Bad.

Discuss Spyderco's products and history.
TheGrim45Reaper
Member
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:58 pm

Bad.

#1

Post by TheGrim45Reaper »

I used an electric knife sharpener to sharpen my delica and now the edge is not continuos, it is really thin near the choil and tip and really thick near the middle. what to do?
User avatar
BHDKnifer
Member
Posts: 367
Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2008 3:22 pm
Location: Wisconsin.

#2

Post by BHDKnifer »

Hi and welcome. May I suggest...1-Throw away the electric sharpener, 2-Use the delica for parts, 3-Buy a new delica, 4-buy a Spyderco sharp-maker, 5-Learn from you'r mistakes. Take care.
:spyder: Control the HEAD...and you control the SNAKE! :spyder:
:spyder: Integrity is being good even if no one is watching :spyder:
User avatar
PocketZen
Member
Posts: 140
Joined: Sun May 30, 2010 10:36 pm

#3

Post by PocketZen »

Welcome to the forums! In my humble opinion you could best spend your time and money sharping freehand. Those electronic sharpeners eat knives, wearing them faster. Many people on the forums use jig/guided systems with great results. I will hope they chime in as I have no experience with those.

Keep this knife to practice sharpening on and if you are real determined it will also be a good piece to learn how to repair edges. :)
O,just,O
Member
Posts: 945
Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2009 10:35 pm
Location: Qld. Australia.

#4

Post by O,just,O »

ELECTRIC KNIFE SHARPENER ! :eek: :eek:
Those things are for ruining blades, toss it.
Look to get a Lansky or Gatco sharpening system. Edge pro if you have the dollars. With any of these in the hands of a novice, very good edges are easy to get. You could easy repair the Delica with one of these.
O.
jimnolimit
Member
Posts: 254
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2011 2:25 am
Location: brooklyn

#5

Post by jimnolimit »

TheGrim45Reaper wrote:I used an electric knife sharpener to sharpen my delica and now the edge is not continuos, it is really thin near the choil and tip and really thick near the middle. what to do?
before i make any suggestions on what you should do with the knife, post up a pic or two so i can see how bad it is.
User avatar
razorsharp
Member
Posts: 3066
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2011 9:41 pm
Location: New Zealand

#6

Post by razorsharp »

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS, WHERE WE CONFESS OUR OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE KNIFE BUYING AND SHARPENING DISORDERS; :P

a pic would be nice. :) . anyway. lansky is a world renown brand who make low priced great sharpeners, you get a crockstick pack for roughly $10 at most hunting stores or off ebay. i use one and get stunning results
User avatar
jackknifeh
Member
Posts: 8412
Joined: Fri Jul 09, 2010 6:01 am
Location: Florida panhandle

#7

Post by jackknifeh »

BHDKnifer wrote:Hi and welcome. May I suggest...1-Throw away the electric sharpener, 2-Use the delica for parts, 3-Buy a new delica, 4-buy a Spyderco sharp-maker, 5-Learn from you'r mistakes. Take care.
I agree with BHD. I don't think his recommendations are listed in order of what to do first but in case they are, reverse suggestion 3 and 4. Or, if you need a new knife first please don't use the electric sharpener. Maybe you could get a few bucks to go toward a sharpmaker by selling the elec. sharpener to someone you don't like. :D Actually, I guess they have their place, I've just never used one. I'll bet no knife sharpener that knows what they are doing uses an electric sharpener. Another person made great suggestions on sharpeners IMO.

If you are learning to sharpen the Delica is now the perfect practice knife. Plus, with the right tools and time you can probably get it back in good shape. Once you get a sharpening system you can experiment with the Delica before you work on knives that are still in good shape. Free hand sharpening is a skill that I respect but can't do very well. The sharpening systems available now make things a lot easier and error resistant. I used to think that using them was cheating but now I think not using a tool that makes life easier is like putting down your battery/electric drill and using an old brace & bit drill :eek: (which creates as much sweat as it does holes but they do work). Use better tools and work smart, not hard. Best of luck and you can get lots of help from people on this forum. I know I did and with their help and using better tools I now am a proficient sharpener.

