Spyderco's Sharpening Tools? Your Favorite & Most Used?

J

JD Spydo

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Nov 20, 2004
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About two weeks ago I put up a thread asking some of you all which small or portable Spyderco sharpening tool you all liked and why you liked it. Albeit the response was very lackluster and it really baffled me because I know a lot of people really like Spyderco's small, portable sharpening tools :confused:.

Ok with that out of the way I would like to try another thread asking you all which Spyderco sharpening tools ( big or small) that you all like the best and why? Because I think many newcomers and even a lot of long time Spyderco fans have lost sight of the fact that Spyderco puts just as much quality in their great sharpening tools as they do their excellent quality cutlery.

Also I'm wondering if any of you are using any of Spyderco's obscure and not so well known sharpening tools like the GOLDENSTONE and DUCKFOOT as well as their "SlipStone" and their great model 302 Benchstones. It's been a while since we've compared notes on our favorite Spyderco sharpening tools so I'm interested in what you all think.

I've always loved their discontinued 701 Profiles and very much wish they would return to the market>> I use one of my 701 Profile kits almost daily>> I would hate to be without any of my 701 Profile kits. Also if you all could recommend changes or improvements to any of Spyderco's great sharpening tools then tell what you would like to see changed. And last but certainly not least has anyone heard any progress report on the upcoming GAUNTLET sharpening kit that's supposed to hit the market soon?
 
Only one I have - the Sharpmaker. It's a great tool and I use it often to touch up my pocket knives once I get them to either a 15 or 20 degree bevel in the first place.

I find you can use the rods freehand to really do a great job on scissors. I can't quite figure out how to use the official scissors slot in the base, but holding the rod in one hand and the scissors in the other works like a charm.

I have considered getting the double-stuff for doing portable touch ups but my need for that no longer exists.
 
jc57 said:
Only one I have - the Sharpmaker. It's a great tool and I use it often to touch up my pocket knives once I get them to either a 15 or 20 degree bevel in the first place.

I find you can use the rods freehand to really do a great job on scissors. I can't quite figure out how to use the official scissors slot in the base, but holding the rod in one hand and the scissors in the other works like a charm.

I have considered getting the double-stuff for doing portable touch ups but my need for that no longer exists.
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The 204 Sharpmaker is a superb sharpening tool and I hope you got the stones/rods you can buy extra for it like the 204 Diamond rods and the 204 Ultra-Fine stone. To me the 204 Sharpmaker is not complete without them. They also have a set of CBN ( cubic boron nitride) stones you can buy extra as well. I don't currently have those but I do plan on getting them ASAP.

The DOUBLESTUFF stone is a great little portable stone for quick touch ups on plain edged blades in the field or in the workplace. I wish they would start offering the DOUBLESTUFF in more grit selections soon.
 
My go-to sharpeners and necessities IMO are the standard Sharpmaker plus diamond rods, and DMT coarse / fine diafolds.

I use the SM mostly to apply and maintain micro bevels. For quick bevel setting or material removal the DMT's are excellent. The DMT coarse chews through steel much faster than the SM diamonds. The Edge Pro is used once in a while for reprofiling, but since I've discovered convex bevels I often just use the EP stones freehand in combination with the SM.

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Ankerson said:
701 Profiles for me.
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Ankerson maybe you could answer this question for me :confused:?? Why on GOD's Blue Planet would Spyderco cease the production of such a great sharpening tool like they did with the 701 Profile kit???

OK I do realize that they were really Gung-Ho about the GOLDENSTONE and I believe Spyderco went on record saying that you could do anything with the GOLDENSTONE that you could do with the 701 Profiles>> but personally I beg to differ with that. For one thing the GOLDENSTONE is only offered in one grit (fine) and is very pricey compared to what you could get a set of 701 Profiles for ( med & fine).

I believe had they marketed those 701 Profiles with other trades/vocations like machinists, dentists, watchmakers ect., I believe they would have sold many more than they did. I was lucky and stocked up on 3 extra sets when I heard of them discontinuing the 701 Profile sets. But compared to the GOLDENSTONE, which I do sort of like by the way, the Profiles are much more portable and versatile and do an excellent job on serrations as well as being a very versatile tool for all kinds of jobs dealing with metal.

Hey I'm all for progress but as it stands right now I don't see how the GOLDENSTONE takes the place of the 701 Profiles. But regardless which way they go with these products they need to offer either one of them in more grit selections IMO.
 
i mostly use my sharpmarker at home on desk,but have also packed it up in backpack and bring to the grate out door's!biggest problem with this is finding a level surface to do work on!:mad i also own the 306 UF bench-stone,also helps to have a level playing surface,i use the edge pro for re-bevels,but most of the time these tools stay at home because (flat surface is needed)..
 
JD Spydo said:
Ankerson maybe you could answer this question for me :confused:?? Why on GOD's Blue Planet would Spyderco cease the production of such a great sharpening tool like they did with the 701 Profile kit???

