Surefire Delta Fixed (EW-06) Sharpening

J

johnod1983

Joined
Aug 4, 2011
Messages
5
Hi Everyone, I'm new to the knife world and just received Delta Fixed knife as a gift before heading over to the sandbox. The knife seems well constructed and fits great on my tactical gear. Now I just need to figure out the best way to keep it sharp.

The blade is s30v steel and from what I've read should hold a great edge.

I'm looking at buying the spyderco sharpmaker kit, and don't know if I should use the 30 or 40 degree setup. Also, I'll be on the move alot and am looking for a sharpener that i can thow in my bag, or clip to my gear. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for all the great info!

Capt John O'Driscoll.

Surefire Website
 
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Well, there are a couple possible answers to your question there. The Sharpmaker will do just fine (albeit slowly) on S30V, but as to which angle to use? That will depend on the blade geometry to start out with. The Sharpmaker is a fine tool for maintaining an edge, but if you have to do any re-profiling or trying to work out a nick in the blade, it will have you swearing pretty quickly. You can clip sandpaper to the rods to increase the grit and partially compensate for that, if you need to.

Given your requirements, I'd be tempted by the DMT Magnaguide/aligner setup. It is quite a bit more versatile than the Sharpmaker for that kind of job, and the coarse diamond stones offer the ability to profile and repair that the Sharpmaker lacks. Alternately, if you have a good touch and are willing to spend some time learning, the DMT DiaFolds are quite good, and far more portable than any guided system. Get one of the double-sided ones in coarse and fine, and a EF / EEF and you're good to go for sharpening darn near everything. If you pick the MagnaGuide instead of the Aligner, you can easily take just the DiaFolds with you when you don't want the whole kit along.

MagnaGuide
 
+1 for the MagnaGuide with the Dia-Folds. A lot more versatile than the Sharpmaker, and quite easy to learn & use. The hones are excellent, and will re-profile any steel you put to 'em (starting at the Coarse grit at least). Two Dia-Folds, in C/F (Blue/Red, 45/25 micron) and EF/EEF (Green/Tan, 9/3 micron) will handle virtually anything you have. The magnaguide is pretty good at replicating good free-hand technique too. So, when you get comfortable with the feel of sharpening with it, it won't be quite so hard to transition to free-handing with the very same hones. It's a very well-thought-out system.
 
Right on guys. I'm sold on your expert advice. I'll pick some up right away. I have a few cheaper knives to learn on before I tackle the $300+ surefire.

Thanks for all the help!
 
johnod1983 said:
Right on guys. I'm sold on your expert advice. I'll pick some up right away. I have a few cheaper knives to learn on before I tackle the $300+ surefire.

Thanks for all the help!
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You are very wise, good sir. :)

I neglected to mention, earlier, Welcome to the Forum!! And thank you for your service. :thumbup:
 
I've been looking at the DMT Magna-Guide and it has 7 different angles that it can sharpen to. What is the right or wrong answer for a particular knife? I can't find any info on my particular knife. -1 for surefire not publishing the blade angle! Maybe if I emailed customer service?
 
johnod1983 said:
I've been looking at the DMT Magna-Guide and it has 7 different angles that it can sharpen to. What is the right or wrong answer for a particular knife? I can't find any info on my particular knife. -1 for surefire not publishing the blade angle! Maybe if I emailed customer service?
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Go freehand unless you must have a guide. It will be easier and less confusing.

The angle will be whatever the person who sharpened it set it at. The factory will tell you a number simply to make you happy.
 
You can mark the edge with a sharpie and when you remove up to the edge you found the right angle. Then just make sure you raise a burr and your good to go. Welcome to the forum and Godspeed.
 
Yup! ^ That.

A sharpie is worth it's weight in gold when you're sharpening, it can tell you all kinds of useful things. Just use your finest stone, and make a couple sweeps, then see where the marker is removed. If it's up toward the spine of the blade and the edge is still coloured, you need to move the rod up to the next hole farther from the clamp. If it's only taken off at the edge, you need to move the rod down a hole toward the clamp. Also, don't be surprised if both edges aren't exactly the same angle. Factory edges in general seem to be really casual about being even and consistent, even from very good makers.
 
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