Spyderco's Great Sharpening Equipment

J

JD Spydo

Joined
Nov 20, 2004
Messages
4,827
I know I'm not the only one on this Spyderco sub-forum who uses and likes Spyderco's great sharpening equipment. However the last 2 attempts I've had to discuss some of their special sharpening tools got hardly no response at all. So this time I guess I'm going to leave the thread wide open to talk about any of Spyderco's great sharpening tools.

First and foremost the Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker is nothing less than a genius idea and is designed so well that most anyone with even a little bit of patience can sharpen their knives with a very wickedly sharp edge. Also Spyderco's 302 ceramic Benchstones to me are some of the very best on the entire market.

Spyderco's latest inventions are great as well and I'm talking about their Duckfoot diamond sharpening tool and their newer Goldenstone is capable of sharpening all kinds of tools and I would say that every serious woodworker should own both of those tools. Also one of their great well kept secrets is their "slipstone". I've found a lot of recurves, and Hawkbills and other oddly designed blades can be sharpened well with the Slipstone and the 701 Profiles.

No doubt that Spyderco's knives are truly some of the very finest in the commercial production sector but their sharpening equipment is very much overlooked and very high quality. I'm also very anxious to see what they might have in their pipeline as far as new sharpening tools coming out in the next year or 2. I would like to see Spyderco do a comprehensive video on all their sharpening tools because I believe it would probably end up selling many of the tools that you don't hear much about. The 701 Profiles for years were sort of a hidden secret out in plain view.
 
Last edited:
Great idea JD! Ive used my Sharpmaker to sharpen all kinds of blade shapes. It is surprisingly easy to sharpen my SE Dodo with it :thumbup:
 
I have the full set of benchstone but have only been able to use the medium so far. But the medium has made a world of difference in my sharpening. I also have the double stuff. I would recommend both to anyone.
 
I heard alot about the Sharpmaker so I bought one even got the ultra fine stones. The set up is easy and with some pratice I can get some decent edges but I want to learn to feehand sharpen. I have recently Invested in the 302 med and fine plus a 306 uf stone great stones. I just need to play with them alot more but what fun toys.
 
Hey, JD! I'm a huge fan of Spyderco's sharpening equipment as well.

I've had three or four SharpMakers over the years, going back to one I purchased from Sal at a knife show in the late 1980s. Forgot the model number, but this was the one with only one set of angle slots for the stones and the cordura nylon pouch. I used that puppy for many years until my youngest son stole it from me to sharpen his Scout knives. :)

During that time, I also got a Galley V for my shop - and we've discussed on other threads how good that baby is. The "cat's eye" shape to the stones was fantastic for large kitchen knives and serrated blades. I'm just jealous that you've still got your, JD! Mine floated away several years back...
attachment.php


I've also got a complete set of bench stones (302) - which are my main tool sharpeners in the workshop (e.g., plane irons, jointer knives, chisels). They are also great for sharpening Scandi ground and Bushcraft knives.

I recently got a 400F set of profile stones - triangle, square, teardrop, and round - in white fine ceramic. These guys are really handy for filing, deburring, polishing and other similar tasks around the house.
400F_M.jpg


I got a set of the 701MF Profile stones recently as well. A very nice set for working on power tools, saws, and general shop work. Great stuff - get a set before they are all gone! They are disco'ed!
701MF_M.jpg


The Goldenstone (308F). What a tool. I love this thing. This is my main sharpening tool in my camping kit. It is light weight, easy to use, and can handle a wide variety of tasks around camp. Love it!
308F_L.jpg


TedP
 
All I have from spyderco sharpening wise is the double stuff and I love it.
I will be getting the 306uf bench stone or maybe just the 302 set of ceramic benchstones. I don't really need the 3 inch wide stone.
The ceramic file set wouldn't be a bad investment either. I could sharpen serrations then too. That way I'll stop being afraid to buy a serrated knife cause I have a way of sharpening it when it goes dull.
 
Although I am new to freehand sharpening, which I will be starting as soon as some user knives show up. Unfortunately, I dont use my knives enough to dull them up so I got some user's coming for practice.

My current Spyderco sharpeners are: Sharpmaker 204MF and the 204UF set, Double stuff and the 701MF Profile set.

I think I can get anything sharp with this setup with practice of coarse! I am not one to have a bunch of stones/stuff around here not used so I want to keep it simple but effective. My personal knives see very little use so I am sure the Sharpmaker Fine stones are enough for touch ups but I do have a cheap Norton double sided from Home Depot if I need to get more aggressive but not sure if it is consider India or Cystolon or something else. :)

If or should I say when my skills improve, I might splurge for a set of the 302's in medium, fine and ultra fine and might even go with a DMT Dia-fold coarse if needed in the future if and only if I cant do what I need with what I already have or I guess if I want to replace some items with something else! LOL

P.S. I really enjoy all the sharpening threads on the sites and pick up alot of informatiion so keep it up everyone! :D
 
I am not sure why I haven't pulled the trigger on a sharpmaker yet but I have been using a loaded strop and bench stone. I gotta get one fo them soon!
 
phillipsted said:
Hey, JD! I'm a huge fan of Spyderco's sharpening equipment as well.

