Spyderco Sharpmaker Help

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Jan 28, 2013
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Hey everyone!

I just got my Sharpmaker and absolutely love it. I've always had trouble sharpening my knives and the Sharpmaker definitely helps. Now that I can do this, I will never let me blades go dull as they are now.

Unfortunately I have some nicks towards the end of the blade as well as the tip being slightly messed up. I ran it through the Sharpmaker multiple times and it did help. However, they are still very present. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to fix this? I saw that there was a diamond insert for the Sharpmaker sold separately. I can't really stomach the idea of spending 30 plus on one insert when the entire system only cost me 50 dollars. Any help is appreciated.


Thanks in advance,

Logan



P.S. The knife that i'm sharpening is a kershaw leek.
 
That's a thin blade knife. You will need to use caution as you will need to reprofile the blade. Short of putting it on a grinder/polisher I would use a flat mid to high grit flat stone. Then go back to the Sharaker.

I've used this method on a couple of knives.
 
The sharpmaker isn't made for repair work. It's better at touch ups. The diamonds help make up for that, but i would say it's time to get yourself a stone and learn to freehand. If you want to stick with the sharpmaker, you can try taping wet/dry sandpaper, the diamond rods, or any coarse 1/2" triangle sharpening file that is course enough for the work you want to do. But i wold still suggest getting a stone. As it is, you can get away with a coarser stone just for repairs and use your sharpmaker for refining and touch ups.

[video=youtube;OPGGo3W15HQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPGGo3W15HQ[/video]
 
Thanks everyone. I think I will do what has been suggested and get a stone for specifically this kind of work. The sharpmaker will be reserved for refining and touch ups as fervens suggested. Do you guys have any suggestions on a good affordable stone?

Thanks again!
 
Depending on the steel used in your Leek, a simple piece of 220-400 grit wet/dry sandpaper could be used on a hard backing (glass, smooth stone, hardwood), to repair the nicks. A trailing-edge 'stropping' stroke works best with the paper. Near the tip of that pointy blade, orient the blade so the direction of the blade's motion is essentially opposite the direction in which the tip is pointing (relatively, the grit of the sandpaper is moving in a direction out and away from the tip). This will avoid the chance of the tip digging in, and blunting it.

(the above is how I usually sharpen a blade like the Leek's; it works well)


David
 
The diamond rods are a good investment for reprofiling and repair. That said, I would think any course stone, used carefully, would repair your knife. Then, of course, followup with the med and fine rods. I would use a Sharpie to see where and how much material you are removing.
 
Get the diamond rods if you need them,
I purchased a coarse DMT that I lean against the rods. That cost 50$ anyway.
So if you need em get em.
 
I have the diamond rods for the Sharpmaker and will use them for what I hope is a minor reprofile. I say this because it takes a long time with the harder steels. As time wears on, there is a tendency to apply more pressure to "hurry up" the process...wrong thing to do. That will ultimately start tearing some of the diamonds from the rod (or so I have read in my exploration of this subject matter from knowledgeable people here on the forums). I have a Leek also, and screwed up the tip when I first started learning sharpening basics. A diamond rod on a Leek may be too aggressive.
I don't do free hand. Don't want to invest the time to learn but even while saying that for myself, I think it would be a valuable skill to learn for those who are motivated and want to invest the time.
 
Thanks again everyone. I really appreciate how helpful everyone is.

I tried sharpening the "rest" of the blade just to see if I could get it to the sharpness that I desire. After stropping , I feel that it is indeed sharp enough. I still have to decide on getting the rod or the stone. The rod makes sense since I feel that I could do it (carefully). I just looked up the price and it's around 41 dollars, which is in my opinion, very expensive. Maybe I should just send this one into Kershaw for them to fix. At least until I get the diamond rod myself.

Anyways, thanks again for all of the help!
 
You'll need to sharpen again eventually, and should you be rough with your knife (intentionally or on accident) then a coarse stone is very useful for repairing damage as others have mentioned. The Sharpmaker, while useful for touch ups, doesn't "grind" very fast at all, and this is frequently frustrating for people that buy one thinking that they can do all of their sharpening on it. The diamond rods will certainly help out, though.

