Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker review

Stayed just above freezing here UNTIL it quit raining, tonight,,, about 25, Heat wave tomorrow mid 50's


B.G.
 
Originally posted by Jeff Clark
No matter what anybody tries to tell you Tom, you are "normal". We are all just a little bit diverse in our approach to our rods. Even strokes that are not fully flat against the rod are still effective and satisfying. Don't worry about being "straight", take pride in your diversity.
Click to expand...

Are you talking about sharpening knives or something else? This is fantastic advice for a lonely guy who may be confused with his sexual identity! :D (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)
 
I started out testing with a couple of Chicago Cutlery commercial knives, a 6" curved boning knife, an a 2 3/4" detail knife. I chose these because I wanted to see if the Sharpmaker could put a usable edge on these problem knives. The boning knife is radically curved, and way too thick to be very good for its intended purpose, and the detail knife suffers from poor heat treat, being far too hard, and yet still unable to keep a decent edge. At the time they were the only dull knives I had( they never get used). As it turned out, the curved knife sharpened quite nicely. I just rotated the knife as I drew it down the stones, so that the edge was presented at the same angle. The coarse stones at 40 degrees cut this steel far more quickly than I expected, and I fairly soon had the relief set. As it turned out, this was the only kitchen knife I own that was more obtuse than the 40 degree stones. The detail knife got sharp eventually, as the edge seemed to chip out a lot at first. Once I had removed a fair amount of steel, the blade started to feel different and became VERY sharp. I guess that the steel at the edge must have gotten overheated during grinding, and once the damaged steel was removed, I got to good steel. I will use this knife from now on. Next up ( after dulling some knives in ways I'd rather not repeat in this august company) I sharpend a Dexter chinese cleaver. This knife has allways taken and held a wicked edge, and did so again with no real effort. A 10" Herders Solingen Chefs knife, which while carbon steel, is much harder ,also came to hair popping sharpness with little work, although I prefer the edge that I get from a Norton fine india stone for this knife. The rest of the kitchen knives I sharpened were, without exeption, very well sharpened. As stated previously, I prefer a more acute edge on my kitchen, and fine use knives, but I'm sure that the slightly more obtuse edges will last longer, and in use, cut almost( but not quite) as well. I will return them to the steeper bevels, but then I'm kind of a fanatic for slicing performance, most people would probably be over-joyed at this level of performance.
On pocket knives is where this sharpener really shines! I just happened to have recieved a brand new Case trapper in chrome-vanadium steel. The factory edge could barely cut. At 60X, the very coarsely ground edge was shown to have a dramatically rolled wire edge om both blades. I cleaned up the clip point at the 30 degree setting using just the coarse stone, except for the very tip, which I like razor sharp. I sharpened the spey blade at 40 degrees with no secondary bevel. after touching up on a loaded strop it will make hair fall off your arm just by looking at it. The clip point now does a very good job on string, cardboard, meat, and just about any all around chore, leaving the spey blade for jobs requiring extreme sharpness. My VG-10 Spyderco Endura got the primary/secondary bevel treatment, and came out very nicely. Five passes with a loaded strop later, it was at an ideal level of sharpness. I pride myself on my ability to hold a bevel free hand, but I have one knife that I have allways had a problem with. It is a Kohorst custom skinner in D2. It cuts like nobodys business, and hold an edge forever, but will NOT shave. I had allways assumed that this was because of the grain size of this tool steel, and had given up trying, especially after convexing the edge. After a few passes on the fine stone at 40 degrees, it shaved hair with no drag whatsoever. This knife forms a wire edge that requires a lot of work( I mean A LOT) to remove, but the sharpmaker showed none, even without stropping. I can't wait to skin this years moose with this edge, as even before it worked better than any other knife I own. In case you haven't caught on yet, I like this sharpener. I'll stick to my Norton Tri-Hone and hard Arkansas stone for really acute edges, but my utility blades will get the Sharpmaker treatment.
It is so easy to use I thought I'd give it the ultimate test...my wife. Unfortunately, I had underestimated the effect of estrogen on tools. Neither my wife, nor my sister-in-law could come close to achieving anything resembling an edge, although my sharpening impaired brother got perfect results. Go figure. All in all, a quality product that does exactly what it claims too, if not a little more. How often do you see that nowadays? 'tho I probably shouldn't be suprised, given that it's a Spyderco.
 
I don't use the flats either; and I tried for a long time. For me, applying light pressure on the corners is equivalent, except for the increased maintenance (cleaning the rods). I guess for guys like you and I round rods would still be ideal, except for serrated edges.
 
Very Nice Review!
I was particularly interested in the sharpening of the D2. Glad to hear it :0

Aaahhh, Herter's Does my heart good to see the name again. I grew up with the catalog and have some fine stuff from them.
Tom
 
I got the 204 today, which I have been looking forward to for many weeks. I have used one once before, but before I owned any 'nice' blades. I generally don't have any trouble sharpening, as I spent many hours learning to sharpen freehand about 25 years ago. These days, almost all my sharpening happens with a 6" crock stick, and a strop loaded with Veritas compound. If I need to do any serious steel removal, I use a diamond stone, Arkansas stones, or sandpaper on a dowel rod for recurves. I can get shaving sharp blades, although I don't generally go that far, as I own a nice razor that I use for shaving hair ;^)

So, with much anticipation, I decided to test the 204 on a Camillus EDC that I just traded for. The EDC had a very obtuse edge angle, and a heavy recurve: perfect for the 204. I followed all the directions, and got nothing near a shaving edge. I tried again: watch the video, go through all the steps, still no shaving edge. Okay, it's the knife I figure. Nope, 30 seconds on the crock stick, several swipes on the strop, and presto! Hair shaving time.

