Spyderco 701 Profiles> great tool

J

JD Spydo

Joined
Nov 20, 2004
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I have been doing some experimenting with my sharpening equipment. But recently I have been focusing on my set of Spyderco 701 Profiles. I have found them to be great for sharpening unorthadox blades like Hawkbills, very short bladed knives, very unusual shaped blades like Spyderco's Dodo>> they also do a much better job on serrations than does the 204 in my opinion. However it is a lot slower to sharpen them with the 701 Profiles but you can really detail a serration pattern with them. I also have discovered that they make a great sharpening kit to take fishing, hunting, backpacking. They are a little less hassle to set up and travel really well.

My question is>> Have any of you found this great tool to be a hidden sharpening treasure. I am finding more and more uses for it and currently have 2 sets of them and I have already found at least 20 different sharpening chores that are done superbly with the Spyderco 701 Profiles.

I would love to know what you all think of them>> that is those of you who have indeed used them?
 
I own 3 sets. Home, car, and one set I had kept at work.

For freehand, they are great due to they are easy to hold onto.

I also concur on their use with curved blades.
 
You mean to tell me that none of you >> and I mean especially those of you who constantly experiment with all types of sharpening methods and new ways to maintain knives have not discovered the many sharpening uses of the 701 Profiles :confused: . Believe me folks this is a Sharpening Tool Treasure hidden in plain view.

Now guys/gals I just challenge you all to give a set of these stones a try. They are not expensive and they are perfect for backpacking, tackle boxes, machine shop files, gardening tools and a whole myriad of things you can sharpen around the house. This is one superb sharpening tool with multi-faceted capabilities. With the 2 radius angles and the 2 different grooved angles these stones are the ultimate tool for sharpening serrations. This is the most overlooked sharpening tool I have encountered.

I just hope that Spyderco will do one of these 701 Profile stones in Ultra-fine. But if you have them and don't like them then at least tell us why. I'm willing to listen :confused:
 
I just freehand with the stones from my Sharpmaker (or the DoubleStuff).

I have very few serrated knives, so tell me how much of a difference the 701's would make as compared to the Sharpmaker stones used freehand?

I don't think (iirc) that there is that much of a difference in size.
 
Blues said:
I just freehand with the stones from my Sharpmaker (or the DoubleStuff).

I have very few serrated knives, so tell me how much of a difference the 701's would make as compared to the Sharpmaker stones used freehand?

I don't think (iirc) that there is that much of a difference in size.
Click to expand...

First of all on both sides of the 701 Profile stones there are 2 different sized radii. Those 2 sizes will accomodate almost any commercial serrations on the market with the possible exception of the very tiny ones that you see on Cold Steel's serrated knives. The scallops on Spyderco's great serrations fit like a glove>> versus the corners on the stones on the 204 Sharpmaker which just slide across the pattern rather than fit it precisely. Now please don't misunderstand me because I have nothing but respect for the 204 Sharpmaker unit. It does a superb sharpening job on many different knives in particular the plain edged ones.

Also you can do much more of a controlled sharpening with non conventional blades such as the Spyderco DODO. The geometry of the 701 Profiles fit the irregular curves of the Dodo much more precisely than the 204 Sharpmaker stones. I am in no way suggesting that the 701 Profiles should take the place of the 204 Sharpmaker. But I am saying that the 2 Sharpening tools really compliment one another.

When you got a convex radius that perfectly fits a serration scallop then common sense will tell you that you will get a more precise sharpening than you will with the corners of the 204 stones. Now the 204 stones will do the narrow teeth part of the serrations well. What I am saying is this. There are things you can do much better with the 701 stones than you can with the 204 Stones.
 
So, since, as I said, I don't own or use many serrated knives, there's no real advantage over my freehand usage of the Sharpmaker stones or my Spyderco DoubleStuff. (And I have the added convenience of the base when I want to use specific angles.)

That said, I'm sure the 701's are an excellent tool but they offer (in my case) little additional advantage.
 
But again they offer lot of sharpening methods and angles for non conventional blades like Hawkbills, reverse S blades, recurves and even garden tools like small pruners. They may not be for you. They are certainly not for everyone. But that is why I posted it here on Bladeforums because there are a lot of knife users here that use Non-Conventional type knives like the aforementioned.

But then again I am a bit surprised at the little interest I am seeing in this post. This toolshed section here on BF was one of the main reasons I take out a Platinum membership every year or so. I just thought as many different types of blade users we have here on this great Forum that the 701 Profiles would generate more interest. I still think though that very few people even know what they are about :confused:
 
They'd probably be handy for all of the above but I manage to get my hawkbills, recurves, pruners etc. done with the other gear.

However, next time I have a chance I may look at the 701 and see if I'm "moved".
 
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