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

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Lastly the grooved flat surface is presented for working with. All with one hole that holds the stone at the correct angle. You need to follow the "curve" / belly of the edge when sharpening on the sharpmaker, and by doing so lift the handle of the knife in the process. In using the Spyderco Sharpmaker you’ll be astonished at how easy it is and how seriously sharp you can get your blades. I have used it for both gentle touch ups as well as full on re-grindings (using the diamond rod – see later) in some cases. What’s nice is that Spyderco bundles some really comprehensive instructions with this kit that include illustrations too.

From my personal experience, a quality Torx set, libricant, and sharpener is a great place to start. Again, bear in mind this is all conjecture based on what I perceive to be the benefits of his style. Also, I've never actually watched the sharpmaker DVD, so there's that. My sharpening techniques are basically a result of trial and error over the years.

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He references a keen edge being 0.1 microns. If you are achieving that or even a 1 micron edge then your knowledge of sharpening would be far from deficient. That is high level sharpening. You see this in many hobbies. A guy who needs a sub moa rifle who cannot shoot sub moa or a guy that needs an R1 with race tires to commute to work because he thinks he is Rossi. We need to be honest with our own abilities first before we can get too deep into the gear.

Can you use ceramic stones,,,, yes, but they will mainly burnish and not cut the carbides like diamond and CBN. Small tough burrs will be formed too easily with poor apex formation. In one end of the Sharpmaker is another hole for a stone, this time using only one stone at a much lower angle. With a single stone mounted in this position you can sharpen scissors in the same way as you sharpen a knife. Keeping the scissors vertical and stroking the blade across the stone. To take off the burr on scissors you need to use the other stone like a file and lay it onto the blade flat. Doing this will give you a better burr removal than just closing the scissors.Then Todd elaborated: "Understand that a keen edge requires a dimension of around 100nm (1/10 of a micron) and the vanadium-rich carbides in Maxamet, or S110V, or even the chromium carbides in ZDP189 are 1-2 microns in size. So sharpening these knives to a keen edge with ceramic involves crushing those carbides (near the apex) into “nano-dust” and burnishing the matrix around them..." and then later, "...ceramics, like the Sharpmaker, crush the carbides into dust." If it is like you say, and Sal is "a fan of the extra durability the 20 degree setting offers": Why then aren´t the factory SE edges ground in 20 inclusive (but more acute)? 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. I replaced my medium stones for the first time last year, and man what a difference 10 years makes.

I’m going to see if I can simplify this for you a little bit. Every 10th time he suggests you use the 30° angle

Serrations can be sharpened thanks to the corners of the stones, meaning steps 1 and 3 can be used. Spyderco recommend that only the step three (white stone corners) is used, as step one is a bit too aggressive. Serrations need a slightly different technique, as generally they are formed with a single bevel (chisel) grind. In this case you work only on one side for three or four strokes, then use a single stroke on the other side to remove the burr that forms. I'm personally not a fan of reprofiling very wear resistant steels on the sharpmakers diamond or CBN rods, but there are many folks here who have done it and it works for them. Its a very slow process and your angle selection is limited but it can be done. He uses the 40 degree setting: As you wrote, and as I experienced with my Delica CE and now Endela SE, the 30 degree setting is the way to go if you want to maintain the factory edge (and not create some 40 degree microbevel) at least on a Spyderco SE knife