OK I do realize that they were really Gung-Ho about the GOLDENSTONE and I believe Spyderco went on record saying that you could do anything with the GOLDENSTONE that you could do with the 701 Profiles>> but personally I beg to differ with that. For one thing the GOLDENSTONE is only offered in one grit (fine) and is very pricey compared to what you could get a set of 701 Profiles for ( med & fine).

I believe had they marketed those 701 Profiles with other trades/vocations like machinists, dentists, watchmakers ect., I believe they would have sold many more than they did. I was lucky and stocked up on 3 extra sets when I heard of them discontinuing the 701 Profile sets. But compared to the GOLDENSTONE, which I do sort of like by the way, the Profiles are much more portable and versatile and do an excellent job on serrations as well as being a very versatile tool for all kinds of jobs dealing with metal.

Hey I'm all for progress but as it stands right now I don't see how the GOLDENSTONE takes the place of the 701 Profiles. But regardless which way they go with these products they need to offer either one of them in more grit selections IMO.
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I really don't know why. :confused:
 
I use the sharpmaker with the addition of the diamond stones all the time and I use a double stuff, the 701 profile stones and a brown teardrop stone I picked up at the seconds sale that they never brought to market or something. Not sure what the story is with that brown stone but it's handy for sharpening a kukri I carry in the bush. I also have all three bench stones and they have seen a lot of use but not as much as the others.
 
JD Spydo said:
About two weeks ago I put up a thread asking some of you all which small or portable Spyderco sharpening tool you all liked and why you liked it. Albeit the response was very lackluster and it really baffled me because I know a lot of people really like Spyderco's small, portable sharpening tools :confused:.

Ok with that out of the way I would like to try another thread asking you all which Spyderco sharpening tools ( big or small) that you all like the best and why? Because I think many newcomers and even a lot of long time Spyderco fans have lost sight of the fact that Spyderco puts just as much quality in their great sharpening tools as they do their excellent quality cutlery.

Also I'm wondering if any of you are using any of Spyderco's obscure and not so well known sharpening tools like the GOLDENSTONE and DUCKFOOT as well as their "SlipStone" and their great model 302 Benchstones. It's been a while since we've compared notes on our favorite Spyderco sharpening tools so I'm interested in what you all think.

I've always loved their discontinued 701 Profiles and very much wish they would return to the market>> I use one of my 701 Profile kits almost daily>> I would hate to be without any of my 701 Profile kits. Also if you all could recommend changes or improvements to any of Spyderco's great sharpening tools then tell what you would like to see changed. And last but certainly not least has anyone heard any progress report on the upcoming GAUNTLET sharpening kit that's supposed to hit the market soon?
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Pro File set here. I think I got the last one on the Internet, too. Lol!

Badass set of stones.
 
I only have the Sharpmaker, but I think it's fantastic. It's simple to use; very intuitive with nearly no learning curve. I've mostly only used mine on VG-10 and softer steels and for those, it doesn't take much time at all to go from fairly dull to nicely sharp, so fast results is an added benefit for me.

JD Spydo said:
The 204 Sharpmaker is a superb sharpening tool and I hope you got the stones/rods you can buy extra for it like the 204 Diamond rods and the 204 Ultra-Fine stone. To me the 204 Sharpmaker is not complete without them. They also have a set of CBN ( cubic boron nitride) stones you can buy extra as well.
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I'm thinking of picking up either the diamond or CBN rods. Is there an advantage to one over the other? Maybe a better way to ask the question is is there a reason you opted for the diamond ones first?
 
AlwaysTomboy said:
I only have the Sharpmaker, but I think it's fantastic. It's simple to use; very intuitive with nearly no learning curve. I've mostly only used mine on VG-10 and softer steels and for those, it doesn't take much time at all to go from fairly dull to nicely sharp, so fast results is an added benefit for me.



I'm thinking of picking up either the diamond or CBN rods. Is there an advantage to one over the other? Maybe a better way to ask the question is is there a reason you opted for the diamond ones first?
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The 204 diamond rod and the newer CBN rods are both different animals from what I've been told by a lot of guys who have used both of them. I have not yet obtained a set of CBN rods but they are high on my list. I have heard that they are a bit more aggressive than the standard ceramic rods that Spyderco has always used with the 204 Sharpmaker.

If I were you I would go ahead and get a set of diamond rods and also a set of the Ultra-Fine rods too. Because with those two sets of rods along with the ones that came with your 204 Sharpmaker kit you can cover a wide range of different sharpening chores. Without ever using or owning the CBN stones myself I would hate to recommend you something that I haven't had the chance to use yet. Oh I'm sure the CBN stones are of high quality or Spyderco would have never made them available in the first place. But I can tell that the fine, medium, Ultra-fine and diamond are a set you just can't go wrong with. Please keep us posted and let us know what you think of them.
 
AlwaysTomboy said:
I'm thinking of picking up either the diamond or CBN rods. Is there an advantage to one over the other? Maybe a better way to ask the question is is there a reason you opted for the diamond ones first?
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Get the CBN rods.

