Sharpmaker—which stones?

B

BlueBonnet

Joined
Apr 19, 2018
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The Spyderco Sharpmaker sounds like a good tool.
My question is, besides the three sets of rods/stones that it comes with, which others should I buy? I see that they make one set of diamond that is classified as medium. I’m assuming that I will need that, but for which steels? In the house currently we have Aus-8, H1, SV30, SV110, 154cm, D2...likely picking up an S90 as well.
Also, if the diamond comes in medium only, will the fine (ceramic) work on the harder steels, or will I be stuck with a medium edge? Thanks-
 
I'd suggest you add something much more aggressive, otherwise knives more wear resistant steels will be a bear to do any major work on with the medium rods.

I like the Ruby 320 grit triangular 1/2" stones from congress tools, they're cheap and work great for me in the Sharpmaker and they're only ~$7 each.
 
Blue -

I would suggest that you don't spend a nickel on more sharpening rods until you try out the rods the Sharpmaker comes with. You may never need anything more. What you are looking for is a good long-lasting cutting edge. This is not rocket science or diamond polishing. If you are into polishing, custom knives that shine, etc. there are more expensive sharpeners that do this better than a Sharpmaker. But for the average knife user who just wants a good working edge on his work-a-day EDC the Sharpmaker will come with the proper rods.

Here is one of my favorable video series about the Sharpmaker and how sharpening tools evolved by Sal Glesser, Spyderco & Sharpmaker founder which you might enjoy. It hits the basics of knife sharpening.

 
Your s110v and s90v will require very light touch on the diamond or cbn stones for the sharpmaker and I'd get another finer grit diamond bench stone to refine that edge. The ceramic is not going to cut it for the high percentage of Vanadium in that steel.
 
I thought the sharpmaker only comes with two sets. When I got mine, I also got both the diamond stones and the ultra fine rods, hoping to only use the sharpmaker for all my sharpening needs.

It was not long before I abandoned the idea of using the sharpmaker for anything but touch ups. Even with diamonds, it’s not great for reprofiling or fixing really dull edges on many steels. I still use the ultra fine rods when using the sharpmaker for touch ups.

But for the coarser work, I ended up using diamond benchstones or water stones (depending on steel), and learning to freehand (on crappy kitchen knives first). I know a lot of others get different guided systems for reprofiling too. But few use the sharpmaker for it.

So I’d suggest to try the ultra fine rods but pass on the diamond rods, and think about diamond benchstones.
 
I added both the Diamond and Ultra-Fine rods to my original SharpMaker purchase. The SM is an excellent tool that one can use for most sharpening needs within certain limitations, the main being that the tool is limited to either 15 or 20 DPS. If one's knife has an existing edge angle much different than either of those, use of the SM will require significant re-profiling. That can be done with the diamond hones, but on harder steels that will require a pretty fair number of reps. Of course, one starts with the diamonds and works up through the browns, fines, and ultra-fines to finish the edge.

I have an EdgePro I bought after using my SharpMaker alone for a number of years. While it is a vastly superior sharpener, it also involves a fairly involved amount of setup, space, clean-up, and the use of water. The SM is easy and quick to use.

Most of my knives are sharpened at either 20 DPS or 15 DPS with a 20 DPS micro bevel on the latter. If I'm re-profiling to a 15 DPS secondary bevel, I'll generally do that on the EP and add the micro on the SM so I can easily touch it up later.

To answer the OP's question, I would add both the diamond and ultra-fine hones to my SharpMaker kit, use that for some time to get my technique down, and then consider a more advanced and expensive system to add to my sharpening equipment. I still use my SharpMake extensively despite having a "better" system and probably get it out more often than my EdgePro.

Word to the wise: if you do pick up the diamond hones, take care not to bear down hard on them. They'll cut fine with light pressure and increasing pressure will only serve to dislodge the diamonds from the rods.
 
Regarding S110V, for my purposes I’ve been able to keep my PM2 pretty dang sharp (for my needs), albeit toothy, with the standard rods. Admittedly, this is after some adjusting of the factory edge by another method, so YMMV. I am curious to see what I could do with some diamond refinement though.

Mo2 is one step ahead of me in that regard.
 
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I've been known to hold a diamond plate up against the sharpmaker rods to help ensure I am getting the angle I want, but that is a pain in the backside.

Instead, +1 for this:

evilgreg said:
I like the Ruby 320 grit triangular 1/2" stones from congress tools, they're cheap and work great for me in the Sharpmaker and they're only ~$7 each.
Click to expand...

I got the 120 and 320 grits from them, and have reprofiled knives with them. They work, they fit the Sharpmaker, and they are inexpensive.

