Are the Sharpmaker UF stones worth it?

[Ryno]

Right now I use the medium then fine stones, and follow up with stropping paste. Can anyone comment on whether the UF stones would be worth the extra $30?

[Cujobob]

No one on this forum can answer a question of value for another person.

The stones do their job quite well. It really depends on what your sharpening goal is and what grit you enjoy finishing your edges to.

[Ryno]

No one on this forum can answer a question of value for another person.

The stones do their job quite well. It really depends on what your sharpening goal is and what grit you enjoy finishing your edges to.

Do you have the Sharpmaker and UF stones? If so, did you notice a difference when using them over the fine stones?

[jackknifeh]

I don't have a sharpmaker but I do have the fine and UF bench stones. Both of these stones are great IMO. Personally, I don't think the UF stone is needed unless you want a smoother, less toothy edge. I use my UF stone as the last stone before stropping my straight razors. You want a straight razor to have as smooth an edge as possible. I would hate to shave with a razor with a toothy edge. When honing a razor I use a Shapton glass 8k then the Spyderco UF stone. Then I strop. I can feel the difference in the shave by using the UF stone. Going from the 8k straight to stropping seems to leave the edge a bit lacking for the most comfortable shave. I will say that I am not a REAL good razor honer. But I've used razors honed by Lynn Abrams (Straight Razor Designs). He does a very good job. When I hone a razor it may not have the crisp sharpness of Lynn's but mine are good enough for a good shave. My point is the UF stone is capable of giving an edge a very sharp, smooth apex. The question is do you want or need an edge that smooth? Most EDC knives probably won't be a whole lot different than if you only go as fine a grit as the fine stone. I use the fine stone for quick touch ups often. I would say that if you cut a lot of wood and need an edge similar to what you would use a chisel or wood working tool on the UF stone would be an huge advantage. When paying close attention to the sharpness and ability to shave very thin slivers of wood the UF grit makes a difference IMO.

A note about different type stones. I could get very good results from the Spyderco stones as soon as I got them. I could get the results equal to my skill lets say. But, when using the Shapton glass stones it took me a LONG time (months) to be able to get the results I could get from the ceramic stones. This was probably due to a lack of skill. I could go through the grit progression of the Shapton stones but I could ALWAYS get a better, sharper edge by finishing up with the Spyder fine or UF stone. Over time I can now get the same results from the Shaptons but there was a learning curve I can't explain. This may just be me. I don't know. But I think if you get the UF stone your results will be based on your skill level and not on needing to "get used to" the UF stone. I hope that makes sense.

Jack

[Ryno]

That makes sense Jack.
You bring up a good point about the chisels. Having an ultrafine edge when working with wood does make a difference.

I've only had the sharpmaker for a few months, but keep finding different uses for it. Most of my knives are just used for cutting paper and cardboard, but a few I use for carving. I suppose I will spend the $30 even if it's overkill for my edc.

Thanks Jack

[Cujobob]

No one on this forum can answer a question of value for another person.

The stones do their job quite well. It really depends on what your sharpening goal is and what grit you enjoy finishing your edges to.

Do you have the Sharpmaker and UF stones? If so, did you notice a difference when using them over the fine stones?

I have the diamond and the UF stones. The UF give you a nice edge finish but it's more for push cutting sharpness than actual use sharpness which coarser edges will generally have an advantage with as far as edge retention goes.

[Ryno]

The UF stones sounds like they are worth it in certain circumstances and it would be better to have them and not need them all the time than to not have them if I do feel the need to go that fine.