Jack
User avatar
The Deacon
Member
Posts: 25717
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
Location: Upstate SC, USA
Contact:

#8

Post by The Deacon »

If you live in the US, you might consider sending the knife back to Spyderco to be sharpened. They've restored blades that were heavily worn or badly botched before.
Paul
My Personal Website ---- Beginners Guide to Spyderco Collecting ---- Spydiewiki
Deplorable :p
WTC # 1458 - 1504 - 1508 - Never Forget, Never Forgive!
buddy54ck
Member
Posts: 310
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 7:32 am

Oh! Oh! Chalk it off to Lesson Learned!

#9

Post by buddy54ck »

:spyder: :spyder:
Hey Reaper,
I Agree with BHD and Jack! Learn to sharpen, and have fun with the process. Start with the junk knives, and then move on to the Spyderco's. Go to Utube
to watch a few vids, and that will give You an idea about the sharpening equipment You will need, and how to Use it.
Good Luck, and have a great Day!
Charlie
P.S. for some reason, it helps to whistle while You sharpen, try it!
:spyder: :spyder:
User avatar
The Mentaculous
Member
Posts: 879
Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:21 am
Location: The boonies, NJ

#10

Post by The Mentaculous »

The Deacon wrote:If you live in the US, you might consider sending the knife back to Spyderco to be sharpened. They've restored blades that were heavily worn or badly botched before.
I agree with this. Send it to Spyderco, and at the same time, order a Sharpmaker. Then when you get your Delica back, you will also have your sharpening problems solved.

I had a similar experience to you, except not with an electric sharpener, but one of those horrible "pull through" designs. I couldn't believe have poorly those things work--they made my knife much more dull than it was before, and scratched the heck out of the sides of the blade! That's when I learned the hard way, that if you want to have a knife that is ACTUALLY sharp or close to it, you'll have to do more than just put it through an automatic device that is designed to sharpen your knife without you actually sharpening it. I soon after got a Lansky system (which worked OK, it at least allowed my to fix the edge), and eventually the sharpmaker, which I now use exclusively (partly because my lansky clamp snapped). Although in order to fix a knife as bad as I did with the Lansky, I would probably need a set of diamond rods for the SM--that's really what I need to complete my sharpening setup.
User avatar
Evil D
Member
Posts: 27147
Joined: Sat Jun 26, 2010 9:48 pm
Location: Northern KY

#11

Post by Evil D »

It can be fixed...definitely invest in proper sharpening gear, and if you don't feel confident enough to fix it yourself send it back to Spyderco and it'll be good to go.
All SE all the time since 2017
~David
User avatar
araneae
Member
Posts: 5491
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2006 10:10 pm
Location: A lil more south of the Erie shore, Ohio

#12

Post by araneae »

Step One: retrieve a baseball bat or sledge hammer
Step Two: smash said electric knife eater
Step Three: send knife to Spyderco to have the edge salvaged
Step Four: purchase sharpening equipment, the Sharpmaker is a good first step
Step Five: learn to maintain your edges and live happily ever after
So many knives, so few pockets... :)
-Nick

Last in: N5 Magnacut
The "Spirit" of the design does not come through unless used. -Sal
User avatar
razorsharp
Member
Posts: 3066
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2011 9:41 pm
Location: New Zealand

#13

Post by razorsharp »

i had a pull through sharpener too, they leave horrible burrs, they're junk too, oh whatever you do, dont take to knives with angle grinders, ruins them like an elec sharpener would, had to fix all my dads kitchen (even a victorinox steak knife :eek: ) knives. they're super slicers now, he ground them at roughly 10 degrees a side, the edge retention wasnt great. they would have taken ages to reprofile so i fixed the edges with 20-25 degree microbevels lol
User avatar
Dr. Snubnose
Member
Posts: 8799
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2005 10:54 pm
Location: NewYork

#14

Post by Dr. Snubnose »

I will echo The Deacon's advice...Send it back to Spyderco to be fixed...Then invest in a sharpening device (seek advice on this forum as to which one, I like the Sharpmaker)..between the cost of having spyderco resharpen your blade, a decent sharpening device and those SD class training your going to need (as per your other thread) I hope you are old enough to have working papers cause your gonna need a job to pay for all this....unless your parents are independently wealthy or just take up another hobby like model building or kite flying....much cheaper ;) ...Doc :D
"Always Judge a man by the way he treats someone who could be of no possible use to him"

*Custom Avatar with the Help of Daywalker*
User avatar
The Mastiff
Member
Posts: 5951
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2006 2:53 am
Location: raleigh nc

#15

Post by The Mastiff »

One way to start the learning process on the damaged blade is to get a flat, smooth quality board. Then get some sandpaper in 100 grit, 220, 400, 6-800, 1000, 2000 grit.

