Spyderco Sharpmaker Review

1

123tjd

Joined
Apr 6, 2007
Messages
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Well today my sharpmaker arrived which I bought on reccomendation of many members from this forum. I was a little worried that I would need to reshape the blade as one edge was straight ground at quite an obtuse angle and one edge almost rounded. However after watching the VERY informative DVD I sharpened the knife from extremely dull to hair shaving sharp!

I performed the entire process several times and after less than an hour have a knife that will shave my leg bald quite easily indeed!

I would highly reccomend this sharpener!
 
You are preaching to a very convinced choir here my friend ;) The only gripe I have about the Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker is that I wish that they would have a coarse or extra coarse stone for more rapid stock removal for a really dinged up blade. However a guy/gal can always get a Norton or 3M benchstone to accomplish that chore.

I certainly without any reservation think that the Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker is the best portable sharpening unit out there on the open market period. You hit on one point that most people just don't get for the most part. You did say that you intently studied the instructional DVD that comes with the unit. It just amazes me to no end that when I talk to people who tell me that they either don't like the unit or just can't get good results from the unit that when you start talking to them you realize in about 5 minutes that they did not view the DVD nor did they even read the instruction booklet either.

There was an old shop teacher I had way back in high school ( the Mesozoic Era :D ) and he said this very profound statement over and over to us students>> "IF NOTHING ELSE WORKS THEN TRY FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS" Until I viewed the video twice and spent about 3 hours in the book one day I had a bit of trouble at first. But the instructions are very easy to apply. I hope you get many good years of service from your 204 unit. JD
 
123tjd said:
Well today my sharpmaker arrived which I bought on reccomendation of many members from this forum. I was a little worried that I would need to reshape the blade as one edge was straight ground at quite an obtuse angle and one edge almost rounded. However after watching the VERY informative DVD I sharpened the knife from extremely dull to hair shaving sharp!

I performed the entire process several times and after less than an hour have a knife that will shave my leg bald quite easily indeed!

I would highly reccomend this sharpener!
Click to expand...

Great! I know most people here like it but I'm looking to buy as well. My inquiry the other day also got several encouragements.

Where did you buy it?
 
http://www.newgraham.com/ Is an awesome place to buy from. They have great prices. I would also recommend picking up the Ultra Fine rods too while you are at it. You will be very happy that you did.
 
I watched the DVD and read the instruction booklet and was still unimpressed with the sharpmaker. The coarse stone isn't coarse enough and gets loaded up too quickly and the angles are way too obtuse. I know you can put things under it to change the angles but I don't want to have to get out a scientific calculator to sharpen a knife. I really don't know why everyone raves about it. In my opinion, it's a mediocre system put out by a fantastic company.
 
I have a Lansky, an EdgePro, a Sharpmaker, and a growing collection of stones, strops, and steels. They're all fun to play with. When I just need to bring an edge back and don't have time to play around, I grab the Sharpmaker. Works great for me.
 
I bought mine from an ebay store seller (I live in Australia where these sharpeners are quite hard to find) called 'tassienerrie' or something. I got it for about 60 US including express shipping so I was very happy.

I am an absolute novice sharpener with regular stones however I musts ay that for a beginner, I was shocked at my results- even without the fine rods!

I had to sharpen an old kitchen knife with a much too obtuse edge and this needed to be reshaped first which took no time at all with a cheap coarse stone I found lying around.

Overall I would say it is cheap, quick, easy to use and very effective. Again I was glad someone reccomended it on these forums!
 
Laceration said:
I watched the DVD and read the instruction booklet and was still unimpressed with the sharpmaker. The coarse stone isn't coarse enough and gets loaded up too quickly and the angles are way too obtuse. I know you can put things under it to change the angles but I don't want to have to get out a scientific calculator to sharpen a knife. I really don't know why everyone raves about it. In my opinion, it's a mediocre system put out by a fantastic company.
Click to expand...

When I need to "put" an edge on a knife, I use the GATCO system, which is a variation of the Lansky except better IMO. Also, GATCO recently substantially improved the system and kept the price the same. (I use the 19 degree angle, generally.)