Thanks guys

[Evil D]

I'm not the best to help with this decision. When I make an investment on something that I plan on using for many many years, I usually buy as much for it as I can so I get the most out of it. When you start spending more money on sharpening gear than you do on knives, then you know you're in deep :D

[jackknifeh]

I'm not the best to help with this decision. When I make an investment on something that I plan on using for many many years, I usually buy as much for it as I can so I get the most out of it. When you start spending more money on sharpening gear than you do on knives, then you know you're in deep :D

This is true. :) I went a year at least when all my "knife money" went on different sharpening stones, tools, etc. This was a dedicated time frame I found myself in just focusing on sharpening. This was in addition to the other stones, etc. I'd buy on a less frequent basis. I bought and sold I don't know how many. I even sold a stone to fund another but then bought the same stone I sold because I liked it better than others. I don't have a lot compared to the stone collections of some of the guys here though. I think MadRookie showed pictures of the largest collection I've seen. Most of my life I used two stones (med and fine Arkansas) and usually only used the medium stone. Now I have a set of DMT, Shapton glass and the Spyderco fine and UF stones. Plus the EP and a bunch of stones for that. I think the only really justifiable reason to have this many different type stones would be if I were using them to make money. But nope, it's just because I developed an interest in really sharp edges.

The sharpmaker is one tool I haven't bought but considered many times. A few years ago I didn't get it because people were saying it was a great touch up tool but for reprofiling it didn't have stones (rods) coarse enough. Now though, Spyderco has added rods to cover those grit ranges. The rods with the flat sides and the corners both seem to be as versitile a tool as I've seen. It's good for plain and serrated edges both not to mention all sorts of other tools. I do have one UF triangle rod and the fine grit small rod. The small one is 5" long I think. I've used those for times I needed to sharpen something needing a very small access. They do a good job for a sharpening notch at the heel of an edge if you want one.

Having great knives is great. Having great knives that are super sharp is more greater. :)

Back to just the UF stone. It will give you an edge that if you can hold your hands steady enough you can whittle hairs all day long with that edge. Once proficient enough with just stones you don't need to strop to get that level of sharpness. There are several videos of people whittling a hair after using the UF stone. What I'm wondering is if there is much difference in whittling hairs or other completely useless cutting chores like slicing toilet paper after the fine or even the medium stones? It's hard for me to whittle hairs because my hands aren't that steady. Out of 8 or 10 tries I might get one slice of the hair instead of just cutting the thing in two. :mad: :)

Jack

[Ryno]

Of all of the sharpening tools I have, the sharpmaker makes the most sense. I keep it on top of my dresser in my walk in with the fine stones in the 30 degree position. Every day that I use my knife, that evening I give it a few strokes on the SM and then my strop and I can easily shave my face with it. After hearing others' experiences, I will probably do the same with the UF.

[Donut]

I think they would be good for you since you go from Fine to Stropping. They will give you a fine edge without having to strop or they will give you a less rounded stropped edge.

[Cliff Stamp]

Can anyone comment on whether the UF stones would be worth the extra $30?

The UF stone is just a polished fine stone and it produces a more polished edge than the fine stone. Is it worth $30? Well compared to similar very high grit Japanese stones it is pretty inexpensive. From that perspective it is a pretty good value.

[Ryno]

Can anyone comment on whether the UF stones would be worth the extra $30?

The UF stone is just a polished fine stone and it produces a more polished edge than the fine stone. Is it worth $30? Well compared to similar very high grit Japanese stones it is pretty inexpensive. From that perspective it is a pretty good value.

That makes sense

[bh49]

IMHO UF stones worth $30 or more. There is another question, if you need them.
I bought sharpmaker with UF stones in 2005 and using sharpmaker since than. But considering what I am cutting the most, I stopped polishing edges years ago. I do not remember when did I use my UF rods last time. Even fine rods I am using quite seldom, mostly when I sharpen some of my kitchen knives. But I read on few occasions that UF Rods are making huge difference for ZDP189. I do not have any knives with ZDP :o

[jackknifeh]

I only checked cutlery shoppe but the 2" wide fine stone is $42 and the UF is $54 for a $12 difference. Just wondering where the $30 amount is coming from. I think the 3" wide UF may be about $30 more than the 2" wide UF. If that is the price difference anyone is looking at I'd still recommend the 2" wide stone if anyone wants the UF grit and still save some $. I don't have the medium Spyderco stone but IMO the fine and UF ceramic stones are about as good stones as I've ever used for finishing a knive edge. I consider both stones to be in the higher grit range. I'd guess by the finish they are 2k or higher compared to Shapton glass. This is just an approximated guess based on the finish on a bevel and looking at it with my naked eye.