You may also want to look at the Maintenance, Tinkering & Embellishment forum for input as well.

Enjoy
 
The sharpmaker is a great little system. If you want my advice just get the diamond rods in addition to the standard med and fine. You will be glad you did when it comes time to reprofile.
 
Sharpmaker just as is, is great for touch ups and sharpening. If you plan to re-profile the diamonds will be a good purchase. If you let your knives get real dull they also are going to help, but if you keep on the maintenance it can serve you well as is. I would buy the kit and add other rods if you feel you need them and after you see how you like the system.
That's my opinion
 
Puleio said:
I've been known to hold a diamond plate up against the sharpmaker rods to help ensure I am getting the angle I want, but that is a pain in the backside.
Click to expand...

This is similar to the method I use to strop when finishing up after using the SharpMaker. I just hold the block against the rods and draw the blade up. 5 each side, then 4, then 3, and so on....
 
^^ -what he said
With the Sharpmaker, you can attach 1 1/8 x 6 stones with binder clips for reprofiling. I have 120, 240 and 400 stones.
Here's a pic at the bottom of the linked post.
Those, and the Ultra - Fine Ceramic plus a good strop will fill the bill for just about anything you might want to do, except mirror polish, and with a couple of strops, you can get there, too
 
ChazzyP ChazzyP in #11 above -- I do that with a strop too, but am getting more confident with freehanding /eyeballing it. :)

OLd_gUY OLd_gUY in #13 ablove -- I like that trick with the binders clips. I should have thought of that, but I'd need smaller diamond plates than what I currently own. ;)

Enjoy.
 
OLd_gUY said:
^^ -what he said
With the Sharpmaker, you can attach 1 1/8 x 6 stones with binder clips for reprofiling. I have 120, 240 and 400 stones.
Here's a pic at the bottom of the linked post.
Those, and the Ultra - Fine Ceramic plus a good strop will fill the bill for just about anything you might want to do, except mirror polish, and with a couple of strops, you can get there, too
Click to expand...

You can do something similar by attaching a course metal file to the stones. A course file will quickly reprofile most steels, the problem being getting the right angles. You can also modify the angles of the Sharpmaker by putting a wooden shim under one of the bottom edge of the Sharpmaker which will raise the unit up and decrease the sharpening angles. Turning the Sharpmaker 180 degrees after working on one side of the edge will let you sharpen the other size. This is very simple and you can buy a bag of triangular shaped wooden shims at any large hardware store for a couple of bucks. You can reduce the sharpening angles to whatever you want although the 30 and 40 degree settings on the Sharpmaker handle most knife sharpening.
 
evilgreg said:
I'd suggest you add something much more aggressive, otherwise knives more wear resistant steels will be a bear to do any major work on with the medium rods.

I like the Ruby 320 grit triangular 1/2" stones from congress tools, they're cheap and work great for me in the Sharpmaker and they're only ~$7 each.
Click to expand...

What type of steels are you using on those Congress Rods? According to their Website the Rods are made out of Aluminum Oxide which would not be tough enough to abrade the Vanadium in the s110v? I am referring to the Ruby Reds, though the Moldmaster may be your ticket?
 
Rhodies said:
What type of steels are you using on those Congress Rods? According to their Website the Rods are made out of Aluminum Oxide which would not be tough enough to abrade the Vanadium in the s110v? I am referring to the Ruby Reds, though the Moldmaster may be your ticket?
Click to expand...

Apparently someone forgot to tell the Ruby stones about this limitation, because I've used them to sharpen everything under the sun without issues (e.g. S90V, S110V, ZDP-189, M390, CPM-M4, etc.)--they only thing they couldn't handle was the mystical rostfrei steel used in a rare sprint run jarbenza I found.

I've had the same set for years and have used the hell out of them and they're still happily abrading whatever steel I throw at them, including high wear resistance "super" steels of various varieties.
 
evilgreg said:
Apparently someone forgot to tell the Ruby stones about this limitation, because I've used them to sharpen everything under the sun without issues (e.g. S90V, S110V, ZDP-189, M390, CPM-M4, etc.)--they only thing they couldn't handle was the mystical rostfrei steel used in a rare sprint run jarbenza I found.

I've had the same set for years and have used the hell out of them and they're still happily abrading whatever steel I throw at them, including high wear resistance "super" steels of various varieties.
Click to expand...

Well, if it works for you and i do have 3 blade steels(s110v, M390 and the CPM-M4) out of the steels you listed, I reckon I ought to give it a try. You have had the same set for years? They must hold up really good then!
 
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