Spydie Sharpmaker info from users of it

J

JJaggar

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Jan 15, 2015
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So i need a Sharpening System and I'm thinking of getting the Sharpmaker with the additional diamond rods. If I get the additional diamond rods will that be a total sufficient system to take a dull blade back to sharp? I'd like to hear what you all who actually own and use a Sharpmaker have to say about using it.
 
Yes.

But I went with the CBN rods. An improved manufacturing process is supposed to enable the CBN particles adhere better to the metallic substrate.

Note - the diamond and CBN rods are only 400 grit. For a very dull or damaged edge, it'd be better to start with something more coarse, like in the 200 grit range. EZE-Lap makes .25"x.25"x6" diamond files 250grit for about $10. Just rubber-band a pair to the standard SM rods.

Once sharp, the SM is a very quick and easy way to keep them sharp. The SM is my most used system.
 
I've had good results with mine and would recommend one to anyone.

There are many, many YouTube videos that will help you. I would practice on cheaper knives until you feel confident.

One key is to not let knives get super dull in the first place. More frequent touch ups will help.

Good luck with whatever you choose.
 
The Sharpmaker is super fantastic. I'm not sure it's a complete sharpening system, even with the CBN or diamond rods. Maybe. It's amazing for maintenance, touchups, and "sort of dull" sharpening. If I had to choose only one system, it would be really hard to choose between the SharpMaker with CBN rods and something more complete like HeavyHanded's Washboard System.

I recommend some kind of coarse freehand stone to augment the SM. Or maybe another system like the Washboard.

I love the SharpMaker and use it frequently.

Brian.
 
I have the sharp maker with diamond, cbn, white and brown rods. If a blade is really bad, ill use low grit wet dry paper on a flat surface like glass, then ill move on to the rods.
 
I have the diamonds and they're trashed. I start at 30 degrees with the med rods then move to the fine. Then I switch to 40 degrees with just the ultra fine rods. Good stuff
 
Save your money, they are expensive and you may not need them often. Get the basic setup see if it works for you- you can always buy the diamonds later.
 
I've got Diamond and Ultra fine, I've not used the Ultra Fine much and the diamond only a couple times. If a blade is really bad I either use a carbide cutter on cheaper ones or I have a coarse grit stone, and even sometimes my lansky. Not a fan of the diamonds myself. I bought one years ago and used the hell out of it, just recently I got lucky and got a used setup with diamond, ultra fineX2 and 2 extra both grey and white stones for a total of three full sets of the grey and white, all in a pelican case together for $50 on eBay, you can look around on there and get them used sometimes give it a try less money into it that way, I actually bought it for the extra stones.
 
I have a Sharpmaker with the basic included rods.

No complaints. Managed to reprofile a really messed up, thick edge (with lots of patience) and make another dull edge that was full of chips hair-shaving sharp. I strongly recommend it.
 
JJaggar said:
Nice that's a great idea, Rubber banding a more course ez lap file to the sm rods.
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This is what I do as well. I have the diamond rods for mine but I still mostly use a thin diamond plate from DMT and clip it to the SM rods with a large binder's clip. I think my plate is a medium. I believe they come in coarse, medium, and fine. I use the thin plates, not the large interrupted surface diamond benchstones.
 
JJaggar said:
So i need a Sharpening System and I'm thinking of getting the Sharpmaker with the additional diamond rods. If I get the additional diamond rods will that be a total sufficient system to take a dull blade back to sharp? I'd like to hear what you all who actually own and use a Sharpmaker have to say about using it.
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The short answer is get the system. Yes, you can take a dull blade back to sharp with the brown rods that come with it.

I got the diamond rods (not knowing about the potential durability issue noted here) and they worked reasonably well to reprofile an S90V blade. Still took a bit of work, but let's just say they make it possible.
 
I have the SM with diamond rods. I've used them (diamond rods) on dull kitchen knives they work but take awhile. My folders are kept sharp so the occasional touch up on white stones works great.
 
aquaman67 said:
I would practice on cheaper knives until you feel confident.

One key is to not let knives get super dull in the first place. More frequent touch ups will help.

Good luck with whatever you choose.
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Agreed. I practiced on some cheap folders to get the hang of it at first.
 
A lot of the success or not of the SM is whether the knife you're sharpening already has a 20 degree or less edge bevel. If it's over 20 degrees per side, you may be sharpening a while if it's the only system you're using, diamond/cbn rods or not. The only thing wrong with the SM is the lack of different angles. I would never be able to sharpen some of my thick fixed blade knives on it for instance; they are set at 25 degrees per side.
 
Definitely recommend getting the diamond stones. I'm a complete amateur and I took a butter knife dull kitchen knife to really sharp with the diamonds. I was having no luck until I got them
 
I cannot image going back to the SM without the diamond or CBN rods. The basic set was beyond frustrating on some knives; It can't reprofile with the med. rods within a reasonable time (hours, not minutes). The ultra-fine rods are nice to have. You can take the edge to a new level with them.
 
I have a Sharpmaker and use it all the time with my EDC folders. It is a great tool and I like it a lot. That being said...

- It is not that great for re-profiling, even with diamond rods.
- If you must use a Sharpmaker to re-profile, wrap the rods with coarse sandpaper. IME, that works better than the diamond rods and is cheaper. To put it another way, the diamond rods just are not that great and cost too much.
- Unless your edge is less than 20dps / 40 inclusive, you will need to re-profile. Your Sharpmaker will not work unless your edge is less than 20dps / 40 inclusive. Almost every "my Sharpmaker isn't working" story seems to be due to overly obtuse edge geometry.
- You can get a relatively dull blade sharp with the brown rods. If it is really dull, it might take some time.
- You can get a blade sharp enough to shave and cut phone book paper with the fine white rods.
- IMHO, the super fine white rods are fine, but not worth the money. Again, you can get a blade REALLY sharp with just the standard kit.

So, in my opinion the standard Sharpmaker kit will do almost everything you want. If you need to do more than that, look at a KME (or comparable) system.
 
Yes, the Sharpmaker can take a knife from dull to super sharp using diamond through ultrafine rods.

No, the diamond rods are not necessary to do this. But it speeds things up.

The ultrafine rods are not necessary either. But you'll probably see an improvement in sharpness using them.

Before there were diamond rods and CBN rods and ultrafine rods, people got their knives sharp using the standard setup. Just takes longer.
 
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