So, I will try again tomorrow, when I have more time to 'learn' the 204. I can certainly see the benefit, for folks that don't feel confident maintaining a consistent angle. For me, the set-up hassle doesn't warrant the results yet.

More later.

Thom
 
Well I've had this back for a week or so and I really missed it for the for months on passaround.
AND
It's going out again on passaround:(
My use of this has been much better after reading the chat in this thread.
I've become quite proficient with using the flats now that I'm de-analized about the blade contacting all the surface of the flats.
I think it was jeff who said..and Sal G agreed ...don't worry about contacting all the surface of the flats.
They're right!!
The important thing is to maintain consistent vertical stroke and you're good to go.

I'm hoping the next three guys in the passaround will post their reviews here :)

Happy stroking......errrrr...you know what I mean!!!

Now to clean off the stones with powdered cleanser before I pass it on.
Tom
 
Try using a pencil eraser instead of water and chemicals to clean the Sharpmaker.

Works great!!!
 
This is in Decypher1's hands now..
Lookin for what he thinks of this :0
Tom:yawn:
 
I was also sharpening challanged before the sharpmaker. After using the SM for a month or two I ended up getting double sticks for every grit, the diamond ones, and another full product for my dad who was also challanged. He now sharpens all his friends knives too. I got doubles cause I can now sharpen twice as many knives before I have to clean anything. I do most reprofiling on a DMT Diamond stone freehand and then set my cutting angle with the SM. Works well.
One thing I don't like is the amount of play I'm getting in the base. The sticks now flop around a bit which is irritating but still usable. I wonder if you can just get a new base? Also, some of the stones (especially noticable with the fine and ultra fine) have a lot of imperfections which ding the blade as you sharpen it. The answer there may be just to rub the two stones together til it's smooth. Not sure.

Also, could someone post a pic of a rounded tip? Everyone talks about them and I think I know what you're talking about but would like a pic so I know for sure. Is it caused by the angle you do the tip at or rounded stones or what?

TIA.
 
I wrote Spydie customer service asking if I could get a base without stones (was looking to buy the diamond and UF stones, wanted a good storage spot for them) and was told "nyet".

The tip rounding comes from dragging the tip of the knife across the stone at the end of the sharpening stroke. I'm told that if you're very very careful you can slow down right at the end of the stroke and not drag the knife across, thus eliminating the problem.
 
I love the Sharpmaker. I bought one about 10 or so years ago, and I use it almost exclusively. I want to get a newer model with diamond rods and the video sounds cool too. When I first started using it, I couldn't figure out why the last bit before the tip would get duller. It's very easy to swipe the blade too quickly and round off the point. Just pay attention and it won't be a problem.
 
I had a turn with the Sharpmaker this week. Enjoyed the video, & went right into the kitchen to try it out.
I've never been good at sharpening with a bench type stone, so I've been at the mercy of the Pro's. I could tolerate a 2 hour drive, but now they want me to leave my knives for a week, then make another 2 hour drive to pick them up. :mad: I was very motivated to try the Sharpmaker.
Our Chef knife mangled a piece of printer paper, so I started with the grey stones. After 20 passes on the tips & flats, it zipped cleanly thru the paper. After 20 passes with the white stones, it shaved the flimsy paper I get at the self service pumps.
I bought my own Sharpmaker that night, & should have it by the weekend. :)
Tried it with our cheap Fiskars scissors, & it worked just as advertised. My new Sebbie got touched up with the white stones too. Finally, I got out my Damascus folder, & touched it up.
Can't say enough good things about the Sharpmaker.
Thanks to Sal & Tom O for this opportunity.
__________________
How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?
--Charles De Gaulle
 
I have been a Sharpmaker user for 10 or so years and have learned to use it well. I am a mechanic and use my knife daily. I touch up my knife , as well as all the boys at work, about every week. I clean my "stones" in an old Nestea jar stuck in an ultra-sonic cleaner with mild soap and water. 20 minutes or so and pull them out and wipe off with Scotchbrite. I do have other flat stones but rarely use them. Maintenance is key!!
 
Nice review, Sigifrith!
Thanks

Severtecher, I couldn't agree more.
MAINTENANCE IS KEY

If you keep your blade touched up it'll need very little attention.
It's when we use it till cutting is dangerous or tedious then you have a problem setting the edge.

Tom
 
Sigifrith had emailed about his enjoyment of the Spydie sharpener and how he sharpened EVERYTHING IN THREE MILES:D
He also did his Sebenza and his
CHUCK HAWES DAMASCUS FOLDER !:eek:
Here it is. I couldn't bring myself to reduce it. it is lovely...
Chuck_Hawes_Damascus_Folder.jpg


and here's clipside
Chuck_Hawes_Damascus_Folder_2.jpg


 
C'mon now
Give us details of this beauty...
Steel
stone
bolster
liner
scales
pins
What's the end cap called??
This is among the coolest I've seen...

Has the 204 scratched the blade at all?

INQUIRING MINDS NEED TO KNOW ALL THIS....
Tom
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top