Spyderco Sharpness

I've never had a problem with OOB sharpness on any of my Spyderco knives. I've also been getting ones with close to 15* edges as well.
 
unit said:
I thought spyderco went on record as delivering knives with a 30 degree grind (15 per side). OP says greater than 20 per side and close to 45 inclusive if you add it up.

Perhaps I am mistaken but I seem to recall Sal on the Sharpmaker video stating that they ship knives with 30 degree edges. Correct me if wrong please.
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The 30 degrees inclusive is for the back bevel. the actual cutting edge comes at 40 degrees inclusive (15 and 20 degree per side on the sharpmaker respectively.

The spydies I own are mostly very very sharp. The ones that are less sharp are still very sharp. So you might say it is not constantly very very sharp :D but good.
 
unit said:
Perhaps I am mistaken but I seem to recall Sal on the Sharpmaker video stating that they ship knives with 30 degree edges. Correct me if wrong please.
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I believe they aim for an angle around 30°, but they are all hand-sharpened, so there will be slight variations.
 
unit said:
I thought spyderco went on record as delivering knives with a 30 degree grind (15 per side). OP says greater than 20 per side and close to 45 inclusive if you add it up.
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30 degrees included is the goal. They are sharpened by living, breathing human beings, so the goal is not always attained. Anyone who is unhappy with factory edges is perfectly welcome to design, build and market a machine that can grind a perfect 15 degree bevel on any blade, regardless of length, width, thickness, shape or primary grind in less than one minute without overheating the edge. I'll bet Sal will buy a couple from you. Maybe more to keep up with production capacity.
 
I appreciate everyone's comments.

Despite the lack of perfection with these three knives, out of the thirty or so Spydies that I own, I still rank Spyderco at the top of production makers in terms of factory sharpness.

I've become a lot more of a perfectionist regarding edges and sharpening since joining BF. I've become more knowledgeable and notice things like edge angles and uneven grinds that may have gone unnoticed before.

I guess I'm coming to that point where I won't be satisfied with any factory edge and have become confident enough in my own abilities and equipment to pursue that elusive perfect edge.:)
 
Hi CGMblade,

We shoot for 30 degrees. As mentioned, they are sharpened by hand so error is possible, but normally, we're about 30 degrees inclusive.

We can resharpen them for you.

"Perfect" edges are not possible. Too many variables. We strive for excellent edges.

sal
 
Hey Sal,

Not my intention to cause problems and no need to send anything back. I'd really rather do it myself. Most of my Spyderco knives have come very sharp w/ good,even edge angles. Occasionally one is less than perfect.

The Delica 4 was the most problematic. There was about a 1/2" section near the tang/handle where the edges didn't meet and the overall edge angle was about 22*. Even so it would push cut paper and I believed it even shaved some arm hair when I got it. When I tried whittling some wood with it I was disappointed. I tried sharpening it on the Sharpmaker at the 20* setting but never made any progress. That's when I used the black marker method and discovered that I wasn't hitting the edge.

I've since learned a lot more about sharpening and have reprofiled it to 15* per side. I'm very happy with it and my other knives now, but thanks for your concern.
 
All knives are hand sharpened and will vary in both sharpness and the angle. That said Spyderco consistently has had the sharpest OOTB edges for me, generally between 12-14 degrees per side. I've had my Manix 2's (regular and S90V) come in at 10 degrees per side and my Caly 3 ZDP was 9 degrees per side. Very good geometry in terms of edge angle and thickness, which to me is way more important than sharpness as I usually put my own 9-10 degree per side edges on my knives prior to use, and thinning down a .050", 35 degree per side edge on a competitor's knife in M4 was no fun, where with my Manix 2's polishing the edge was all that was required, and my Gayle Bradley only had to be thinned a couple degrees and polished out.

Mike
 
22 years and maybe 60 Spydercos total, of which I still have about 30, and I do not remember a single dull edge. I am finally able to match and sometimes exceed the factory edge most of the time.

With the Native IV, native III, Endura 4, Lil' Temperance and a few others, I could only hope to match the factory edge at best.
 
The Manix 2 was my dullest Spyderco from the factory. I wish all Spydies were like the Caly 3, with 15 degrees per side and very very thin. More than 20 degrees per side is ok for 10 bucks Flea Market knives, but unacceptable on high-end tactical knives. Having said that, Spyderco still is the company with the best blade profiles and edge geometry on the market. Benchmade profiles their blades like axes. :barf:
 
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Just received my first Spyderco--the S35VN mule. Razor, scary sharp right out of the package. Nice, even edge bevels, too. The best of any factory knife I have purchased to date.
 
A razor sharp edge out of the box does not bother me that much. (I know it is a big deal for many) I reprofile all my edges when I receive them except SE as close as possible to the primary grind I feel comfortable with and then put a 20* per side micro bevel on them. That is ideal for me.

I still feel that if one receives a dull edge do not start posting and ranting on the forums (no offense intended cgmblade). Lemons happen. So make some margaritas and sharpen them. But I do believe I am in the minority when it comes to this.
 
I can not recall a single Spyderco knife that did not come out of the box razor sharp of any I have handled and quite a few at that.

If it's a real Spyderco I would think a dull edge is an uncommon anomaly. That is my experience.
 
I intentionally traded knives for one that was deemed by its first (as far as I know) owner, the dullest NIB Spyderco Manix 2 CE. The serrated portion of the edge was fine, but there was a burr on the plain edge part when I received it, but a few swipes on a strop and it was how all of my other Spyderco's are delivered. No way of telling if that was from the factory, or someone messing around somewhere down the supply chain after it left the factory before it reached its original owner.
 
My experience with Spydercos has been excellent; my two most recent, a CPMS30V G10 Military and a UKPK were scary sharp and merely shaving sharp respectively. Highly recommended!
 
I think you must be seeing normal variation. I received a PE Aqua Salt recently, and out of the box it was sharp. Same with my recently acquired Warrior, only more so, that baby was just plain scary sharp coming out of the box. I don't recall out of box sharpness from numerous other Spydercos, which just tells me I haven't noticed one way or the other.
 
my endura was blunt, it had an edge wich was fatter than 50 degrees :o

my manix 2 on the other hand came hair whitling sharp (literaly) :D
 
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