Sharpening Spyderco's Exotic, Specialty Blades?

[JD Spydo]

One selling point that I think draws a lot of people not only to collect many of Spyderco's super unique models is that they are also as functional as they are interesting. However many people don't buy certain Spyderco models in fear that they can't sharpen or maintain it. Because when you own and use blades like the Captain, The Spyker, The KRIS, The Ayoob>> not to mention Spyderco's incredible Hawkbill blades or their super duty Reverse S type blades just to name a few you quickly realize that Sharpening that blade could pose a challenge. Ultimately Spyderco has blades that can do cutting chores that hardly no other blades on the market can do but on the other hand those models need to be sharpened and maintained just like any other blade style.

Most of Spyderco's one of kind and un-orthodox blade designs are like any other knives ( folder or fixed blade) in that they have to be maintained and sharpened in order to be useful. One huge hurdle all of us devout Spyderheads have come up against is that many of us have never learned to sharpen an ordinary, conventional blade design much less one of Spyderco's more exoitc designs>> not to mention some of Spyderco's serrated blades which require a sharpening regimen completely different that what most of us have ever encountered previously.

So I think it's high time we put our heads together and share with each other which of the exotic, extreme Spyderco models we own and use and how we sharpen and maintain it. Personally I use Hawkbills and Reverse S blades a lot myself and I've developed some neat tricks that I've learned over the years to sharpen and maintain many of them.

Now Spyderco has also blessed us with a wide array of different and unique sharpening tools to accomodate some of the sharpening jobs we encounter. A lot of people avoid Spyderco's serrated blades not wanting the job of sharpening them. But once I got a set of Spyderco's 701 Profiles I now actually enjoy sharpening Spyderedges. So how do you all sharpen and maintain your favorite Spyderco knife model and which of Spyderco's sharpening tools do you use? Or do you all use sharpening tools other than Spyderco's to get your edges just right? So let's talk about Sharpening Spyderco's not so usual blade styles?

[bearfacedkiller]

I carry the BBS PE Lil' Matriarch fairly often. It has a Reverse S blade and I have had no problems sharpening it on the sharpmaker. When it came time to reprofiled it the bevels were a little uneven. The corners of the diamond rods made short work of it and the bevels are better than new. I lean towards traditional blade shapes for my everyday use because they are more practical for me. I actually find large trailing points the hardest to sharpen. Keeping my angle consistent throughout the upswept tip gives me problems. I am pretty good at sharpening them now but they gave me trouble for a while.

[elena86]

I would be very interested in a demo video on how to sharpen a spyderedge hawkbill.Very, very interested.I love my spyderhawkbills.

[kbuzbee]

I'm with JD (great topic, by the way!) The Profile stones can solve every sharpening problem you have. I've got lots of tool and tricks but that one tool is all you'd every really need.

The DMT tapered rods can be handy too, but that taper causes as many problems as it solves, IMO.

Ken

[JD Spydo]

I'm with JD (great topic, by the way!) The Profile stones can solve every sharpening problem you have. I've got lots of tool and tricks but that one tool is all you'd every really need.

The DMT tapered rods can be handy too, but that taper causes as many problems as it solves, IMO.

Yeah Ken I wish I could get at least half of the brethren here at Spyderville to try out a set of 701 Profiles for many of their exotic sharpening jobs. The demand would become so great that Spyderco would have no choice but to not only bring back the 701 units but to also make them available in at least 3 to 4 more grit selections.

Bearfacedkiller: On your Trailing Point blades>> have you ever tried your skills at Spyderco's 302 Benchstones? Because I sort of know what you mean keeping that curved end consistently bent in the right angle to the finish. I used to have a Rhino Horn Lil T that I encountered that with and I ended up using my set of Spyderco 302 Benchstones and had really decent results with it.

