Spyderco sharp maker

Great for maintaining an already good edge. Not great for sharpening dull neglected blades, reprofiling, and repairing damaged edges. It can be done but it's inefficient unless you have a LOT of free time to kill. Get the diamond rods if you choose that route. I've done it several times and it was a PITA. But then I don't have much patience for that kind of thing. For major work and a superior edge I use KME or Edgepro. I use the Sharpmaker for routine touchups, maintenance.
 
I am considering a Sharpmaker or one of the DMT aligner kits. I am leaning towards DMT, because it will keep the angle constant, and I don't have to rely on just my eye/hand to keep the angle.
 
It's worth it.

Like others said it's best for touch ups.I don't let my knives get as dull as a butter knife.

With the standard rods I have not had any problems keeping S30v,S35vn, 154cm, CTS-204p, and D2 arm hair popping sharp.
 
I use the Sharpmaker most of the time to keep my edges sharp. It is definitely a great value. I've given several of them as gifts that were all well received and appreciated by non-knife people.

If you need to reprofile, diamond rods are recommended by a lot of folks here. I went a different (less expensive) route and got the "ruby" 1/2 inch triangle rods from Congress Tools. I got three different levels of coarse stones from them about 2 years ago and they make reprofiling blades much less time consuming.

Good luck and enjoy.
 
Have used my sharpmaker for years now and it has been great for most steels. Purchased it originally because it was the sharpener recommended by CRK for their knives and the Sebenza was the first knife I had ever purchased. Not sure how it would handle any of the newer super steels but it puts a very sharp edge on my knives without much effort or skill level required. I would definitely recommend it.
 
Mako109 said:
Great for maintaining an already good edge. Not great for sharpening dull neglected blades, reprofiling, and repairing damaged edges. It can be done but it's inefficient unless you have a LOT of free time to kill. Get the diamond rods if you choose that route. I've done it several times and it was a PITA. But then I don't have much patience for that kind of thing. For major work and a superior edge I use KME or Edgepro. I use the Sharpmaker for routine touchups, maintenance.
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Truth!
 
Yes! As others have said it's not really for heavy duty grinding/reprofiling. For maintaining an already-not-incredibly-dull edge it works great and it's easy to use without too much risk of damaging your blade.
 
GenoGT said:
Is this thing worth while if all you want is a confident edge?
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Yes it is. You really need to pick up the Diamond rods to re-profile the edge in a reasonable timeframe. I was shocked at how well the diamond rods worked after using the basic unit for years. I think most knife nuts will pick up two or three sharpening systems before they're through, just because different ones excel at different things.
 
I agree the SM is amazing at microbevels when used in the cradle (that's just from my experience). I also like to use the diamond and ceramic rods free hand to make sure my angles are consistent with the edge grind. Excellent piece of kit for sure.
 
Just watch the 80’s porn/90’s infomercial style video that comes with the kit though. Easy to mess up a knife if you don’t watch the DVD.

Also, use a crappy knife first for practice.

Easy peasy though....
 
I prefer round ceramic rods. I find the rods have a lot of play in the sharpmaker base.
 
Play in the base usually isn't an issue for me, but some knives/blades seem to cause it more than others. When that happens to me, I just wind a bit of plastic wrap around the bottom of the rods before inserting. Seems to help - easy to do and undo.

Mossyhorn said:
I prefer round ceramic rods. I find the rods have a lot of play in the sharpmaker base.
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I have one and use it with steel with low Vanadium % and it does great with those knives.

They do have diamond and cbn rods for those higher Vanadium content knives but only in 400 grit and they are fragile requiring a very light touch.

Another thing I see folks doing is taking other stones and attaching them to the sharp maker or making there own sharp makers. Really neat stuff.
 
Basic kit: Keeping sharp knives sharp
+UF rods: Jaw-dropping sharp/shiny
+Diamond/CBN rods/Congress tools stones (ruby/moldmaster): Reprofiling made easier
rje58 said:
Play in the base usually isn't an issue for me, but some knives/blades seem to cause it more than others. When that happens to me, I just wind a bit of plastic wrap around the bottom of the rods before inserting. Seems to help - easy to do and undo.
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Thanks! I've been searching for a solution for this ever since I got the thing! It hasn't been a problem to where it messes up the edge, but hopefully it will give me an even more consistent one!
EDIT: Mine cost me around 100$ overall for full reprofling + taking it down to 3 micron. If you don't buy the UF rods/one or both of the coarser stones sets, you can get it for around 60-80$
 
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