Spyderco Sharpmaker: CBN or Diamond? Or what else?

S

Sir Joe

Joined
May 30, 2015
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114
Hi guys.

I am ordering a Sharpmaker and I was thinking I may also need some more aggressive rods from time to time, like when I have to reprofile a knife.
So the question is, diamond or cbn?
Or something completely different, like a file?

Thanks :)
 
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I've had good luck with the diamond rods, but I'm unfamiliar with the others. Overall, you should be very happy with your new Sharpmaker.
 
Hi Chris, thanks, I was searching for that thread, I had lost it in my subscriptions among the many replies to my "which steel" thread.
Mag anyway only shows the Dia, not the CBN.
I had searched a bit in internet and found one thread here not saying much, just that supposedly Spyderco wanted to replace Dia with CBN because CBN should be more wear resistant.
And than on Spyderco forums a similar info, plus a guy called Clyff who did some tests and seemed to notice that with Dia there was more edge retention but with CBN more initial sharpness. Which, correct me if I am wrong, it should only be so if one does not finish the sharpening with another rod. I mean, if after Dia or CBN I use the fine or extra fine rod, there should be no more any difference on the end result, no matter if I started with Dia of with CBN, right???
 
Right, if you completely remove the lower grit results.
Was about to mention Cliff test on Spyderco forum, but you seemed to have found it.

IIRC, Sal mentioned they should work equally well, but can't find the link/thread.
 
Ah, ok, I understand what you mean. Sorry, I am slow today. You mean, if with the higher grit (alluma) I am able to overwrite completely the teeth of the lower grit.
I think I will go with cbn because I already have a few portable diamond sharpeners. So I may see the difference, more or less.
But still, if anybody has got more info on the cbn vs diamond theme, please write it here.
It may always be interesting. And useful to other searchers in the future.
 
I too only have the diamond rods and not the CBN rods but even after years of using them, they still go strong - not sure if that helps you though ;)
 
Yes, you will need the Diamond or CBN rods for dull and damaged edges and for reprofiling.

Both Diamond and CBN are 400 mesh
Medium - 15 microns, 1000 mesh
Fine - 6 microns, 2400 mesh
Ultra - 3 microns, 4800 mesh

IIRC, Sal said the CBN rods should hold up better than the Diamonds due to an improved process that retains the CBN particles better.

Based on that I got the CBN rods. That and curiosity to try CBN. They work very well.
 
As I just wrote on another thread (which I have opened to have different aspects of the theme separated, in order to make searches easier), I am planning to get an extra coarse diamond thing, Lansky maybe if anybody can confirm the quality (I like the fact they make a 120/600 little thin foldable file. The other two option, DMT and Eze-Lap are thicker and one sided).
This way I should be able to thin the angles of the bevel for than going faster with the CBN.
I have read that many people complain a too slow process for reprofiling with dia/cbn on SM.

Thanks for the numbers, much appreciated.

I wrote to Cliff on Spy Forum that I read in the Internet that CBn are not good abrasives for carbides. People who work with grinding wheels use Diamond for carbides and CBN for steel and HSS.
I have this really newbie question: does supersteel, or very hard steel, have lot of hard carbides? Would that make CBN not good at them?

Which steels did you work with the CBN, and how much deep did you have to work them?
 
As a newbie, you're delving into nuances of sharpening beyond your skill level to comprehend.

For 95% of us, there is no real world difference between Diamond and CBN. They work equally well regardless of steel.

If you are doing a major reprofiling, there are better systems than the Sharpmaker. I usually use a DMT Aligner for such work. I did use my SM with CBN to reprofile a Delica ZDP189 that had uneven bevels. Only took about 15 minutes. I could have done it on the DMT faster and saved 5 minutes. *meh* BUT, for something more envolved, I'll use the DMT.
 
I responded in the sticky. Basically, I haven't tried the CBN rods. But I like the diamond rods. I'd say get either one, but I agree with you 100% that you need one or the other if you have a Sharpmaker.
 
TravisH said:
As a newbie, you're delving into nuances of sharpening beyond your skill level to comprehend.
Click to expand...
That's just me. I have given up changing that part of me :)

Magnaminous_G said:
I responded in the sticky. Basically, I haven't tried the CBN rods. But I like the diamond rods. I'd say get either one, but I agree with you 100% that you need one or the other if you have a Sharpmaker.
Click to expand...
I will get the CBN :)
And the Lansky foldable 120/600.
 
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