The Diamond and CBN rods have the same grit - 400.

According to Sal, the CBN rods are made with a different process that enables the CBN particles adhere to the substrate better.

As already mentioned, get a set of coarser diamond stones like DMT or Edge Pro and rubber-band them to the SM rods for repair/reprofile work. I use DMT Aligner stones in XXCoarse (120), XCoarse (220), and Coarse (325) with my SM.

I use my SM with the Medium rods mostly in the kitchen to maintain my prep knives.
 
TravisH said:
Get the CBN rods.

The Diamond and CBN rods have the same grit - 400.

According to Sal, the CBN rods are made with a different process that enables the CBN particles adhere to the substrate better.

As already mentioned, get a set of coarser diamond stones like DMT or Edge Pro and rubber-band them to the SM rods for repair/reprofile work. I use DMT Aligner stones in XXCoarse (120), XCoarse (220), and Coarse (325) with my SM.

I use my SM with the Medium rods mostly in the kitchen to maintain my prep knives.
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You make some excellent points there "TravisH">> Because I've given up on Spyderco ever doing a coarse stone to go with the 204 Sharpmaker and for rapid stock removal of a really beat up blade you just can't beat diamond tools for that job. I own a few of DMT's products and have had decent results with them. I've also heard good reports on "Atomas">> I've had some people tell me that they are the best diamond benchstones out there.

Like I told that one Brother I've yet to get a set of CBN stones but I'm going to get them soon because every report I've gotten on them has been excellent. The 204 Sharpmaker is a great tool for touching up and fine tuning kitchen knives>> however I actually liked Spyderco's older/discontinued "Galley V" sharpening kit for medium to large sized kitchen knives even better because the stones are much larger on the Galley V kit.
 
singularity35 said:
Probably my most carried and used is the duckfoot.
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What I'm continuing to find amazing but yet confusing at the same time is that I truly hear more compliments about the DUCKFOOT than I do about the GOLDENSTONE :confused: The few guys I've met on either of these Spyderco forums that have bragged about the GOLDENSTONE I literally can count on one hand :confused: But I'm constantly running into people that still talk highly of the DUCKFOOT and it's been discontinued about as long as the 701 Profile kit has.

And what I find baffling in that regard is that Spyderco really put a lot of time, research and development into the GOLDENSTONE :confused:. Oh I tend to like both units for different reasons but there are things about the GOLDENSTONE that I find confusing>> for one thing up till now they've only made it in one grit ( fine). And you don't hear much about it from the factory at all :confused:

My impression of the GOLDENSTONE when it first came out is that I thought it was going to be the next generation of sharpening tools for them. But again personally myself I still like the 701 Profiles better in some respects. Oh well maybe there is more to come :confused:??

I actually wish they would bring back the DUCKFOOT in different diamond grits.
 
JD Spydo said:
What I'm continuing to find amazing but yet confusing at the same time is that I truly hear more compliments about the DUCKFOOT than I do about the GOLDENSTONE :confused: The few guys I've met on either of these Spyderco forums that have bragged about the GOLDENSTONE I literally can count on one hand :confused: But I'm constantly running into people that still talk highly of the DUCKFOOT and it's been discontinued about as long as the 701 Profile kit has.

And what I find baffling in that regard is that Spyderco really put a lot of time, research and development into the GOLDENSTONE :confused:. Oh I tend to like both units for different reasons but there are things about the GOLDENSTONE that I find confusing>> for one thing up till now they've only made it in one grit ( fine). And you don't hear much about it from the factory at all :confused:

My impression of the GOLDENSTONE when it first came out is that I thought it was going to be the next generation of sharpening tools for them. But again personally myself I still like the 701 Profiles better in some respects. Oh well maybe there is more to come :confused:??

I actually wish they would bring back the DUCKFOOT in different diamond grits.
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Oh don't get me wrong, I do love the goldenstone too. It's what I use most at home because the finish is what I like for an all around performer. It's just that the duckfoot being a bit more aggressive is what I bring out of the house because it can bring back an edge faster and even on high carbide volume steels.
 
singularity35 said:
Oh don't get me wrong, I do love the goldenstone too. It's what I use most at home because the finish is what I like for an all around performer. It's just that the duckfoot being a bit more aggressive is what I bring out of the house because it can bring back an edge faster and even on high carbide volume steels.
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I heard a rumor a while back, actually earlier in the year that Spyderco was planning to do another type of Duckfoot stone in either CBN or some other synthetic type abrasive. But it is still baffling to me as to why they would be so proud of the GOLDENSTONE but yet not offer any new information on it >> or even offer it in more grit selections. I can see potential in both units and I hope that they do something else with them.

But more than that I would love to see the return of the 701 Profiles also in more grit selections.
 
I love my 3" x 8" ultra fine stone. I usually put a 15 dps edge on my edc knives with my EP.
Super easy to get a tree topping edge back with this uf stone. A little pricey at around $80 but nice equipment.

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