Sharpmaker: CBN vs Diamond

[Jackson Stevenson]

Hey all, wanted to get your opinions on something.

I should start by saying I'm pretty new to the knife world, less than a year into it, and my use case isn't particularly heavy. Mainly opening boxes and breaking down cardboard.

I have a good few knives now, and none of them are butter knife dull, but I've noticed most are losing their edge from when I first got them. I bought a sharpmaker because I don't really have the coordination or the energy for a whetstone. I have knives in VG-10, D2, S35VN, 20Cv etc.

I noticed that I could get my Dragonfly 2 in VG-10 hair shaving sharp again with very minimal effort on the 15dps setting and with a leather strop, but when I tried sharpening my CIVIVI elementum in S35VN on it, neither the 20dps nor the 15dps settings matched the bevel angle right.

I know that spyderco makes CBN and diamond coarse rods for the sharpmaker to make grinding down those edges easier to match the preset angles, so I guess my question is, which would you recommend? Anyone have experience with these?

Thanks for all your help

 

[c7m2p3]

I dont have experience with those rods exactly but I will say that working on VG10 with standard ceramic and working on that S35VN with ceramic is very different. With the vanadium carbides in S35VN you are really going to have issues working on it with the ceramic in the standard sharpmaker because the vanadium carbides are actually harder in that steel than the ceramic that you are sharpening on. Both CBN and Diamond are going to be hard enough to get the job done. If you dont mind the extra cost than I say go for it.

 

[jpm2]

I have both and can’t tell any significant difference in how they sharpen any type steel.
I’ve heard that cbn isn’t as likely to pull loose from its bond, but never heard any explanations for this.
It might be that cbn is less likely to fracture with a given amount of pressure, but so far I haven’t observed this.

 

[Craig James]

I noticed that I could get my Dragonfly 2 in VG-10 hair shaving sharp again with very minimal effort on the 15dps setting and with a leather strop, but when I tried sharpening my CIVIVI elementum in S35VN on it, neither the 20dps nor the 15dps settings matched the bevel angle right.

This is the issue with the Sharp Maker, unless you hit the apex you are not going to get your knifes sharp.

You have two options really, either reprofile on the sharpmaker which will take time and effort (CBN rods will help here as I believe they are coarser) or utilise a different method to reprofile to the 15 degree setting. You can then touch up on the 20 degree setting.

 

[marchone]

Hey all, wanted to get your opinions on something.

I should start by saying I'm pretty new to the knife world, less than a year into it, and my use case isn't particularly heavy. Mainly opening boxes and breaking down cardboard.

I have a good few knives now, and none of them are butter knife dull, but I've noticed most are losing their edge from when I first got them. I bought a sharpmaker because I don't really have the coordination or the energy for a whetstone. I have knives in VG-10, D2, S35VN, 20Cv etc.

I noticed that I could get my Dragonfly 2 in VG-10 hair shaving sharp again with very minimal effort on the 15dps setting and with a leather strop, but when I tried sharpening my CIVIVI elementum in S35VN on it, neither the 20dps nor the 15dps settings matched the bevel angle right.

I know that spyderco makes CBN and diamond coarse rods for the sharpmaker to make grinding down those edges easier to match the preset angles, so I guess my question is, which would you recommend? Anyone have experience with these?

Thanks for all your help

If there is a practical difference between the CBN and ceramic rods I haven't seen it. The Sharpmaker is my go-to knife sharpener, but as C Craig James said and you know, the bevel angles offered by the SM are limited to 15dps and 20dps. I bought a Wicked Edge WE130 kit just to reprofile edges. Once done, I maintain my edges on the SM and touch up on a ceramic honing rod.

This is the issue with the Sharp Maker, unless you hit the apex you are not going to get your knifes sharp.

You have two options really, either reprofile on the sharpmaker which will take time and effort (CBN rods will help here as I believe they are coarser) or utilise a different method to reprofile to the 15 degree setting. You can then touch up on the 20 degree setting.

 

[maximus83]

Check out the full content of this thread, there's some good info on the same subject.
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/diamond-or-cbn-rods-for-sharpmaker.1528077/

TLDR; version: In addition to getting the CBN or diamond SM rods (I have both and slightly prefer the CBN), for fast grinding/reprofiling, add to your kit a set of the Congress Tools 150-grit silicon carbide Moldmaster stones. I have threads on this here, you can use these to grind and reprofile much faster than the SM cbn/diamond stones. After reprofiling, you go to your diamond or cbn rods to apex, and after that you can optionally go to a diamond/cbn infused strop to refine and finish. After you get the bevel profiled to 15dps and the apex refined, you'll be able to just do future touch-ups on your strop or if necessary, the cbn/diamond SM rods, it'll be easy.

Note: the Moldmasters grind quick, but they also wear and dish quick. So if you go this route, check your Moldmasters for flatness often, and expect to go through them fairly quickly. Flattening isn't worth the effort IMHO, they're not THAT expensive. If you have a lot of knives to profile and like how these work after trying one pair, I'd order a couple more pairs for backup if you plan to stick with Sharpmaker.