IMO the UF stones are worth the money if you want an edge polished more than the fine grit will give you. They are worth the money. That leaves two questions. Do you need (want :) ) a more polished edge? Do you have the extra money? IMO, the difference in the fine and the UF stones is not very important if the extra money is hard to come by. I see it as if you have a knife it needs to be sharp. So, even if money is tight you need to buy at least one stone or tool to keep it usable. I will and have skipped a couple of sandwiches to pay for that. After that the somewhat smaller differences in the edges you get from different grits or type stones is less important. Having said that, if an UF stone won't take sandwiches off the table buy it. It's a great, great stone. One of my favorites for the really high grit range.

Another consideration that might be important. I think the very high grit stones require more skill or ability of the person doing the sharpening. This is my opinion, not necessarily a fact. This consideration I feel is important because I think it played a part in my sharpening knives most of my life. I had a medium and a fine grit Arkansas stone set for 20 years or more. I didn't know how to take care of them properly. I'd put oil on them, sharpen a knife, wipe the oil off and put them away. I never flattened them to keep them flat or clean. After 20 or so years I'm thinking they were clogged and not doing as good a job as they would normally do. I would use the medium grit stone and get a knife sharp enough to shave my arm bald with two or three passes on the same spot. I thought this was a very sharp knife. If I tried to get the knife sharper by using the fine grit stone I would make it duller. I didn't know why so I just quit using the fine grit. Now I have an opinion of what my problem was. I sincerely believe my sharpening skill was lacking. I base this opinion on when I was using the arkansas stones my skill was good enough to get results from the coarser (medium) stone but I would ruin the edge with the finer grit stone. I could argue that the stone was at fault but I doubt that was the case. Over the past 6 years or so I've bought a lot of different type stones and grits. I had the same problem with the very high grit stones like the Spyderco UF. Also with the higher grit Shapton glass stones. I could get great edges with the coarser grits and could either not tell a difference after progressing to the higher (over 2k) grits or I'd ruin the edge completely. Then I went through the year or more of focusing on my free hand sharpening. Just to be clear that doesn't mean I sharpened one knife every day for a year or more. That means for at least a year I spent between 2 hours or on a few occasions up to 8 hours a day, every day, sharpening knives. I may have missed a day or two but not many. I would sharpen one, dull it, sharpen it again, again and again and again. I have the time to do this if I want because I'm retired and my wife and I no longer like to spend time together. :) The result of all this practice and the help over the years from more experienced guys is I now can get results from any grit stone I have. For example five years ago or so I could get a knife sharp with the Spyderco fine grit but the UF stone would dull it. Of course it wasn't the stone. It was my lack of skill. I'm sure of this. So, I sold the UF stone to fund a stone or a knife or something else. Later however I saw my skill improving on the higher grits (this includes higher grit stropping compounds) so I bought another 2" wide UF stone. Suddenly the stone was working like it should. Of course the stone was the same so I can only assume my skill had changed. Later I got the 3" wide stone. SUMMARY: Based on my experience if someone has been using a Spyderco fine grit stone (sharpmaker or not) with great success and then buys an UF grit and has poor results, the problem is probably some time and practice is needed before he/she will master the UF stone. It's a tool just like so many others and might just need some getting used to. So what I'm getting at is if a person's skill level isn't high enough to be able go get good results from the UF stone, the money will be wasted (FOR NOW). In fact here's how I would suggest you test or judge your sharpening skill. Six out of ten Spyderco's come very, very sharp. One will come slightly on the dull, but still usable side of sharpness. I'd say the other three out of ten come EXTREMELY SHARP and might pop hairs off your arm leaving it bald in one pass. If someone can consistently get a knife at least as sharp as the six out of ten Spyderco's you buy, your skill is high enough to get good results from the UF stone. If OTOH, your skill is higher I'd guess you will have immediate success with the UF stone. If you are just beginning to learn to sharpen I think the UF stone won't do you any good right now. If your plan is to become extremely skilled in time go ahead and get it before the price goes up. :) Or especially if you get a great deal on ebay or somewhere. If your skill is already high but you don't have a higher grit stone the UF is an outstanding choice of higher grit stones IMO. In addition to working well you don't need water to make a mess and you don't need to flatten it. A can of Barkeeper's friend or Comet is all the stone needs for cleaning. I hope this made sense. Also, it's just my opinion based on my experience. Others may have completely different opinions. Also, I may just be wrong. I don't think I'm the best knife sharpener in the world. But my skill has increased and my ability to get better results from higher grit stones has changed in line with that. That's my belief anyway. But the stone is a great tool and it is worth the money if you want it and use it. :)

