Thanks for the help......Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker

F

Ford1911

Joined
Jul 29, 2007
Messages
366
Just wanted to thank people on this forum for providing great advise.
I have never been able to sharpen a knife well.

I tried stones and steel's.
I could never get the angle right and consistent.

I tried a Lansky.
It worked ok, I found it difficult to get some of my knives to stay in the knife clamp and then it broke after a few uses.

I tried a Presto Electric Knife Sharpener.
It got great reviews on Amazon. This was the biggest mistake, and most here advised against an Electric. I said screw it after the Lansky broke on me and got one. Yeah, this thing ruins more knives than it sharpens.

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!

I got the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker.
HOLY COW. I can get knives shaving sharp with this thing. It even re sharpened the blades that the Electric Knife sharpener ruined. Although, I will never get that steel back :mad:

So if you have problems getting a knife sharp. I highly recommend the Sharpmaker. Very easy to use and it actually works.
 
Well done! The SM definitely has it's place in the sharpening toolkit, and is very handy in the right circumstance.

I'd suggest that you hang on to some of your other gear (but ditch the electric). Some of the coarser hones/stones you have might be useful for heavier grinding jobs down the road. The SM's biggest limitation is in heavy grinding and re-bevelling tasks (it's very slow for this). If you hang around here long enough, and find some inspiration to keep learning, you may someday find those other tools to be much more useful than you originally thought they were. I still have all the sharpening gear I accumulated over 20+ years, and I'm finding that I'm glad I held onto it (for the most part ;)).

What part of your Lansky broke? I'm betting Lansky will replace it, if you contact them.


David
 
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It was the screw with the red handle at the back of the clamp. I am sure I could fix it. I just had one of those screw it moments and never used it again. lol.
I couldn't get a knife as sharp with it as I can with the Sharpmaker even when it was working well.

My fear with the Sharpmaker was I was going to have to buy the Diamond rods as well. So far I have got everything in my house sharp enough to shave hair.
That includes all the kitchen knives, my Beckers 9's and 2's, A couple Mora's, my Benchmade Adamas ( scary how sharp I have got that thing). The only knives I have not been able to get razor sharp are some cheaper knives I have that are simply stamped Stainless Steel on the blades. They are sharp now, just not as sharp as the above mentioned knives. Maybe those need the diamond rods, but for now I am not worried about them.
 
The steel of the 'cheaper' knives might benefit from a coarser finish. It often doesn't respond well to high finish (as the SM's ceramic rods would do), in terms of cutting performance. If you think you'll eventually get the diamond rods anyway, I'm sure they'd work fine for those. But, if looking at them only for the sake of the cheap knives, it may be more expense than is necessary. I've settled back into using wet/dry sandpaper on softer stainless like the type in cheaper kitchen knives. That could be used with the SM, by attaching or wrapping the paper around the rods. I've found that 320-grit works very well on my cheap stainless kitchen knives.

The screws for the Lansky clamp are a standard size & pitch (10-24), with the oversized head and knurled knob being the only non-standard thing about them. I replaced the screws on mine, in order to reduce the height & profile of that oversized head on them (helps at lower sharpening angles, if the taller/larger screws get in the way of the guide rod & hone):


David
 
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