For giving a very sharp edge to a blade that already has a reasonably sharp edge and a good bevel, the Sharpmaker is a good tool indeed.
 
I was out grabbing the mail just before and I decided to do my best lyn thompson impersonation on some rope I found lying about. I hung it over a tree branch so two lengths of rope were free hanging at eye line, both were approx 1.2 cm (about 1/2 inch) thick and my flash II went through both with ease, and that was 5 cm from the ends of the rope with obviously very little support.

I dont have the ultra fine rods yet but even on the medium stones (let alone the fine stones)I can shave with it.
 
Hm, im also having trouble with my sharpmaker.
I just can't get any blades shaving sharp.
I've got a BM fecas gamer, and i just can't get it shaving sharp with the sharpmaker. I tryd lots of stuff... had a few 10-minute sessions with the medium stone and it didn't feel like its been getting any sharper. Later i even tryd fixing a metal file to the stones with ducttape and using it as a substitute for the raw diamond stones.
Didn't feel like i had any success. Been sharpening it for 10 minutes on the fixed file, 10 minutes on the medium stones, 10 minutes on the fine stones.. still won't shave.

I've thought ok, no chance and pretty much gave up on the BM.
Later i've gotten an Spyderco Endura wave.. thought... ok, this one has the right angles! Lets give it a try! Well... gave it about 5 minutes on medium, 5 on fine. Didn't even feel like it got any sharper.

So... if im doing something wrong, i've got no idea what it is. Been watching the DVD before i started using the sharpmaker. The only thing that i ever been able to sharpen noticeable where some rather dull kitchen knifes.
Maybe my hair is just weird... been thinking about getting the ultrafine rods, but with the minimal success that i had so far, im not sure if i should invest even more into the sharpmaker.
 
For those that aren't having sucess with the sharpmaker. Try this, when I first got mine, I could not sharpen anything for a few hours. It takes a little time to learn how to use it.

1)Take a Sharpie or any permanent marker. Mark the entire edge of the blade. (Not the WHOLE blade, just the edge)
2) Take a few light storkes on the brown rods.
3) Look at the blade and see where the sharpmaker has removed the marker. If the once dark edge is now shiny, than you are good to go. If the edge isnt shiny and that the shoulders are, you now know that you need to take down the shoulders a bit so you can reach the edge. I would reccomend using a benchstone to remove the shoulders. You can do it with the brown rods, but this will take a while.

If you read the booklet that came with it, the picture is on page 6 2nd from the bottom. It says "Removing Shoulders 30." This is what I'm refering to when I say shoulders. Also, have you both tried rubbing the brown rods together to break them in like the DVD tells you to do?

Also, try to hold a mirror infront of the sharpmaker to see if your hand is vertial.
 
When I need a MEAT EATER for my dullest I use this followed by my Sharpmaker. A touch up on the Sharpmaker every week or two on an EDC will keep it like new.

severtech2.jpg
 
I like my Sharpmaker---but agree---the coarse and x-fine rods should be thrown in with the "system"----I'd gladly pay the extra to do without the hassle of rounding up the extra rods--plus it would all fit in the case to boot.
 
The advice that really helped me (that I got from these boards) was:

Don't move on to the next stage until, for example you can cut paper easily after stage 1, and shave semi effectively after stage 2.

Press lightly! Especially on the fine stones. I started to do maybe ten SUPER light strokes on stages 3 and 4 and then my blade was shaving ridiculously well.

Also clean the rods. Even after about an hours use I cleaned mine and it made quite a difference especially if youve sharpened dull knives.

Hope this helps, Tom
 
I have seen the Severtech sharpener in several posts in different places but can't find anything about it on their website. Where is it available or is it? What's the minimum angle available using it?

I can see that at some point the back stops or the clamps are going to get in the way but I can't seem to find out any true information on it. Availability or price or supplier. This maybe the sharpener for a one armed friend of mine if it goes low enough.
 
