- Joined
- Dec 31, 2010
- Messages
- 1,110
Hard for me to argue against the Spyderco sharpmaker. It truly is an outstanding product. I have moved on to hand sharpening, but still think it is an outstanding product and I still use it today.
Sharpeners
- Thread starter rmeron
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2015
- Messages
- 85
The sharpmaker is one of many systems I use to sharpen my knives. It takes time to master it. Of course I have all four grits - diamond to extra fine + stroping at the end. The advantage of the sharpmaker over the Lanski and the KME system (I have the KME with the diamond grits ) is the consistency of the sharpening angle all of the length of the blade time after time. With the Lansky and the KME it matters where exactly do you place the clamps. Change the location slightly and the angle of sharpening has changed.
To get best results with the sharpmaker you must clean the rhodes from the metal particles that accumulate on the surface. My way to clean is with toothpaste without water to begin with, and after I have rubbed the stones with the toothpaste and the paste becomes dark I rinse with water. A freshly cleaned rhode sharpens much better than when filled with metal powder.
On some knives of mine I have placed a convex grind and to do that I sharpen with sand paper placed over a mousepad, using alternating strokes going on grits from the roughest I can get up to 2500.
As everyone else has said try first on a knife you don't mind abusing. Good luck
To get best results with the sharpmaker you must clean the rhodes from the metal particles that accumulate on the surface. My way to clean is with toothpaste without water to begin with, and after I have rubbed the stones with the toothpaste and the paste becomes dark I rinse with water. A freshly cleaned rhode sharpens much better than when filled with metal powder.
On some knives of mine I have placed a convex grind and to do that I sharpen with sand paper placed over a mousepad, using alternating strokes going on grits from the roughest I can get up to 2500.
As everyone else has said try first on a knife you don't mind abusing. Good luck
I user Lansky, the guided system not the rods, as well as the Sharpmaker. However since I got the SM I've only used the Lanky where the bevel was really out of shape, typically a new knife. I bought the diamond rods for the SM, but they feel rough as hell so I can't see me using them much, for serious reshaping I'll probably still use the Lansky or bench stones.
It seems obvious, knowing how to sharpen well is an important part of knife carry. The Sharpmaker works if you have patience and get some experience with it. The diamond or cdn rods are a more useful addition to the basic set than the extra fine rods. Personally I do most of my touch ups with the medium rods. I do most of my sharpening of a dull knife with my cdn rods, then finish with the medium rods. To make sure I hitting the edge with my strokes, I use a magic marker to mark the edge of the knife.