Spyderco Sharpmaker de-dulls a couple of kitchen knives

Stu Gatz

Stu Gatz

Joined
Apr 20, 2003
Messages
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JHillas passed this Spyderco Sharpmaker to GEAR CHALLENGE for a little try-out. :cool: The boring count is only to indicate that we performed the recommended 40 strokes per section of rod material.

Edited to add that I have only previously used smaller stone and ceramic rods for sharpening knives. I am NOT a proficient sharpener at all. That said, this device is almost foolproof in my opinion and I plan to buy one or more.

[video=youtube;bD4fEstfX5Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD4fEstfX5Y[/video]
 
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I am also challenged in the sharpener department and the sharpmaker has given me years of sharp kitchen knives.

It works great especially if you don't let your knives get too dull in the first place as it takes a while to do any kind of reprofiling.

I don't think it is designed for big blades or something you need to put an edge on in the first place (e.g. a machete) but is pretty much foolproof for putting good edge on a regular knife.
 
Used a Sharpmaker for years until arthritis made it impossible to hold the blade being sharpened at a steady angle. Using a diamond wheel pull-through now; passable but
just not the same.
 
No offense to the author of the video: But this doesn't really show much that's very useful. It's ok. I'm sure the blades are sharper after. But there's no evaluation of the edge at each stage. You really don't want to move beyond the first stage until the blade is fully apexed. Counting strokes has never been a reliably way of making sharp edges. It's just a way to get started for those that do not, or can not, understand sharpening.

Again, no offense intended. It's just not a good sharpening demonstration.

Brian.
 
bgentry said:
No offense to the author of the video: But this doesn't really show much that's very useful. It's ok. I'm sure the blades are sharper after. But there's no evaluation of the edge at each stage. You really don't want to move beyond the first stage until the blade is fully apexed. Counting strokes has never been a reliably way of making sharp edges. It's just a way to get started for those that do not, or can not, understand sharpening.

Again, no offense intended. It's just not a good sharpening demonstration.

Brian.
Click to expand...
Hi,
:) its pretty much whats explained in the sharpmaker manual and shown in sharpmaker dvd
 
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^ Yeah. But it's still not what you do when you really sharpen a blade.

This is a sharpening forum. Our standards are higher. The standard I'm adhering to isn't even all that high.

Brian.
 
bgentry said:
^ Yeah. But it's still not what you do when you really sharpen a blade.

This is a sharpening forum. Our standards are higher. The standard I'm adhering to isn't even all that high.

Brian.
Click to expand...

To be fair, in his subject line, he does say "De-dulls". Arguably that means it is now "less dull" not "sharp".

I know this is, at best, an exercise in semantics.
But if this is the best someone can manage in a non knife knut kitchen, on vacation, or doesn't want to invest the time in learning to free hand or money into a KME, then it isn't that bad. One should get better at this system over time.

Just because a demo video shows it not being used as proficiently as possible, doesn't mean others aren't doing so.
------
That being said, it's not my cup of tea. I like to hand sharpen and carry a DMT diafold (coarse/fine) on vacation. But I can see the utility in this system.

Thanks.
Maybe next time show how it is at slicing paper before and after so the viewer can guage the affectiveness of the process.
 
bgentry said:
No offense to the author of the video: But this doesn't really show much that's very useful. It's ok. I'm sure the blades are sharper after. But there's no evaluation of the edge at each stage. You really don't want to move beyond the first stage until the blade is fully apexed. Counting strokes has never been a reliably way of making sharp edges. It's just a way to get started for those that do not, or can not, understand sharpening.

Again, no offense intended. It's just not a good sharpening demonstration.

Brian.
Click to expand...

Yes, evaluating the edge is a very essential step before you progress. Big oversight.
 
I hate to pile on but is the numbering correct???

Wouldn't you only increment the number when you do both sides of the blade? So you would do one side of the knife against the left rod, then do the other side of the knife against the right rod, and then you count one. Do both sides again, and two. Or did I misread the direction?
 
Rey HRH said:
I hate to pile on but is the numbering correct???

Wouldn't you only increment the number when you do both sides of the blade? So you would do one side of the knife against the left rod, then do the other side of the knife against the right rod, and then you count one. Do both sides again, and two. Or did I misread the direction?
Click to expand...
Hi,
It doesn't really matter :)
These are the simplified and optimistic directions, do X strokes, repeat if not sharp enough ... eventually its sharper.

....For each step, give 20 strokes on each side (alternating strokes between right and left stones for a total of 40 strokes). If the knife has not reached desired sharpness, repeat process....

It makes no sense to move up in grits if the coarse stone hasn't done its job,
so the advanced instructions would include
learning to intentionally raise a tiny burr and cutting it off
or learning to make edge reflective and erasing the edge reflection before microbeveling
and a few other common problems (uneven bevels, stubborn burr)
See Sharpening Curriculum / Trouble sharpening super blue - Spyderco Forums

Advanced instruction can be intimidating for those with zero experience, or just a cool information that makes no sense until you sharpen a few knives
 
No offense taken gentlemen. ;)

I did not post this in the maintenance and tinkering forum (originally posted in Gadgets and Gear but it was moved here by someone else) because, as I mentioned in the original post, I am at best, a novice knife sharpener with no prior experience other than freehand on a field stone. So please do not interpret the presence here as an attempt at "instruction" in that I am not qualified. :)

The Sharpmaker was part of a pass-around from a friend and I wanted to get this moved forward as soon as possible with my personal experience (however brief) documented as best as possible considering the time constraints.

I agree that closeups of the blade condition would have been best and I originally planned to take before and after close-up photos. However, time constraints pushed hard and it was not possible at this time. Perhaps when I have my own Sharpmaker to work with.

The verbal "count" was more to help me keep accurate count of the recommended 40 strokes. What now (in retrospect) seems like a moronic attempt to document that I really used the recommended number of strokes but of course cutting the video in the middle (to avoid the more extensive boredom) means that I could have actually made any additional number of strokes to bring the blades to their ultimate condition. So much for best/good intentions and all that... :)

In any event, the knives have not been given any additional sharpening attention and it may not be long before they are in a similar condition that require some tune-up on a Sharpmaker.
 
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