Spyderco Sharpmaker

C

Cotton26

Joined
Jul 16, 2007
Messages
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I took everyones' recommendation and picked one up. Great product! The 1999 DVD might be a bit old and boring, but as you all already know the sharpening is awesome!
 
Sal, we all love the Sharpmaker, and I quite enjoyed the video personally, but how about an optional base with more acute angles for us knife knut types? I would guess we are probably too small of a market for you to make a new mold and make money, but us knife knuts can wish, right?

Mike
 
Hi Mike,

just for the purposes of discussion, what angles would you add to the 30, 40 & 12?

sal
 
I tried a number of different "crock sticks" over the years and the only thing they had in common was that they wouldn't sharpen a knife for me. Looking back, this was because they were only useful for fine tuning an already sharpened edge.

I have had a Sharpmaker for about a month now and can add my opinion to the great majority that considers this a must have sharpening device. It works, at least for any knife that doesn't require major surgery. I attribute this to two things-- the coarser sharpening sticks for actually taking off some metal plus the choice of two sharpening angles that in my opinion are the best compromise if you are restricted to two.

I still have other sharpening devices that I am trying to master like Razor Sharp paper wheels and the Edge Pro Apex, but what I am discovering is that the Sharpmaker has made the sharpening process so obvious that I am getting carry over improvement of skills just because I understand what is going on better from using the Sharpmaker.

I even find that I can use a flat stone better and I recently acquired a two sided small stone made by Spyderco using the same two ceramic materials as in the Sharpmaker sticks. Somehow using the Sharpmaker has helped me fix the angles better in my hand/eye coordination altho I still have quite a ways to go before I'm really good at it.

I'm thinking I may even be approaching the point where I would try using a belt sander for heavy reconstruction. I agree that having a continuously variable angle on a set of sticks would be ideal but I can also see that this would be complex and expensive compared to inserting a stick into a hole. Probably if anyone could solve this with the best bang for the buck it would be Spyderco.

I'm also thinking that someone with good sharpening skills should probably be able to hold the knife blade off of vertical with the Sharpmaker in order to vary the angle to taste. I do consider it significant that AG Russell now endorses the Sharpmaker with its two angles of 30 and 40 degrees inclusive.
 
12 would be nice. Don't think going higher than 40 is necessary, but a little thinner edge than 15 wouldn't hurt.
 
Sal you need to get that Billy Mayes off the TV commercials to do your new video. Guaranteed to wake the dead! I don't know what talent agents rock some of these folks come out fromunda.
 
A special Thanks to ya Sal...I use mine all the time...I find that the video helped tramendously when I 1st got the system...just awesome!!!
 
Sal Glesser said:
Hi Mike,

just for the purposes of discussion, what angles would you add to the 30, 40 & 12?

sal
Click to expand...


20 and 25 seem good to me. I run a lot of my main grinds under 10 per side, so a micro bevel at 20 or 25 would be a nice option. Plus, a few of my Spydercos have come in right around 12-13 per side, so the 25 slot would work nice on those. Maybe others can chime in, but I think those would be a couple nice angles to work with.

Mike
 
+1 on the 20 and 25.

And some super-mega-uber-fine rods, maybe equivalent of an 8000 Japanese waterstone. That would be awesome.
 
Sounds like the 12 degree "scissors" attachment will do what you want, but will require using both hands. There's also the two slots on the base which allow for a nearly 1" wide hone with infinite angle possibilities.
 
thombrogan said:
Sounds like the 12 degree "scissors" attachment will do what you want, but will require using both hands. There's also the two slots on the base which allow for a nearly 1" wide hone with infinite angle possibilities.
Click to expand...

Always so practical with you! A second base would allow more angles and somewhere to store our diamond and Ultra Fine rods, plus the time tested sharpmaker method of holding the knife vertical at the more acute angles we desire. Of course I freehand 99% of the time now, but for SE or a quick touch up the sharpmaker still sees some use in my home.

Mike
 
severtecher said:
Sal you need to get that Billy Mayes off the TV commercials to do your new video. Guaranteed to wake the dead! I don't know what talent agents rock some of these folks come out fromunda.
Click to expand...
If you get Billy Mayes to do any commercial for you, make sure you hide the brass safety rods! Heh heh.
 
Hi All (especially Sal)
How can I correctly use the sharpmaker to ensure that I do not round the tip. I have a benchmade that I apparently incorrectly sharpened. The tip, after a year, has begun to round off a bit. I have been told that I let the blade run off the edge of the stone and that caused the rounding.
Any advice is welcome. If there is a thread about this, I would welcome direction.

Thanks again,
Brett
 
Make sure that you sweep the blade downwards as you go down the rods, such that it will be the backside of the tip that will contact the edge of the rod.

Another method is to use only the flat sides of the rods, and to never pull the tip past the edge of the rod.
 
The Sharpmaker is the only sharpening system I've used the past several years. I've even used it to heavily reprofile an S30V CRK Sebenza. It took quite some time, but I proved to myself it could be done. I use it on all types of knives so far.
Jim
 
bdws1975 said:
Hi All (especially Sal)
How can I correctly use the sharpmaker to ensure that I do not round the tip. I have a benchmade that I apparently incorrectly sharpened. The tip, after a year, has begun to round off a bit. I have been told that I let the blade run off the edge of the stone and that caused the rounding.
Any advice is welcome. If there is a thread about this, I would welcome direction.

Thanks again,
Brett
Click to expand...

This might help. I saw this the other day in another thread. Sharpmaker Sharpening Tips
 
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