sharpmaker question

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savanna

Joined
Mar 5, 2007
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I have owned a spyderco sharpmaker for several years,and have never had a problem getting a knife shaving sharp. I've probably never had a truly sharp knife,but if it will shave hair on my arm I guess thats as sharp as I need it. I was talking to a guy at work couple of weeks ago about his lansky sharpener. He uses a 15 degree angle and it gets his knives very sharp. I don't know how to rate sharpness but seemed to be quite a bit sharper than mine. O.K. I'm getting to my question now. The sharpmaker has a 40degree edge and a 30 degree back bevel option. I have always used 40 degrees as I thought the 30 degree was to reprofile the edge. I started using the 30 degree back bevel to sharpen my knifes and it has taken more steel from the edge of the knives,and seems to be a much sharper blade. I also use a leather strop after shapening. Will the 30 degree back bevel option have any adverse effects on my blades if I continue to use it? I'm sure that option would not be there if it would ruin a blade ,but just wanted another opinion,as I don't really know what angle to use for my edc knife. Its not used very hard. Usually cutting up boxes etc. Thanks,Eric
 
I've had excellent results using the 30 degree then switching to 40 and putting on a micro bevel. For the 30 degree I use the medium and fine stones, for the 40 I use fine and extra fine.
 
Colorado Fatboy said:
I've had excellent results using the 30 degree then switching to 40 and putting on a micro bevel. For the 30 degree I use the medium and fine stones, for the 40 I use fine and extra fine.
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Thanks for the response. Never tried that,but I'll give it a shot. I don't have the xtra fine rods so I'll have to make do with the fine rods. Thanks again!!
 
Depends on the usage and the steel. I've sharpened VG10, AUS8, 440C, and 154CM at 15° per side and they work fine for slicing. 15° per side does feel noticeably sharper. And for me there is a noticeable improvement in cardboard cutting.

But I find that for my daily use, because I often find myself cutting or trimming thick plastic, I prefer 20° per side.
 
One more question along this same line; What is the best angle to sharpen a Case stockman.I normally use the 40 degree angle. Seems I have trouble getting these knives sharp with the sharpmaker. This is with CV and stainless.Think the 30 degree angle would work better? I have no specialized cutting tasks that I perform with these. Just everyday around the house or job use.
 
The SM is a great kit, I like most pocket knives at the 30 degree. What stinks is trying to thin edges down on the SM. If you want diamonds for this, there are better to be had than the tri-angle extras.
 
Have you washed the SM rods? I noticed that they will not sharpen if they're dirty.
 
s.m. are excellent products but as knives really start to need a reprofiling, i find the series of d.m.t. diamonds to speed the process. after initial expense you are set for many years.
 
IMO the optimum edge angle for a pocket knife is the one best suited to the majority of tasks which you personally encounter in daily use. Some of us have tried to address this by selecting a specific knife in anticipation of what type of tasks we will encounter on a certain day. Almost invariably, when I expect to be cutting a lot of cardboard something will arise requiring a lot of slicing. Anticipate a need for a razor like edge and I'll encounter something better suited to a wider edge geometry. A Stockman type knife evolved to address the needs of stockman. Different blades for different tasks. Multiple blades for multiple needs. You may wish to take advantage of this and sharpen one blade to 30 degrees, one blade to 40 degrees and one to 30 with a 40 degree micro bevel. Colorado Fatboy's suggestion of 40 with a 30 degree back bevel has worked well for many of us. See which one works best for you. OldDude1
 
Something else to consider that I haven't seen mentioned is that higher end steels will take a thinner edge than cheaper steels will. That being said, 30 deg inclusive isn't all that acute. There are guys on here running around with 10 deg inclusive blades. That is extreme but 20 degree edge with a back bevel is used quite a bit on heavier use knives.

So what I'm getting at is that I don't think you will hurt your knife by using the 30 degree setting. Most likely you are just knocking the shoulder of the edge bevel off. The thinner grind will seem sharper because it will slide through materials easier. But if you aren't getting down to the edge then the 30 degree isn't going to make your knife sharper and you will need to finish on the 40. The sharpie trick helps you know where you are removing metal at. If you are getting all the way to the edge then it came with 30 deg or less from the factory and you might as well keep with it.
 
My experience is that 30º works well for thinly ground or very-shallow hollow ground blades. For flat ground blades, that angle takes forever because it has to remove a lot more metal. That's when the 30º back bevel + a 40º micro bevel work best for me. Plus, you need to take the blade material into account. I wouldn't take 420HC down to 30º because I'd have to sharpen it daily. S30V, BG42, VG10, ZDP189 - those can go to 30º and below and keep the edge for quite awhile.
 
DallasSTB said:
My experience is that 30º works well for thinly ground or very-shallow hollow ground blades. For flat ground blades, that angle takes forever because it has to remove a lot more metal. That's when the 30º back bevel + a 40º micro bevel work best for me. Plus, you need to take the blade material into account. I wouldn't take 420HC down to 30º because I'd have to sharpen it daily. S30V, BG42, VG10, ZDP189 - those can go to 30º and below and keep the edge for quite awhile.
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Thanks Dallas,any idea what category Cases stainless steel would be in?
 
savanna said:
One more question along this same line; What is the best angle to sharpen a Case stockman.I normally use the 40 degree angle. Seems I have trouble getting these knives sharp with the sharpmaker. This is with CV and stainless.Think the 30 degree angle would work better? I have no specialized cutting tasks that I perform with these. Just everyday around the house or job use.
Click to expand...

I can't speak for the Case stockman, but on my Case soddie jr (cv) I use the 30 degree angle to thin the edge, then finish up with a few strokes at 40 degrees to put on the micro bevel. I can get that CV steel wicked sharp in no time.
 
savanna said:
Thanks Dallas,any idea what category Cases stainless steel would be in?
Click to expand...

Sorry, but I missed this thread when it dropped off page 1. Case's SS and CV alloys run softer than most - in the mid-50's. They take a nice edge but don't keep it very long. I have a small mini-copperhead in SS that I keep at 40º and it holds up reasonably well. The big plus with these two Case steels is that you can sharpen them up very quickly.
 
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