Spyderco Sharpmaker, 30 or 40 Degree Angles?

Razor

Razor

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Dec 8, 1999
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Should I sharpen the new super steel on a 30 or 40 angle? I have been using 30 degree because I can touch them up at night when need be. I use the diamond rods on the sharpmaker and then strop a few times with a strop with diamond paste on it.
 
Use the lowest angle the steel and your work will support, for best performance and longest edge life. If you start to experience edge failures (chipping, rolling, etc.) raise the angle.
 
^ This is what I do with nearly all my blades.
 
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kreisler said:
always use the factory angle, no?
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. 1st off, factory sharpened knives are very often not consistent from side to side or even along one side. They often seem sharp right out of the box - BUT - I have discovered that some time on the Sharpmaker (or other system) improves them tremendously.

My typical treatment is to color the edge of a knife with a marker. Take a few passes 40° or 30° (depending my intent - though I nearly always end up at 30° for 4" or less blades). Look over my blade under good light with a loupe after a 1/2 dozen passes on both sides. This - the amount and area of the sharpie color having been removed - reveals the "close" sharp condition of by blade relative to the desired angle. From there I can decide if I need a reprofile or just regular passes until I achieve a consistent apex. The diamond rods are great to have on hand for the first phase of a reprofile. I work the edge through all the rods with stropping at the very end. This first set up through 3 rods could take an hour. The regular set is excellent for Sharp Keeping after that - with only a minute or less, required for touch up. You are likely to be amazed at how often a factory edge is lacking. My experience, in any case. Yours could vary.
 
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Been EDC'ing VG-10 for the past 9 years. I sharpen and maintain at 30 degrees but finish with 10 LIGHT strokes on the 40 degree side, alternating left to right.
 
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