The Spyderco Sharpmaker, a SAK's best freind....

M

MacTech

Joined
Jan 7, 2006
Messages
611
after using my Spartan Lite for a few days, i felt it was time to touch up the blades on my 204, mainly because it looks like i put a tiny ding in the front of the big spearpoint blade when i was prying out a PowerMac G5 tower plastic security rivet, it wasn't a chip, just a little bend in the edge

i ran the SAK down the brown stones at the 30 degree setting (5 passes on the corners, 5 on the flats) and it eliminated the ding, so i popped in the white stones on 30 degree, and did the same 10 strokes, 5 on the corners, 5 on the flats

i had initially sharpened the SAK on the 204 at the 40 degree setting, tonight i decided i wanted to go for a razor edge at 30, the bladesteel of the SAK isn't exactly the thickest, so it should handle the 30 degree just fine

the results were *amazing*, a nice, toothy yet smooth edge that cut through two layers of folded paper (a Buck 110 warranty pamphlet) like it was one layer, i then tried the "shave the hair off my arm" test....

i've read a lot about "hair popping" edges, but i had never actually *experienced* it until today, i had my desk lamp at just the right angle, and as i slowly pulled the blade across my arm hair, i saw the hairs *jump* at least 2" into the air as they were severed, it was a *shower* of arm hairs....

and yes, as expected, both arms are now bald *again*.... ;)

even the old, simple, faithful SAK can benefit from the Sharpmaker treatment, if you haven't tried it out yet, give it a try, the results will probably amaze you, they did me

yep, the SAK will be sharpened at 30 degrees from now on.... i could probably *shave* with this little SAK....
 
I agree, the Shaprmaker is great for SAKs. I usually just touch up at 40 degrees on the white stones.
 
What's the learning curve like for getting those results from the sharpmaker? i.e. what do I have to learn in order to use it properly?
 
that's the beauty of the Sharpmaker, it's practically idiot-proof (and i consider myself a rather good idiot when it comes to sharpening)

once the guards and hones are in place, you simply hold the knife straight up and down (90 degree angle on a flat surface), start at the base of the blade, and draw the knife down the hone while pulling it towards you, like you're slicing off a thin layer of the hone, you do that on each side, Sal reccomends 20 strokes per side (total of 40) on the corners, then on the flats (the hones are triangular, the initial sharpening is done using the corners, the fine finishing on the flats

if you like freehand sharpening, you can flip the SM over and drop a pair of hones into the base and use it like a benchstone, it's a versatile little tool
 
I do use my SAK Spartan Lite for Shaving ;) though washing them is a problem with the LED being in place. Normally i take the battery out, put back the cover, wash them, then dried them thoroughly by blowing out excess water and let them sit at my PC's outgoing fan (warm air). Then I put the battery back.

Anyone has better idea?
 
Most of my SAK's experience edge rolling/heavy blur formation at 30 degrees. I currently take it off by using a passes at the end >40 degrees. Any hints?
 
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