Sharpmaker Question

[Nilaman]

I'm contemplating ordering a Sharpmaker. I guess this question is more directed towards the people who own and actively use them.

For those of you who use their Sharpmaker, do you also use an Ultra Fine Rod to get the shaving quality edge or can that be obtained easy enough with the stock Fine Rod that comes with the Sharpmaker? I'm questioning if I need to order an Ultra Fine Rod now or if I should do it another time, if it's not really that important.

Thanks in advance for your answers!

[severedthumbs]

you don't need it.

[psimonl]

Get only the 204. When you stop being scared of what it does, then, get the UF.

I've been using the "set" for the past two years, and I still can't understand how this little gear gets my blades so sharp.

Simon

[ghostrider]

I guess it depends on how high a polish you want to put on your blades. Most of my knives are used for utility, so I don't even go past the brown stones on them. However, I am glad I bought them because there are some blades I want a high polish on.

It reallly depends on your personal needs.

[severedthumbs]

I would recommend getting the diamond rods and a good strop.

[dialex]

A regular 204 is all you need. It is a very handy and efficient tool and will get your knives shaving sharp. Once you get used to it, you'll see for yourself if you need ultra fine or diamond rods.

[severedthumbs]

if you want to reprofile an edge the diamond rods are very helpful. The brown stones don't remove material fast enough.

I can not stress enough the importance of a strop though. It will bring your edge to the next level of sharpness.

[Texas guy]

I hardly ever use mine, find that a utility edge off the brown or whites usually does a better job at cutting the materials I need cut.

[silverback]

Back to your original question:
You will be able to put a nice shaving edge on your blades with the set as it is.

[gunmike1]

I can get a shaving edge with just the brown rods. When I go to the fine rods I get a scary sharp edge. I do have the ultra fine rods, I just don't find myself using them much because of how well the standard rods work.

[Simple Man]

After using the browns and whites for a couple years, I have gone to using just the browns. I can get a hair popping, TP slicing edge with just the browns, and it lasts about 4X longer than when I finish through with the whites. I wanted the extra fines for a long time, but I think they are way overkill for EDC.

severedthumbs is correct about stropes, and they are not that difficult. I thought I had to order some special compound from Lee Valley or Hand American, nope. I know what they have is more refined and better than what I have, but I just glued and nailed (sunk the heads) a strip of old leather belt to a board and applied some gun metal polish from W-M, Hoppes9 actually. I know something with a bit of grit would do more, but this makes a large difference for being made of stuff I had laying around.

[d.g.g]

I don't use the Ultra fine rods. What I do use and it works out great is a leather stop/hone with some Chromium Oxide on it. Here is a link. You can make your own easily but this isn't too expensive and works great.

http://www.drsharpening.com/leatherhone.html

I don't use the diamond rods either. It is faster to profile (or reprofile) using an x-course 2" X 6" whetstone that you can get almost anywhere or from DMT if you want the top of the line diamond whetstone. You only have to do this once in a blue moon because the Spyderco knives are made of such good steel that they don't wear much and hold a good edge.


http://www.dmtsharp.com/general/basicsharp.htm

[charlie]

I agree with Dialex; "A regular 204 is all you need. It is a very handy and efficient tool and will get your knives shaving sharp. Once you get used to it, you'll see for yourself if you need ultra fine or diamond rods."
I use my 204 for all my sharpening requirements, works great! :)
:spyder: Collector #047