Jack

Another belief of mine. As I said I think the higher grit stones require a higher skill level before they will provide the results they (the stones) are capable of providing. In the same thinking on a skill level subject I believe the harder blade steels require a higher skill level to get them as sharp as the softer steels. I was getting VG-10 very sharp at one point a few years ago. Then I bought my first ZDP-189 bladed knife. I had a horrible time with it. I COULD NOT even get it close to as sharp as it was when I took it out of the box. Not even close. I was REALLY mad. I fought with that for months before I was capable of getting the thing even really sharp. Forget about the super sharpness it came with. And at that point I was using the Edge Pro. I couldn't even blame the problem on inaccuracy of the angle. :mad: :) Now I'm happy to say I can get success with ZDP and other harder steels. I remember at the time I got the first ZDP knife several others here were having the same exact problem. There were also others who said they had no problem with ZDP or any steel. It just took longer with the softer steels. They were probably more experienced and those of us having problems were just getting started at sharpening and searching for the really sharp edges. Even now, I bet if you talk to the average traditional pocket knife (Case, GEC, etc.) enthusiast, a lot of them just claim some blade steels are not worth buying because they can't be sharpened. Therefore, some of the higher performance blade steels are not used because the company feels they would loose customers. Blade steel is off the subject of this thread so I'll stop. I did want to mention it though. Again, this is a belief or opinion, not necessarily a fact. I BELIEVE a lot of things. I don't KNOW very many things however. :)

[bh49]

I only checked cutlery shoppe but the 2" wide fine stone is $42 and the UF is $54 for a $12 difference. Just wondering where the $30 amount is coming from.

probably KW. $16 a piece
http://www.knifeworks.com/spydercoultra ... f3OCtlVhBc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Ryno]

I only checked cutlery shoppe but the 2" wide fine stone is $42 and the UF is $54 for a $12 difference. Just wondering where the $30 amount is coming from.

probably KW. $16 a piece
http://www.knifeworks.com/spydercoultra ... f3OCtlVhBc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Jack
The stones I'm referring to specifically are the Sharpmaker UF stones (rods, actually) and I think you are referring to the UF bench stones.

They sell for about $15 apiece shipped on Amazon Prime and you need 2.

It's interesting that you bring up spyderco factory edges as a standard to compare your sharpening skills. I could always get a rough shaving edge on a knife freehand. I then evolved into using guided sharpeners, which let me produce edges that push cut better than any factory edge. The downside to guided sharpeners is the setup time. I bought the sharpmaker as a happy medium.

But after watching some videos on the web that show Sal using the Sharpmaker properly, i can make amazing edges with very little work. I'm totally sold on it EXCEPT I reprofiled some Aogami Super the other day... not fun.