Make it good quality automotive garnet sandpaper, wet and dry.

Tack or hold the paper to the board.

Begin pulling the blade away from the edge, keeping the blade flat down as you pull. When you get to a even width go up to the next grit and repeat. Etc.

Finally you will be in a position to put the edge on it. There are several ways to do that but by then you should have a better idea how things work, and it should be thin enough to edge with a Spyderco sharpmaker, Lansky system, or hand sharpen with DMT diafold sharpeners keeping in mind with all of the systems and sharpeners to go lightly and let the abrasives do the cutting. Too hard will ruin the sharpener and cause errors and defects in the blades edge.

or......

You could send the delica in to Spyderco and get it sharpened and buffed out. It's the easier way to go in the short run but long term consider what kind of system you want for sharpening.

I hand sharpen. I've done it for 40 years and I still don't consistently get the results like you see with Edge pro's and some of the other systems that leave those beautiful, equal mirrored bevels like you see on knives owned by guys like Jim Ankerson.

I can do the hand sharpening better than most I guess but I get rusty if I don't do any sharpening for a month or so.

The biggest problem with hand sharpening over, say the sharpmaker is it's very easy to take more steel off than is necessary.

Good luck,


Joe
"A Mastiff is to a dog what a Lion is to a housecat. He stands alone and all others sink before him. His courage does not exceed temper and generosity, and in attachment he equals the kindest of his race" Cynographia Britannic 1800


"Unless you're the lead dog the view is pretty much gonna stay the same!"
jimnolimit
Member
Posts: 254
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2011 2:25 am
Location: brooklyn

#16

Post by jimnolimit »

i sharpened 7 knives for other people last night (one of them being a spyderco). one of the guys i sharpened for brought me 3 kitchen knives and told me he never could get his knives as sharp as the last time i did them and his edges wouldn't last, with his "stone". i told him to bring me his stone, figuring i would have to clean/lap it. he then told me his stone was some pull through device and i told him to never use it again, just bring me the knives when they need sharpening.

i fix/re-edge many knives that people either neglect or screw up with some device they have no business using. a few nights ago, someone brought me 2 kitchen knives that were so badly ruined that i had to give them back with the bad news. someone ground the **** out of them with a bench grinder. they were pretty cheap knives so i told them to just buy new one's.

i want to see a pic of the OP's knife.

P.S. I hand sharpen with water stones.
gijoe945
Member
Posts: 202
Joined: Sat Jan 08, 2011 12:04 pm
Location: IA

#17

Post by gijoe945 »

I use a Sharpmaker for quality knives like Spyderco. Use a Chefs Choice 120 for everything else. When I sell a knife, wiil sharpen for free the life of the blade. Do commercial and individual for nominal fee to pay for them.
User avatar
dbcad
Member
Posts: 3111
Joined: Fri Jan 08, 2010 3:59 pm
Location: ga, usa

Learning to sharpen is good!!!

#18

Post by dbcad »

When I started collecting and using :spyder: 's a couple of years ago I was completely clueless on sharpening, edge angles, steels etc. I'm still a novice and have a hard time with ZDP 189 but I find being able to get my vg-10 and s30v blades insanely sharp greatly increases the enjoyment and satisfaction of owning them.

I use a DMT aligner for reprofiling then the Sharpmaker for finishing. I won't carry any knife now unless it's very, very sharp :D

Electric and pull through sharpeners are for the most part garbage that damage an edge far more than enhance it. There might be some useful products out there, but I haven't seen one.
Charlie

" Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler."

[CENTER]"Integrity is being good even if no one is watching"[/CENTER]
Post Reply