Spyderco sharpening angle

Noddy

Noddy

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Jul 13, 2006
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I have a small pile of sharpening to do over the next few days - two of which are Spydercos which I have never sharpened yet.

Something occurred to me

I wondered if anyone knew if the bevels of all Spyderco knives sharpened to the same angle?

Or; as the SharpMaker might suggest, are there two angles used, or more, even? :eek::D

If so, how does a person tell which angle is used on which model?

Thanks for any help here :D :)
 
Almost all factory knives are sharpened by hand with the aid of power equipment.

So in other words, it could be any number of angles and even be different per side.

Its always best to establish your own bevel on a knife.
 
That's usually the thing I do - but with a diamond hone set to the same angle as the Sharpmaker :D

Sage advice, knifeknut. Thanks

I think what I am really asking is whether the two settings on the Sharpmaker signify anything about Spyderco's manufacturing processes :)

For example, looking at a Caly 3 with a magnifier after sharpening on the fine angle, it is clear that the edge has been brough into a good alignment

On a Millie however, on the same angle, it is clear that the only thing realigned has been the shoulders of the bevel :lol: :lol:
 
A lot of Spydies come from the factory with a 15 or there about degrees per side. There are variances but it's been pretty close in my experience.
 
Just about all of the Spyderco's (and other brands) I've bought had angles >40* inclusive which is why I gave up trying to use a Sharpmaker. Like knifenut said, they're sharpened freehand so it really varies greatly.
 
Factory edges are going to vary from knife to knife and even from side to side on the same blade.
 
kya said:
Just about all of the Spyderco's (and other brands) I've bought had angles >40* inclusive which is why I gave up trying to use a Sharpmaker. Like knifenut said, they're sharpened freehand so it really varies greatly.
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This may be true in some cases, but you should make sure you are holding the blade truly perpendicular to the base, before coming to this conclusion. I've found that tilting the blade inward, slightly past what you perceive as perpendicular, can make all the difference.
 
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catamount123 said:
This may be true in some cases, but you should make sure you are holding the blade truly perpendicular to the base, before coming to this conclusion. I've found that tilting the blade inward, slightly past what you perceive as perpendicular, can make all the difference.
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Yes, I know that the blade needs to be held perpendicular to the base, but that's not the issue. A couple of Spyderco's (and others) have been under 40*, but it's really all just luck of the draw for the most part. QC probably does come into play, but I doubt they're too strict on the angles.
 
Doing the sharpie test on my Goddard Jr (it's a combo edge, I'm not sure if that has something to do with it), I found that it had different angles on the sides. It took me a while to straighten it out.
 
I've had the complete opposite result from spyderco knives, kya.

Every spyderco I've bought, except for one, the edge would be sharpened on the 30° angle, meaning the edge was LESS than 30° total from the factory. My one spyderco that would only hit the shoulder of the bevel was my Centofante 4, which also has the thinnest edge I've ever seen from a factory pocket knife, so that's kinda strange....

But even that one gets sharpened on the 40° setting, meaning it's somewhere above 30 but below 40 degrees....
 
That just backs up the point I (and others) were trying to make. The sharpening job can vary greatly.
 
Factory edges do vary. That's why I reprofile all my blades to 30 degrees. If you don't reprofile and true up the edges, the fixed-angel sharpeners are not likely to work properly.

And the same goes with freehanding. If all your factory edges are sharpened to different angles, even from side to side on the same knife, good luck developing the muscle memory to hold the proper angle. (Some people say they can find the edge angle by feel or sound, but that's not easy.)
 
Ok, for a new guy, is this anything I need to worry about? I am looking for a sharpening system, will have a Delica FFG and a Peristence and want to keen up some kitchen knifes. Still get the Sypderco Sharpmaker or get a waterstone, like a Norton 220/1000, or the Smith 3-in-1 system?
 
Yes get the Sharpmaker :) But, just remember you will end up with Japanese waterstones, Lanskys, Arkansas stones, diamond and ceramic hones, metres of micromesh, polishing compounds, strops, mousemats and all sorts of other things before too long :D:D
 
Noddy said:
Yes get the Sharpmaker :) But, just remember you will end up with Japanese waterstones, Lanskys, Arkansas stones, diamond and ceramic hones, metres of micromesh, polishing compounds, strops, mousemats and all sorts of other things before too long :D:D
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Just curious, but what is micromesh? Never heard of that before and I have the majority of the different sharpening supplies available. Just wondering what I'm missing.
 
I can get all my Spydercos sharp on the sharpmaker...Benchmade is another story, too much work I guess.
 
Fredde90210 said:
I can get all my Spydercos sharp on the sharpmaker...Benchmade is another story, too much work I guess.
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Benchmades seem to come with a large factory edge angle -- at least mine have. In this case, your Sharpmaker will just be rounding the shoulder of the edge and not making it sharper. That's why you'll do better if you match the angle of the stone to the angle of the edge. You can do that by changing the angle of the stone or reprofiling the edge.
 
I completely reprofiled the edges of a Chris Reeve Sebenza and an old Benchmade Stryker using just the Sharpmaker (dark rods). Admittedly, it took quite some time, off and on, over days and/or weeks, to remove the thick shoulders to get to the edge itself. Of course, I did not do this for more than maybe 15 minutes at a time. I did it to see if I could. Also because I was afraid of removing too much metal at once. I reprofiled the bevels at 30 inclusive and finished the edges at 40 degrees inclusive.

My Seb originally came with very thick, convex bevels, and now they are still a bit convex, but much thinner. The Stryker's factory edge had come so thick it was barely an edge; I could run my thumb along it and not be cut. Now its bevels are slightly convex but thin and it cuts nicely.

I haven't had any difficulty with resharpening any Spydercos with the Sharpmaker, except an older, ATS-55, SS Dragonfly PE. For some reason, that one does not want to get sharp. And it's hardly ever been used.
Jim
 
I had an older ATS-55 Delica that was also big trouble trying to get a decent edge on the Sharpmaker. Marked it with a marker and I could see it was hitting the edge at 40 degrees but it still would simply not get sharp. Ended up giving the knife away.

My BM 710 did have a very obtuse grind and needed to be reprofiled. I have recently bought a set of diamond rods which really does help.
 
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