[jackknifeh]

I only checked cutlery shoppe but the 2" wide fine stone is $42 and the UF is $54 for a $12 difference. Just wondering where the $30 amount is coming from.

probably KW. $16 a piece
http://www.knifeworks.com/spydercoultra ... f3OCtlVhBc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Jack
The stones I'm referring to specifically are the Sharpmaker UF stones (rods, actually) and I think you are referring to the UF bench stones.

They sell for about $15 apiece shipped on Amazon Prime and you need 2.


It's interesting that you bring up spyderco factory edges as a standard to compare your sharpening skills. I could always get a rough shaving edge on a knife freehand. I then evolved into using guided sharpeners, which let me produce edges that push cut better than any factory edge. The downside to guided sharpeners is the setup time. I bought the sharpmaker as a happy medium.

But after watching some videos on the web that show Sal using the Sharpmaker properly, i can make amazing edges with very little work. I'm totally sold on it EXCEPT I reprofiled some Aogami Super the other day... not fun.

I was thinking of the bench stones. Sorry, my bad. I got one UF rod a long time ago. I made a small wooden holder for it and used it as a bench stone to play with it. Now I never use it. If you want I'll send it to you then you would only need to get one. PM me if you are interested. Are you in the USA?

Jack

[Ryno]

I only checked cutlery shoppe but the 2" wide fine stone is $42 and the UF is $54 for a $12 difference. Just wondering where the $30 amount is coming from.

probably KW. $16 a piece
http://www.knifeworks.com/spydercoultra ... f3OCtlVhBc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Jack
The stones I'm referring to specifically are the Sharpmaker UF stones (rods, actually) and I think you are referring to the UF bench stones.

They sell for about $15 apiece shipped on Amazon Prime and you need 2.


It's interesting that you bring up spyderco factory edges as a standard to compare your sharpening skills. I could always get a rough shaving edge on a knife freehand. I then evolved into using guided sharpeners, which let me produce edges that push cut better than any factory edge. The downside to guided sharpeners is the setup time. I bought the sharpmaker as a happy medium.

But after watching some videos on the web that show Sal using the Sharpmaker properly, i can make amazing edges with very little work. I'm totally sold on it EXCEPT I reprofiled some Aogami Super the other day... not fun.

I was thinking of the bench stones. Sorry, my bad. I got one UF rod a long time ago. I made a small wooden holder for it and used it as a bench stone to play with it. Now I never use it. If you want I'll send it to you then you would only need to get one. PM me if you are interested. Are you in the USA?

Jack

I appreciate the offer Jack, but the stones are in the mail and its not worth returning one. They always nail you with a restocking fee.

[jackknifeh]

I only checked cutlery shoppe but the 2" wide fine stone is $42 and the UF is $54 for a $12 difference. Just wondering where the $30 amount is coming from.

probably KW. $16 a piece
http://www.knifeworks.com/spydercoultra ... f3OCtlVhBc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Jack
The stones I'm referring to specifically are the Sharpmaker UF stones (rods, actually) and I think you are referring to the UF bench stones.

They sell for about $15 apiece shipped on Amazon Prime and you need 2.


It's interesting that you bring up spyderco factory edges as a standard to compare your sharpening skills. I could always get a rough shaving edge on a knife freehand. I then evolved into using guided sharpeners, which let me produce edges that push cut better than any factory edge. The downside to guided sharpeners is the setup time. I bought the sharpmaker as a happy medium.

But after watching some videos on the web that show Sal using the Sharpmaker properly, i can make amazing edges with very little work. I'm totally sold on it EXCEPT I reprofiled some Aogami Super the other day... not fun.

I was thinking of the bench stones. Sorry, my bad. I got one UF rod a long time ago. I made a small wooden holder for it and used it as a bench stone to play with it. Now I never use it. If you want I'll send it to you then you would only need to get one. PM me if you are interested. Are you in the USA?

Jack

I appreciate the offer Jack, but the stones are in the mail and its not worth returning one. They always nail you with a restocking fee.

Sounds good. Let us know what you think of them.

Jack