Spyderco Sharpmaker vs MY ceramic set

L

Lavan

Joined
Nov 8, 2000
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I have a set of ceramic sticks that fit in a wooden holder/case and seem to work fine for sharpening. They are round stones and I use them for plain edges.

What's the skinny on the Sharpmaker? Is it so much better? Mine does not have any hand protection other than my remembering NOT to whet the knives on my fingers.

?????????????

:confused:
 
The sharpmaker's big advantage is that the triangle hones can sharpen serrations effectively and the new one has two different angles it can sharpen at. If you only sharpen plain edges I imagine your current setup works just as well as a Sharpmaker would.
 
Your set-up i fine if it does everything you want it to do! If you have a drill press, or access to one, you can make a cool base for your rods. Drill press tables can be tilted to various angles, so get a pice of wood and you can drill angled holes at 20, 15, 12, and 10 degrees if you want! Drill additional holes for adding a dowel; there's your hand protection :)

Lee Valley Tools sells a set of ceramic rods that come with instructions for doing exactly what I said above, all for $10 Canadian.
 
I am with you road runner. The triangle sticks make sharpening serrations a breeze and the 2 different sharpening angles are great to have. the 15 (30) degree angle is great for thining down an edge or sharpening benchmade knives, because that is the angle. The steeper 20 (40) degree angle will put a quick edge on any blade.
It helps to have the different angle because custom makers and factories all have there preference of sharpening angles and now you have the ability to closely match the correct angle.
I am going to purchase the diamond stones for the spyderco sharpener to help out a very dull edge and speed up edge reshaping.

Spyderco Triangle sharpener best money I ever spent that wasn't on a knife.
:D
 
Would also add that at least for me, I prefer the triangle stones in the sharpmaker as it's easier for me to come up with a clean "edge/flat" on the stone to start a knife on. WIth the round ones I always am sitting there trying to turn it jsut right to get part that isn't clogged(try to use all of stone before I clean it cuz I'm lazy). With the trinagle shape, it makes it a lot easier to do this.

.02
 
I used a Lansky for years it was ok. Have had a Sharpmaker a few weeks now and it's the best I have ever used.
 
I have around 4 sets of ceramic rod sharpeners. Most of them are round rod. I figured that there was probably minimal difference between those and a Sharpmaker set, until I actually tried the Sharpmaker. I was quite surprised to find that the Sharpmaker did a better job of sharpening than the round rods. I think that Sal at Spyderco knows what he's doing. I virtually never use serrated blades, though I do sharpen a fair number. The Sharpmakers do a better job on plain edge knive than round rods. It is not just a serrated blade thing.

On the other hand I do not do heavy sharpening with ceramic rods. I mostly thin edges and do initial sharpening with a belt sander and diamond bench hones. I use the ceramic rods to create and maintain my final cutting edges. The Spyderco gives a better cutting edge than the round rods.
 
Lansky sharpener is ok. I have a Gatco ( same thing ). The reason I prefer the spyderco is because you are working both sides of the blade one after the other. I feel it gives a more even edge and the bracket that you need to clamp onto the knife with the gatco or lansky, what a pain in the butt.
I'll stick to the spyderco thank you.
 
For a small, effective, cheap field sharpener, may I suggest a Gatco Tri-Seps triangle stick...less than 3" long, rubberized end caps, Mil-Spec beaded chain, 2 flats for straight edges/tips & 2 angles for serrations/fish hooks, $20 for the 320-grit diamond version & $10 for the 700-grit ceramic version.
 
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