Spyderco Knife Sharpener Tri-angle Sharpmaker Used to Sharpen Hunting Knives & Self Sharpening Knife by Using Ceramic Knife Sharpening Stone

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Edge leading strokes use a motion like you are trying to slice slivers off your stones with your knife. Actual cutting performance (so not necessarely hair splitting sharpness) and edge retention can (but does not have to) be better when finishing with a coarser grit. See this thread where people way more knowledgeable than I am talk about this very topic: viewtopic.php?t=85096

Get those diamond and/or CBN rods for the Sharpmaker. This may not be essential right off the bat but I highly recommend them for the long run especially for repairing serration edge damage. Again...you may not need anything more than the Sharpmaker and these stones depending on what steels you have. You could get by with only the Sharpmaker/CBN/diamond rods if you mostly use and carry Salts for example. Kmesharp.com sells diamond "Gold" stones from 50 grit to 1500 grit, then diamond lapping films down to .1 micron, as well as kangaroo leather strops and CBN emulsion down to .1 micron. They are expensive but will do the job. You can sharpen at 15 degrees or 20 degrees, either angle works for knives ground at 15 degrees. Sharpening at 15 degrees takes a bit more time but provides superior cutting ability. Sharpening at 20 degrees is faster, gives you a stronger edge, but reduces cutting ability a bit. I sharpen the majority of mine at 15 degrees, with rough use knives / beaters getting a 20 degree edge. Hello folks. I have a vast knowledge deficit when it comes to sharpening. In particular, from various readings, I'm getting the (perhaps wrong-headed) idea that there are steels that are ceramic "friendly" and steels that are not, that should rather be sharpened with diamond or CBN instead.

Spyderco Sharpmaker Review – Final Thoughts

I have a Nikon microscope with variable power and several eyepieces that gives 10x-80x magnification. This is not the fingernail or finger print test. While I love a good deal as much as the next person I also realize that tools are important and I'm OK with paying more for the high quality when it comes to tools, which I plan to have and use for a long time. Because the Medium stones on the 204 Sharpmaker are priced low enough that you don't have to lap them. It saves me a lot of time. I've even had to replace one of the medium stones on one set of my Spyderco 302 Benchstones. Even though the medium stones will wear over time it takes a while before they need replacing. Albeit if I could do it really efficiently I would be open to suggestions and time saving methods I may not be aware of. What Sal shows is extremely conservative in that very, very old video which supersedes current steel technology.

I'd personally start with the SiCs to do any heavy reprofiling or chip repair due to their lower cost. The 50 and 100 gold stones aren't much faster than the 140 honestly and the SiC should be a similar speed. Then I'd move to the 600 and 1500 kme gold stones which I've found to be very nice and high quality. After that I'd microbevel on the sharpmaker rods of your choice, depending on whether you want a toothy or fine edge.

What You Get

I knew your vid already before, tried your method with the just one sharpmaker rod, and prefer it over the method shown in the sharpmaker instructional DVD (which I just watched again, had already forgotten many of the things said there) The system is made up of two sets of ceramic stones, one brown colored rough set for the heavy work and one white colored fine set for the finishing job. The triangular shape of the stones allows you to sharpen both plain and serrated edges by using the flat sides and the corners. It’s an oil-free system so forget about buying any honing oil as it’s simply not needed. The system also comes with brass rods which act as a safety barrier to ensure your delicate hands are well protected. In fact, it’s near-on impossible to cut yourself using this system. Probably not necessary for every user, but the ultra fine rods aren't very expensive and do produce an even finer degree of sharpness and can yield a polished edge. While I wouldn’t call myself a knife sharpening professional, I can certainly keep a blade sharp, and I have tried a number of different sharpening kits over the years.

I somehow found myself with a burgeoning little collection of Spydercos. I'd had a Native for many years without much thought about collecting, per se. It was a tool and when one broke I'd get another. Fast forward to today and I am enjoying my knives so much that I find myself buying ones without any specific purpose in mind other than the fact that I like em. There can be no doubt the Sharpmaker is superb but to get the best out of it takes time, feel and honestly an up and down scrubbing motion which requires experience and feel to get just right then it is most incredible indeed.Could you maybe as an example tell me: When sharpening on a sharpmaker rod, how exactly do edge leading strokes look like, and how edge trailing? For flexible blades, you only use the corners (steps 1 and 3) as it is difficult to keep the edge sitting on the flat surfaces. Bloke is right that the diamond and CBN rods are useful for reprofiling. They also help a lot with extremely hard steels. If I ever get a knife with ZDP-189, I'll get one of these rod sets myself. And practicing with cheap knives first is good advice. Practice being consistent. Take your time it’s not a race. Understand what a burr is. With a little bit of practice honestly just a few knives your edge will look like it was done on a guided system. In the video we see Sypderco founder and R&D lead, Sal Glesser who runs you through everything you need to know as a sharpening noob. He begins discussing a bit of history about knife maintenance and goes on to describe the four main knife-grind types. He then details how knife sharpening devices have evolved over time which is rather interesting. You can really tell that Sypderco doesn’t just want to sell you something…they want to educate you on why their products are so effective.