Sharpmaker question...

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Feb 7, 2017
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I have found that for certain knives, my Zancudo D2 and my 3 Rivers Nomad CPM 154, I get better and sharper results with the fine rods than with the ultra fine rods.

Is this because of the steel type or the blade geometry or am I doing something wrong?

Thank you.
 
I am aware of the grey rods (coarse?), + white rods (fine?) that are provided with the basic unit AND also aware of the existence of the diamon coated rods (which I don't own) which are supposed to be much coarser.

Are there any other rods out there?

Anyway, I mostly use the grey rods, they leave a toothier edge that works great for my uses. White rods, not so mucho.

Mikel
 
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They also offer Cubic Boron Nitride rods (between Diamond and “Coarse”) and Extra Fine ceramic bringing the total to 5 offerings.
 
some steels perform better with a toothy edge vs more refined edges. I normally only use the gray rods and give a few passes on a leather strop for minor cleanup.
 
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You're not the first person I've heard this testimony from. I've even had a couple of guys tell me that they get their main EDC super sharp on one of Spyderco's medium/gray stones. Hey if it works for you and you yourself like the results I wouldn't care how anyone else sharpens their knife. I use Spyderco's Ultra-Fine stones on my 204 Sharpmaker to fine hone and sort of polish an already super sharp edge and I've had some great results doing that.

With all the different blade steels that Spyderco has blessed us with there probably isn't just one specific method for each and every blade steel. But please do keep us posted because I personally read all the sharpening threads and seem like I learn a new trick on every thread. Good Luck
 
T
They also offer Cubic Boron Nitride rods (between Diamond and “Coarse”) and Extra Fine ceramic bringing the total to 5 offerings.

The cbn rods are actually the same grade as the diamonds, per Sal. So 5 offerings, but you have 2 choices for the coarse stones.

I wish they'd put out an even coarser stone, but I just use my lansky to reprofile. The extra coarse and coarse diamond hones make pretty quick work of most steels. Reprofiling a ZT 0095bw right now to about 16 degrees per side, and its going quickly. Would take me quite a while on the sharpmaker.
 
I have found that for certain knives, my Zancudo D2 and my 3 Rivers Nomad CPM 154, I get better and sharper results with the fine rods than with the ultra fine rods.

Is this because of the steel type or the blade geometry or am I doing something wrong?

Thank you.

If you’re getting the results you want, you’re not doing anything wrong. Do it your way and be happy.
 
T


The cbn rods are actually the same grade as the diamonds, per Sal. So 5 offerings, but you have 2 choices for the coarse stones.

I wish they'd put out an even coarser stone, but I just use my lansky to reprofile. The extra coarse and coarse diamond hones make pretty quick work of most steels. Reprofiling a ZT 0095bw right now to about 16 degrees per side, and its going quickly. Would take me quite a while on the sharpmaker.
I don’t use either the Diamond or CBN Sharpmaker rods very much because my home made jig handles larger coarse stones. 278E62D8-158B-4567-AD33-F705DD170E25.jpeg
 
It's probably just easier to maintain the edge with the coarser rods.
Over the years I've talked to a lot of guys who tell me that they don't use anything except the Gray/Medium stones on their 204 Sharpmaker kit. I find myself using the Gray/Medium Spyderco 302 Benchstone a lot during the week. That particular grit selection seems to "de-burr" really well for some reason.

Really by comparison the Gray/Medium Spyderco ceramic stones aren't all that much more coarse than you would think they are. When sharpening scissors on the 204 Sharpmaker kit I usually don't use anything except that Gray Medium stone for that job either and I usually get excellent results too.
 
I get better results with stropping than the x fine rods on some knives, fine rods work, I just strop and it works better than both
 
Once you have a very good edge with the medium and fine rods, and the knife cuts like a dream, give it a touch on the ultra-fine rods. They remove so very little steel it is almost like stropping, giving you an almost polished type of edge. But they are the tip of the iceberg and not needed for most EDC knives like my GB #1.
 
Also as far as the Ultra-Fine stones go I've found that not every blade steel out there do well with the Ultra-Fine stones. Some steels seem to do better with more a toothy edge. Whereas there are a few that do good with a well polished edge. But I wouldn't be without any of my Spyderco Ultra-Fine stones and I have found multiple uses for them. They make an excellent de-burring tool IMO. They can also work similar to a smooth sharpening steel too>> like the ones the butchers/meat cutters use.
 
The Ultra-Fine stones are good for polishing Bronze pivot washers on the side that touches the blade.
 
some steels perform better with a toothy edge vs more refined edges. I normally only use the gray rods and give a few passes on a leather strop for minor cleanup.


I have found this to be true as well., Different steels like the flavor of and eat different grits. One of the beauties of the knife industry; Much is not known and much is too be learned.

sal
 
Also as far as the Ultra-Fine stones go I've found that not every blade steel out there do well with the Ultra-Fine stones. Some steels seem to do better with more a toothy edge. Whereas there are a few that do good with a well polished edge.

I agree 100% with your 1st sentence regardless, and the rest I quoted if you're only refering to Spyderco ceramic stones.
 
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