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Out of box what stones? 40 degrees? I have the diamonds and the ultra fines as well. Would I just sharpen on the ultras?
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Sharpening new zdp delica with sharpmaker
- Thread starter american21
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On the sharp maker it's 30 or 40 only combined the fine stones are. 1200 I think and the ultra fine 2000 grit
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Ah I see. 30 sounds good IMO.
however it all depends on your use i suppose. 40 is more utility minded and 30 is a better slicer? Edc blade?
I set bevels at 20 30 40 etc depending on use, my folders tend to get very sharp angles while hard use knives get a more blunt 40'ish angle.
however it all depends on your use i suppose. 40 is more utility minded and 30 is a better slicer? Edc blade?
I set bevels at 20 30 40 etc depending on use, my folders tend to get very sharp angles while hard use knives get a more blunt 40'ish angle.
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On the SM, you can adjust the angles by altering how you hold the blade, you can also use the SM stones flat.
The best move would be to use a sharpie to determine the exact angle your knife is at (spyderco's are sharpened by hand, to ~20dps) and just keep it at that angle. Are you good enough to actually make it sharper than factory or is this for when it needs touched up? I'd stick with the factory profile for now, in the future when you get better you can determine the angle you prefer and reprofile as desired.
The best move would be to use a sharpie to determine the exact angle your knife is at (spyderco's are sharpened by hand, to ~20dps) and just keep it at that angle. Are you good enough to actually make it sharper than factory or is this for when it needs touched up? I'd stick with the factory profile for now, in the future when you get better you can determine the angle you prefer and reprofile as desired.
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You are right mike
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Anyone which rods?
It's gonna take you a month of Sundays to reprofile ZDP on the SharpMaker...even the diamond rods. I would use the Sharpie trick to find out if the edge is currently indexed already at 30 or 40. If its more than 30 but less than 40, you could just start with 40 and get a good micro-bevel going pretty quickly with the diamonds. A 40 degree micro-bevel will perform very well if the shoulder is not too thick on the bevel.
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If out of box and I use it a few times and stay on top of it do I need to re profile with diamonds or can I just touch up with ultra fines?
I think you should be able to touch up with the fines or the ultra fines.
On the sharpmaker dvd Sal says that Spyderco's are closer to 30 degress inclusive when new, but to resharpen at 40 degrees.
To get a more specific answer, you could try asking in the Spyderco sub forum. Sal is a MOD there and is pretty active in the forum.
You can't beat asking the guy who designed the knife and the sharpener.
On the sharpmaker dvd Sal says that Spyderco's are closer to 30 degress inclusive when new, but to resharpen at 40 degrees.
To get a more specific answer, you could try asking in the Spyderco sub forum. Sal is a MOD there and is pretty active in the forum.
You can't beat asking the guy who designed the knife and the sharpener.
You may not need to reprofile. The sharpie trick will tell you that. I would perform your initial testing of the angles with the brown stones. Lay on a nice layer of ink with your felt pen. Start with the 30 degree setting. You needn't do more than 10 passes on each side I think. Take a magnifying glass and see where the ink has been scratched or removed. If it has been removed from the edge, on both sides, you will have hit the jackpot! You have a factory bevel a little bit less than 30 so you can just touch up with 30 to your hearts content...brown or white depending on how dull. Many touch ups will require both, many will not.
If the ink on the edge is intact but you see it's been scratched off of the shoulder of the factory bevel, apply fresh ink.
Now set up the brown stones at 40 degrees. Repeat the 10 passes per side. Examine. If you get nice even removal of ink from the edge, they you have a bevel a little bit less than 40 and you've hit the second place jackpot...you can use the 40 to touch up in the same manner. If you still see the shoulder being scratched, or you see uneven scratching from one side or another, you need to consider a reprofile.
Here is my prediction based on MANY Spydercos. You will have a different scratch pattern on the two sides. The 30 will be on the shoulders. The 40 will be flat with the bevel on one side and riding the shoulder on the other. All but one of my Spydercos came out that way. The one that didn't, indexed out of the box on the 40 meaning the factory bevel was even and a bit less than 40. So I micro'd a 40 and am good to go. All others I have reprofiled. In fact, this is what I find on Benchmade, ESEE, Becker. Very common.
My practice is to find out what I've got, and then I reprofile to 27.5 degrees. I then choose either a 30 or 40 micro-bevel for the different uses. Hard use type of knives get a 40, the rest get a 30.
If the ink on the edge is intact but you see it's been scratched off of the shoulder of the factory bevel, apply fresh ink.
Now set up the brown stones at 40 degrees. Repeat the 10 passes per side. Examine. If you get nice even removal of ink from the edge, they you have a bevel a little bit less than 40 and you've hit the second place jackpot...you can use the 40 to touch up in the same manner. If you still see the shoulder being scratched, or you see uneven scratching from one side or another, you need to consider a reprofile.
Here is my prediction based on MANY Spydercos. You will have a different scratch pattern on the two sides. The 30 will be on the shoulders. The 40 will be flat with the bevel on one side and riding the shoulder on the other. All but one of my Spydercos came out that way. The one that didn't, indexed out of the box on the 40 meaning the factory bevel was even and a bit less than 40. So I micro'd a 40 and am good to go. All others I have reprofiled. In fact, this is what I find on Benchmade, ESEE, Becker. Very common.
My practice is to find out what I've got, and then I reprofile to 27.5 degrees. I then choose either a 30 or 40 micro-bevel for the different uses. Hard use type of knives get a 40, the rest get a 30.
One would think that if you get a new Spyderco and say for some reason it isnt the sharpest so you wanna touch it up, you should be able to just use the 40 degree setting and fine stones. That should be enough. You shouldnt have to worry about reprofiling it to fit the Sharpmaker's angle. 
I might just use the Ultra's if it came pretty sharp and I want to just get it to the next level of sharpness.
I might just use the Ultra's if it came pretty sharp and I want to just get it to the next level of sharpness.
I am a BIG spyderco, and for that matter Sal Glesser fan. However, I have absolutely not found that statement to be true. All but one of many Spydercos have come either 40 and uneven from side to side or even but greater than 40. I have had one that was less than 40 out of the box.
Everything else on the DVD of Sal demonstrating the use of the SharpMaker was dead on. The only thing that I did not agree with was his remark that Spydercos come 30 from the factory. I am sure that's maybe a policy or something but at the pricepoint of Spyderco, they are doing that bevel by hand and doing it pretty quickly so I think if it's sharp, they ship. I have only had one dull Spyderco out of the box and since it was, remarkabley, ABSOLUTELY PERFECT in every other way, I just sharpened it and life is good!
One would think that if you get a new Spyderco and say for some reason it isnt the sharpest so you wanna touch it up, you should be able to just use the 40 degree setting and fine stones. That should be enough. You shouldnt have to worry about reprofiling it to fit the Sharpmaker's angle.
I might just use the Ultra's if it came pretty sharp and I want to just get it to the next level of sharpness.
This is not true unless the thing comes with a nice predicatable angle...less than 30 and even or less than 40 and even...or absolutely spot on at either. It may come sharp and you can do whatever you'd like. However, the key to successful use of the SharpMaker is to have that bevel indexed for 30 or 40 degrees and you frequently have to repofile a factory edge to do that. Once you have it indexed to one or the other or both (by freehanding it to 27.5 or so) your life with the SharpMaker gets real easy and simple.