I have a sharpmaker with the standard rods. Are the fine rods more course than the 1200 ceramic steel from edge pro? What grit are the Extra Fine Hones? I have been using the edgepro steel to finish as I feel it is giving better results. Just curious if anyone can confirm my beliefs.
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What grit is sharpmaker fine?
- Thread starter CMSpeedy
- Start date
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- Apr 27, 1999
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The standard Spyderco Sharpmaker setup comes with "medium" and "fine" rated rods. I find that for slicing work the medium rods leave a very effective cutting surface. For kitchen utility work which is a mix of slicing and push cutting the fine rods leave just about an optimum edge finish. I was surprised when I bought a couple Sharpmaker "ultra fine" rods that they did improve shaving and push cutting sharpness significantly over the fine rods. My experience is that the edge finish is finer than you would expect from grit ratings. Ceramic rod grit rating is a misnomer anyway. They generally start with a relatively coarse grit and fire it to the finish that they want. The grit is fused in a way that doesn't match the microstructure of other hones. You kind of need to try them to judge how they work in practice.
Ceramic sharpening rods are the product that launched Spyderco as a business. I used several brands of ceramic rod sharpeners before I tried a Sharpmaker. I was surprised that I got a better edge finish using the Sharpmaker. I think that the flats of the triangle rods leave a better finish than round rods. It is very easy to apply too much pressure using round rods. The round contour applies honing force in a narrow section of the blade which easily causes overstress.
I also think that Spyderco has a great source of ceramic technology. I don't think that most people know that Coors (also in Golden Colorado) was a pioneer in high tech ceramics. I think that some of it comes from work on ceramic filters for their draft brewing process. As I recall they have made substrates for hybrid microelectronics. They still manufacture things like ceramic labware. I don't think that it was a coincidence that Spyderco ended up in Golden. I think that the Spyderco ceramic hones are highly optimised. When I do need round rod sharpeners I tend to get them from Colorado Ceramic Abrasives in Conifer about 20 miles south of Golden.
Ceramic sharpening rods are the product that launched Spyderco as a business. I used several brands of ceramic rod sharpeners before I tried a Sharpmaker. I was surprised that I got a better edge finish using the Sharpmaker. I think that the flats of the triangle rods leave a better finish than round rods. It is very easy to apply too much pressure using round rods. The round contour applies honing force in a narrow section of the blade which easily causes overstress.
I also think that Spyderco has a great source of ceramic technology. I don't think that most people know that Coors (also in Golden Colorado) was a pioneer in high tech ceramics. I think that some of it comes from work on ceramic filters for their draft brewing process. As I recall they have made substrates for hybrid microelectronics. They still manufacture things like ceramic labware. I don't think that it was a coincidence that Spyderco ended up in Golden. I think that the Spyderco ceramic hones are highly optimised. When I do need round rod sharpeners I tend to get them from Colorado Ceramic Abrasives in Conifer about 20 miles south of Golden.
Thanks Jeff that was very informative. It also explains why they don't give grit ratings like a wetstone. I'm sure they will work great. I went ahead and ordered them from NGK. I have the ability to put a highly polished edge with my edge pro. I plan on using the ultrafines for touching up my highly polished blades.