefly and see where the black was rubbed off. It can save you a lot of sharpening time.

Good luck,
Rich
 
I use the Sharpmaker and a Gatco, which is similar to the lansky, but with wider stones.
I reprofiled using a diamond stone on the Gatco at the 19 degree setting. I then went through every stone to their finest finishing stone. Wicked sharp!
Touch ups are done on the Sharpmaker's 20 degree setting. This way I get a micro bevel thing going on that works great. Razor blades are made with a similar bevel. It's amazing how long such a wicked edge will last with this steel.
The reprofiling of a small Sebenza with a diamond stone took me about an hour, and I rushed it a little.

Good Luck!
 
I have found that touching up a sebe edge works great on the sharpmaker at 20 degrees. The 15 degree angle is for reprofiling your knife which you shouldn't have to do for a long time. When you do want to reprofile, I would recommend getting to sharpmaker diamond rods.
 
I use a Sharpmaker on my Sebbies. I've found that there are different edge angles on different knives, but none of mine have taken a lot of work so far.

I work on mine until I can sharpen them on the F rods at the 15 dps setting. A couple of them have been pretty good about being sharpened at nearly 15 dps from the factory, but a couple of others have needed some work to get a 15 dps angle on them.

Once that's done and I get a nice shaving edge, I give them 3 or 4 light strokes on the U/F rods at the 20 dps setting to get a microbevel. It seems to help the edge stay sharp a little longer. It also helps eliminate any burr that's formed.
 
If you would consider Free hand shapening - I find that a Medium Grit Carborundum stone is incredible for establishing the initial burr, you can then use one of the Sharpmaker Rods to polish & go from there.

BTW I reprofiled my Sebs to about 17 degrees (not exact I know) but they cut much more efficiently than the original factory grind.

Diamond sharpeners are awesome - but they eventually wear down if you plan on really using them - Have not had that issue with the Carborundum so far anyway & they are much cheaper :D.

Be Well & enjoy your seb!!!
 
I would caution that using stick sharpeners can quickly round the point of your knife, if you aren't careful. The "point" will be sharp but when viewed from the side it will be rounded. It won't have that very nice factory point it came with from CR.

When I use stick sharpeners I don't sharpen all the way to the point.
 
Rich357 said:
I would caution that using stick sharpeners can quickly round the point of your knife, if you aren't careful. The "point" will be sharp but when viewed from the side it will be rounded. It won't have that very nice factory point it came with from CR.

When I use stick sharpeners I don't sharpen all the way to the point.
Click to expand...

Rich is right about being careful with the tip. Round sharpeners like the Smith's and A G Russell sticks can seriously trash a tip if you aren't careful.

When I sharpen with my Sharpmaker, I stop about 1/4" from the tip if I'm using the corners. The only time I go all the way to the tip is when I'm using the flats, and even then, I work slowly so I can lift the blade off the rod before I drag the tip off the edge of the flat.
 
Something else to try--and it has helped me a lot--is switch and go from tip to heel rather than the other way. It takes a little bit of practice, but it saves a lot of tips!
 
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