To be honest $40 - 50 is not very expensive at all for sharpening stones. A cheaper solution would be sandpaper, though the results won't be quite as "clean" as with something like a waterstone or a diamond stone. If you intend to sharpen your own knives you will eventually want to get some other sharpening equipment along the way.
 
It is worse than you know. Not only should you purchase a pair of Diamond profile rods, you might well consider a pair of ultra fine rods to mirror polish your work.
 
I have been having a love/hate sharpmaker relationship for a few years. I posted a thread about reprofiling on the sharpmaker last week and got some help from some of the folks who have already chimed in. Indeed without the diamond rods, the leek, even the sandvik blade will be a hassle to reprofile. I can tell you this; after posting my thread I reprofiled my opinel ( very thin, pretty soft carbon steel) and after about an hours work it was reprofiled and very sharp. I am very thempted to get the diamond and UF rods.

What I learned was going slow and steady makes all the difference in the world. Indeed the sharpmaker is better for touch ups, but after years of using stones and getting hit/ miss results with the sharpmaker, I went back to square one, pulled out the sharpie, and took my time. Wouldn't want to do a harder steel without the diamond rods.. but I say this all to advise: take your time, use a flat surface (I put some cabinet liner under the base to keep it from slipping) and keep your strokes even. If you will be doing a lot of knives, I'd get both extra rods. In have payed a little more for some spydercos in the past, but I still have and use all of them and consider them well bought. Learning to sharpen with a stone is a great skill to have as well... that said, I am waiting for the worksharp KO to come off backorder for my reprofiling and then some uf rods for touch ups perhaps... good luck in your pursuit of the edge.
 
I pretty much agree with what everyone has already said. I would say get the diamond rods if you want to stick with the sharpmaker only. The money is well worth the time saved. The medium stones are just not enough sometimes. I think it's important to have the bare basics for reprofiling, repairing, and refining your edges. Especially if you want to do your own kitchen knives yourself too. You don't have to go all out on a edge pro or wicked edge to get good results. There are plenty of good options available that will get the job done. The diamond rods will certainly help speed things up and I think they are a good investment if you want to use the sharpmaker as your primary sharpening system. However, reprofiling a severely damaged edge or setting a new angle could still take a while. I use my sharpmaker for touch ups and for repair or reprofiling work, and I use another system with courser stones. In my case I use the edge pro most times but like I said, you don't necessarily need that to get good results. Other guided systems work extremely well for a lot less money. Shrade offers a system that strongly resembles the edge pro and it's only about $30. It comes with some stones but I'm not sure how good they are. It uses the exact same rod and stone holder so you could use other stones with it but the cost could add up pretty fast. The DMT aligner comes to mind. Or the lansky system but I like the aligner a bit more. The lansky diamond set is more expensive I think too. The aligner deluxe or pro kit would be a good choice for you. It's only slightly more money than the SM diamond rods. It comes with course, fine and extra fine stones which I think would be enough to get most jobs done. A lot of places are offering the extra extra fine stone with the pro kit for free. If needed, you can always add the extra course stone later. But the course stone cuts metal pretty fast on its own. That's one of the reasons I love diamond stones is how fast they cut. The price is excellent for the aligner considering how versatile it is. You can do your repair and reprofiling work with it and use your sharpmaker for touch ups. It's an option to consider, I'm just thinking about simplicity and price. Learning to free hand is a valuable skill and would be a good way to go too but I'm just thinking for simplicity sakes. It takes a lot of trial and error and could take a long time to get good at. A guided system can get you started right way if you don't have the time or patience to free hand. Oh and one cool thing about the aligner clamp is you can use it as an angle guide on bench stones to help you learn how to free hand. I'm not sure how well it works but I've seen pictures where the clamped knife is moved alongside the stone. So if down the road you decide to learn free handing, you can still get some use out of your aligner. As for your leek and aggressive stones, I don't think it will be a problem with the diamond SM rods. Or even the DMT aligner. The trick is using light pressure which is something you should always do with any diamond stones anyways. It's easy to ruin them. Anyways there are a bunch of options out there and it really depends on your needs.
 
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I've reprofiled a few folding knives--both 154CM and S30V--on my sharpmaker using strips of 180 grit sandpaper taped to the rods, followed by some finer grits. If one is patient and maintains a steady and consistent technique, a virtually perfect 30 degree edge can be achieved.
 
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