After reading several posts on the topic, I decided to use wet and dry paper (400 grit) to rebevel one other sog knife I had at 15 degrees with the egde at 20 degrees. The process of rebeveling took about 15 minutes plus about 5 minutes set up. Now the knife shaves perfectly from heel to tip on both sides even without the ultra fine rods.
 
I watched the DVD twice, spent hours with the instruction book attempting to sharpen knives. To date number of knives successfully sharpened = zero.

I had previously used a cheap Byers brand knife sharpener (portable fixed angle type). This takes less than 30 seconds and works! You just draw the unit across the blade 3-4 times & you are done. Now it is by no means “scary sharp.” And experts say this type is garbage. It does allow knives to shave paper from the edge. Probably “only” a utility edge. Step two of four when using the Spyderco Tri-Angle SharpMaker 204. Well I am unable to get even close to shaving paper with the SharpMaker. Despite MUCH more cost, time, trouble. I do not disbelieve that other knife enthusiasts and experts get great results with the SharpMaker. I just flat out do not believe it is either easy or simple. I think it takes skill.

I tried a variety of plain edge knives & 2 serrated knives. (None of them terribly dull, but not sharp--they can all cut paper IF I poke the point through the sheet & then cut) I did NOT try it on any of my Spyderco knives as I didn’t want to ruin them with the SharpMaker. Besides, my Spydercos are still (relatively) sharp. (They all shave paper)

I have yet to try using a permanent marker on the blade edge or a mirror to somehow check to see if I am holding the knife vertical. I will probably try these things soon. (THIS is ease of use, LOL) This surely would never be in the manual or no newbie wold ever buy this! When Sal sharpens on the DVD it looks so easy. It is not easy for the unskilled. I’m sure an expert can make using a cheap whetstone & oil look simple. I haven’t tried to sharpen my dental tools (just kidding) or the array of other strange tools nor will I ever. I did try to sharpen a nail clipper--seemed easy. There was absolutely zero effect on the clippers. But, I didn’t buy this contraption to sharpen nail clippers, or shop tools, or dental instruments. I bought it to make plain edge & serrated edge knives very sharp.

I DID rub the edges of the gray, medium grit stones over each other & same with the flat sides several times to “break it in” as Sal said on the DVD. I am doing 40 strokes medium to light pressure (20 per side) for each step. I am using the 40 degree angle (not the 30 degree). I have NOT tried the Back Bevel pg. 6. Since I don’t know that all my knives have been over-sharpened & need to have the shoulders removed. I don’t really know how I wold be able to tell. I really doubt that is the problem on all my pocket knives & kitchen knives.

I don’t know if the 40 strokes per step is wrong & I need to do 80 or 200 strokes.

Some posts say to not move on to the next step until & unless the sharpness is tested for the prior step. This makes sense. If you cannot shave paper after step 2, going on to step 3 may be worthless.

I would certainly not have purchased this tool had I known it would not work without considerable expertise. Not a happy customer.
 
growler, I was initially frustrated with my sharpmaker too. Try doing what Chinese man suggested (excellent post). That should help you figure out what to do next. :)
 
You need to understand the basic principle of the sharpie marker suggestion. If you are only grinding the shoulders of the bevel and not touching the extreme edge then you are wasting your time. This one issue is critical. Everything else is way less important.
 
I very much like my Sharpmaker, but it's far from perfect. There's very little in the video about angles, nor is there anything in it about sharpening chisel grind knives. I tried setting my Sharpmaker to 40º and sharpening one side, but the angle seemed wrong. Did I need more of an angle or less? Because of the lack of instruction, there was no way for me to know. The knife was a CRKT Desert Cruiser, and it's still as dull as a screwdriver.

Cleaning the rods also is an onerous chore. I have one of those scratchy cleaning pads and I use it with Ajax powder, but some of the steel seems to stay on the rods. I'm supposing this is normal, but am wondering if there's an easier way to clean the ceramic stones. Also, are the fine rods fine enough to give me a suitable edge or should I finish it up with something finer?


Sharpener_2.jpg


I've found this little sharpener to be a great
touch up tool, but cleaning ceramic rods,
especially small ones, can be a real bear!
What's the best way to clean them?
 
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