What angle on my Sharpmaker should I use?

bladeprince

bladeprince

Joined
Jun 12, 2006
Messages
956
Howdy,

My first post to the Sebenza forum because I've never owned one until a couple of days ago. I've always wanted one but considering the price and the quality of many of today's production knives, I was satisfied with my current collection (which continues to grow even though I have more knives then a small army would need).

Well, I ran acrossed a very lightly used large classic on Ebay last week and thought I'd go for it. It had been carried but the blade never used. I was happy to pick it up for only $234. Now I want to touch up the edge of the blade just a bit becaue I bought this knife to be a "user" and not a "looker". It feels great in the pocket and, yes, I'm really enjoying it. I'm sure it won't be my last. Enough said....

Question: When using my Spyderco Sharpmaker, should the angle be 40 degrees or 30 degrees?

Regards and many thanks
 
magic marker the edge first, who knows what the previous owner did.

I think you'll find 30 total or 15 per side is quite a bit less then factory angles now=a=days.
 
I just checked the CRK website, S30V can take 30 Degree, which is very sharp. I've sharped my user sharper than factory. But is up to you what you do to your knife.
What is the best way to keep my Chris Reeve Knife sharp?

One important thing to remember with any knife is to maintain the edge - it is better to keep it reasonably sharp rather than let it get completely dull and then try to get the edge back. To maintain an optimal cutting edge on a Chris Reeve knife, we recommend the use of the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker or a Lansky Sharpener. If you prefer to use a stone, the angle at which to sharpen will be best achieved at 18 - 20 degrees.

We will sharpen any knife we have made free of charge. We ask only that you pay for the return shipping. Simply return the knife (in its sheath if applicable), make sure that you include your address and phone number and we will restore that famous, hair-popping sharp, Chris Reeve Knives edge.
Click to expand...
 
Oddly enough, on this particular model, I found it to take a nicer edge on a 40 degree edge versus 40 on the SharpMaker where as all other S30V blades have done better on a 30. It must be the edge geometry but it is sharp!!!:p
 
30 degrees on the Sharpmaker is combined, as in 15 degrees per side. So no, 30 degrees is not closer to the Sebenza - they are ground at 20-21 degrees (which included is close to 40 degrees). It would take forever in order to make the edge contact the ceramic rods if they are set on 30 degrees. If you want to reprofile on something like the EdgePro, or freehand stones, or maybe even the diamond rods for the Sharpmaker (even those would take a while).

I sharpen at 40 degrees and apply a 45 degree microbevel.
 
django post has me thinking ??? I am about to sharpen my small sebenza on my sharpmaker and was going to use the 30 like spyderco suggest. Guess there blades are that angle.
Think django has changed my mind???? Think I'll hold off and see what some more think on this important subject.
 
Marker it first and see where it rubs off first.

I think you'll find 30 setting will hit the shoulders only, not the edge. If you want 30 or 15 per side, I'd reccommend some other system to take the shoulders down first.

I used a diamond lansky to bring the angle down.
 
Ken44 said:
django post has me thinking ??? I am about to sharpen my small sebenza on my sharpmaker and was going to use the 30 like spyderco suggest. Guess there blades are that angle.
Think django has changed my mind???? Think I'll hold off and see what some more think on this important subject.
Click to expand...

Spyderco suggests using the 40 degree slots, and if that doesn't produce desired results, you can change to the 30, spend about ten hours of your life, and end up with a blade ground to 30 degrees.
 
I use the 40 degree spot on my Sharpmaker. I have a large Classic in BG42.
Don't run the tip off the edge as it will round it, though.

(learned the hard way)
 
I thinned the edge of my large regular Sebenza using the dark Sharpmaker rods only at the 30 degree angles, then finished the edge at 40 degrees. It did take a loooong time to thin the edge enough to be able to do this with mine, but now I know I can do it. It took many hours spread out over many days (not always consecutive). I may someday thin it out a bit more again, but for now it's performing fine.
Jim
 
Wow. That must have taken forever :eek:

But now you have a 30 degree Sebenza with a 40 degree microbevel :thumbup:
 
I touch up all my sebenzas at the 40 degree angle and it gets them screaming sharp very easily.

James Y, if you get the diamond rods for your sharpmaker you could reprofile a sebenza in 15 or 20 minutes instead of hours.
 
I've heard people say that it still takes an hour or two even with the diamond rods.
 
Excellent points posted and my experience mirrors much of what has been posted. I started to use the greys to take the edge to 30 and realized it was going to be a long process. This gave me the incentive to get the diamond rods and yes it still took some time but went way faster.

For me I use the edge at 30 degrees with 4 or 5 light passes on the flats of the whites at 40 degrees.:thumbup:
 
Django606:
If anything, the experience was great for my self-confidence; previously I was really afraid to do it, fearful I might ruin my Sebbie. Then you just dive in and do it. Though the edge is still slightly convex, at least it's a thinner convex. Prior to reprofiling my Sebbie, I had reprofiled an extremely dull Benchmade Stryker, Buck Odyssey, Emerson CQC7-A, etc., strictly with the Sharpmaker's dark rods. But as ubernut mentioned, do not run the tip off the rods or you can round the tip; luckily I've avoided that.
Foldersforever:
I've been planning to get the Sharpmaker diamond rods but keep putting it off. Looks like I'll have to just take the plunge sometime this year.
Jim
 
I've never reprofiled a sebenza but I have used the diamond rods to reprofile a couple of William Henry knives and I'm sure it didn't take more that 30 minutes per knife max.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top