I've had three or four SharpMakers over the years, going back to one I purchased from Sal at a knife show in the late 1980s. Forgot the model number, but this was the one with only one set of angle slots for the stones and the cordura nylon pouch. I used that puppy for many years until my youngest son stole it from me to sharpen his Scout knives. :)

During that time, I also got a Galley V for my shop - and we've discussed on other threads how good that baby is. The "cat's eye" shape to the stones was fantastic for large kitchen knives and serrated blades. I'm just jealous that you've still got your, JD! Mine floated away several years back...
attachment.php


I've also got a complete set of bench stones (302) - which are my main tool sharpeners in the workshop (e.g., plane irons, jointer knives, chisels). They are also great for sharpening Scandi ground and Bushcraft knives.

I recently got a 400F set of profile stones - triangle, square, teardrop, and round - in white fine ceramic. These guys are really handy for filing, deburring, polishing and other similar tasks around the house.


I got a set of the 701MF Profile stones recently as well. A very nice set for working on power tools, saws, and general shop work. Great stuff - get a set before they are all gone! They are disco'ed!


The Goldenstone (308F). What a tool. I love this thing. This is my main sharpening tool in my camping kit. It is light weight, easy to use, and can handle a wide variety of tasks around camp. Love it!


TedP
Click to expand...

That's really interesting Ted because you're only one of 4 people I've talked to in the past 10 years who was lucky enough to land a Spyderco GALLEY V Sharpening kit. It is truly a different type of sharpener. Those "Cat's Eye" shaped stones that come with the kit are superb for sharpening the Dodo model as well as all of the PE Hawkbills. It's also a great unit to do recurves with as well. I was sorry to see the Galley V kit get discontinued. Sal told me once at one of the BLADE shows that those particular stones were very expensive to manufacture so they chose to delete it from the main line up.

The Duckfoot & Goldenstone both are truly intriguing tools and I'm still learning how to use them for all the many different edges that they are meant to sharpen.

The 701 Profiles to me are the very best tool I've found so far to sharpen Spyderedges ( Spyderco's serrations) with. The 701 Profile kit is also great with most other serration patterns as well. To me it's the ultimate bug-out, survival, prepper sharpening tool you can find. I got 3 extra sets to go with the 2 sets I already had when I discovered that they were indeed going to discontinue them. I do look for them to come back however because of all the requests I see on this forum. I don't think that the GOLDENSTONE will ever completely take the place of the 701 Profiles>> well at least it won't in my workshop anyway.

Spyderco's 302 Benchstones are without a doubt probably the best benchstone set you can buy for the money. But again I"ve never bought a Spyderco sharpening tool of any type that I didn't just love to use. I have just about every tool that they made except for the bigger ultra-fine stone they came out with a year or so ago.

I can't wait to see what else is coming down their product pipeline in the sharpening equipment sector.
 
phillipsted said:
...The Goldenstone (308F). What a tool. I love this thing. This is my main sharpening tool in my camping kit. It is light weight, easy to use, and can handle a wide variety of tasks around camp. Love it!
[IM]http://www.spyderco.com/pix/products/large/308F_L.jpg[/IMG]

TedP
Click to expand...

Hey TedP, tho I had seen it before your praise had sparked my interest in the goldenstone (I already had my local dealer order one in earlier today so I can handle it while I'm making a final decision). Anyway I'm trying to get a size compairson, could you take a photo of it next to a 2x6 stone and/or a US bank note? Even if you can't host it I'd greatly appreciate if you would email me one, even just a quick cell phone photo.

I mean its the least you could do since you just MADE me spend $62 on a spyderco fine ceramic stone I already have one of. [that's a joke, I only have the flat 2x6 bench stone. I'd be much obliged if you could do that].
 
Squashfan said:
I have the full set of benchstone but have only been able to use the medium so far. But the medium has made a world of difference in my sharpening. I also have the double stuff. I would recommend both to anyone.
Click to expand...

I'm curious and confused as to why you haven't been able to use the other grits of 302 Benchstones??? And you are right about the gray/medium stone it does indeed get a knife "paper cutting" sharp even before you use the fine and ultra-fine. The only thing I do when I succeed to the fine and ultra-fine stones is to raise the angle up slightly and they work great for getting a super razor sharp edge even on these newer super steels.

The Doublestuff 303 stone is truly a great compact/portable stone that I even carry with me a large percentage of the time and it does come in handy just to do a minor touch up in the event that you use your everyday carry folder a lot. I just wish they would make another Doublestuff with an ultra-fine grit on one side and diamond on the other.

Once anyone learns and gets the nack for sharpening freehanded you don't want to be without a set of 302 Benchstones. I've tried other ceramic sharpening tools but no one makes ceramic sharpening tools like Spyderco does.
 
JD Spydo said:
I'm curious and confused as to why you haven't been able to use the other grits of 302 Benchstones??? And you are right about the gray/medium stone it does indeed get a knife "paper cutting" sharp even before you use the fine and ultra-fine. The only thing I do when I succeed to the fine and ultra-fine stones is to raise the angle up slightly and they work great for getting a super razor sharp edge even on these newer super steels.

The Doublestuff 303 stone is truly a great compact/portable stone that I even carry with me a large percentage of the time and it does come in handy just to do a minor touch up in the event that you use your everyday carry folder a lot. I just wish they would make another Doublestuff with an ultra-fine grit on one side and diamond on the other.

Once anyone learns and gets the nack for sharpening freehanded you don't want to be without a set of 302 Benchstones. I've tried other ceramic sharpening tools but no one makes ceramic sharpening tools like Spyderco does.
Click to expand...

That would be interesting to see! :D I wish Spyderco would chime in with some comments of whether or not they will bring back the 701 set or introduce some other equipment as discussed on multiple threads such as 302 diamond/coarse, 303 diamond/coarse, 701 diamond/coarse, etc. :D
 
I have been using freehand stones by Lansky for about three years and can not wait to upgrade to a Sharpmaker. I like the Sharpmaker and Edge pro apex as a combo, but will start of with the Spyderco sharpmaker because of the price and ease of use.
 
Sharpmaker, best device around. All the others are way too on purpose difficult for me, clamps, guide rods, meh.
 
phillipsted said:
I got a set of the 701MF Profile stones recently as well. A very nice set for working on power tools, saws, and general shop work. Great stuff - get a set before they are all gone! They are disco'ed!
701MF_M.jpg
Click to expand...

I have had mine for years, they work great for quick touch ups. :) :thumbup:
 
AddictedToGear said:
I have been using freehand stones by Lansky for about three years and can not wait to upgrade to a Sharpmaker. I like the Sharpmaker and Edge pro apex as a combo, but will start of with the Spyderco sharpmaker because of the price and ease of use.
Click to expand...

Speaking of the "EDGE PRO" and "WICKED EDGE" professional sharpening units which are the top of the line if you are a total perfectionist. It would be really interesting to see Spyderco come out with their own professional type unit that would compete with both the Edge Pro and Wicked Edge.

As far as a unit to touch up blades and to maintain their sharpness you just can't beat the Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker IMO. Again I'm anxious to see what they have coming down their product pipeline in the near future. There has been a lot of talk about various items such as a smaller, more compact SHarpmaker. Hopefully they will also come out with a benchstone and stones to fit the 204 Sharpmaker that are more coarse and aggressive. At the present time they just don't have a stone that will do quick stock removal for a really beat up blade.

I would also like to see Spyderco come out with a pocket sized field unit similar to Lansky's "Blademedic". I would like to see what they would come out with in that market. The Spyderco "SLIPSTONE" is one of my favorite sharpening tools to experiment with. I find it to be much more versatile than I had thought it would be. I wish they would offer it in other grits as well.
 
Since seeing this thread 2 days ago I've been reading about and watching videos on the goldenstone and I'm wondering, has there ever been talk of a medium and/or extra fine duck foot style stones coming out? I'd love to see that.
 
Cereal_killer said:
Since seeing this thread 2 days ago I've been reading about and watching videos on the goldenstone and I'm wondering, has there ever been talk of a medium and/or extra fine duck foot style stones coming out? I'd love to see that.
Click to expand...

I doubt if anyone other than Big Daddy Spyder knows for sure. But with the manufacturing expense that it takes to produce the Goldenstone I kind of doubt it. Which is one reason that I'm surprised that they deleted the 701 Profile kit from the main line up. That kit could do so much for a sharpening kit of it's size.

From what I've gathered collecctively is that they meant for the Goldenstone to replace the 701 kit. Personally I prefer the 701 Profiles over the Goldenstone as of right now because of the extra grit stone (medium) and the small size and portability.

And with the Duckfoot ( the diamond version of the Goldenstone) being deleted from the main line up I'm doubtful that they will want to invest manufacturing time and money in something that doesn't seem to sell very well.

It's my gut feeling that there may be something else in the product pipeline. I wouldn't at all be surprised if they have some new products they are getting ready to launch in the sector of sharpening equipment. Or maybe the 204 Sharpmaker is doing so well that they feel that will suffice for now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top