Elena: Concerning serrrated Hawkbill blades>> I may sound like an old LP record with a scratch in it but again Spyderco's older/disco'd 701 Profiles were what I ultimately had my best success with. But I use my 701 Profiles on just about everyone of my serrated Spyders. Now with two of the kitchen Spyders I use a lot the K-04 & K-05 models I do use the Sharpmaker on those in between major sharpening jobs. The rounded, more wavy type serrations do seem to take a nice working edge off the Sharpmaker for what it's worth. A lot of people get scared when you speak of sharpening serrations manually with a tool like the 701 Profiles but the results are worth the time it takes IMO. I can usually get one of my fully serrated Spyderco folders done in about the same time for a good football game to reach halftime and that's taking my time doing it too.

And Ken I also have several of the DMT tapered rods myself that I use>> I do use the diamond rods on really beat up serration scallops from time to time if they've really gotten battered really bad. If they would bring back those 701 Profiles in several grits I'm willing to bet that many different tradesmen would buy them up ASAP.

[kbuzbee]

If they would bring back those 701 Profiles in several grits I'm willing to bet that many different tradesmen would buy them up ASAP.

Agreed. I have several recipients on my gift list who would appreciate these. And, yeah, more grits would seal the deal.

Ken

[JD Spydo]

I would be very interested in a demo video on how to sharpen a spyderedge hawkbill.Very, very interested.I love my spyderhawkbills.

It seemed like it was about a year or so ago that Sal & Co. said they were working on some sort of a comprehensive video on certain pieces of their great sharpening equipment. Again it's funny that so many people complain of sharpening Spyderco's Hawkbills. Actually I find that putting a final edge on plain edged Hawkbills to be more tricky than just about any other sharpening job that I do on a routine basis. It's not a really difficult job but it does take some patience.

Now when it comes to Spyderedged Hawkbills I just do them like I would any other Hawkbill in the Spyderco line up. The 204 Sharpmaker does cover a lot of sharpening jobs but I maintain that for many of the specialty models I find that more effort is needed in many cases. Spyderco has such a wide array of sharpening tools that truly a comprehensive video covering many of the uses of those specialty tools like the 701 Profiles, the 302 Benchstones, The GOLDENSTONE & Duckfoot units as well as some of the tricks to using the 204 Sharpmaker would not only help us who already own and use the tools but I believe it would bolster sales and kindle interest in prospective buyers.

Also I would like to see a video of someone sharpening specialty models like the CAPTAIN, The KRIS and some of the Reverse S blades. With all the people who own many of the Spyderco specialty blades like the ones aforementioned I just know there is a desire to know more about how to sharpen them and maintain them better. I was even thinking the other day how cool it would be to even have the SLIPSTONE in more grits.

[elena86]

The problem is I am not interested in sharpening my spyderedges using the SM cause I don't want to round the tips.I want to keep the scalops tips as pointy as possible for as long as possible

[JD Spydo]

The problem is I am not interested in sharpening my spyderedges using the SM cause I don't want to round the tips.I want to keep the scalops tips as pointy as possible for as long as possible

And thank you for making that point "elena86" because that's exactly why I quit using my 204 Sharpmaker for sharpening serrated blades years ago ( with a few minor exceptions). I've found that by using the Spyderco 701 Profile set I can keep my Spyderedged blades looking and performing just like they came from the factory. I've also had some decent luck using the GOLDENSTONE on Spyderedges but not as good as I have with the 701 Profiles>> which is why my jury is still out on the GOLDENSTONE & Duckfoot units.

You are right on the money when you say that the 204 Sharpmaker tends to round off the spikey parts of the serrations>> which to me defeats the purpose of sharpening them :confused: I want to keep my serrations as much as like they came from the factory. And don't get me wrong because the 204 Sharpmaker is a genius tool and great for touch up plain edges>> and it's probably the best all around sharpening tool you can use in your travel kits.

My biggest point in starting this thread was to let people know what Spyderco has available for serrated edges and for sharpening specialty designs too. I've yet to find out what the new GAUNTLET sharpening kit is going to be like but I've got a feeling that Spyderco is going to cover a lot of sharpening needs with it>> and I'm hoping that it will be released soon.

[kbuzbee]

I've yet to find out what the new GAUNTLET sharpening kit is going to be like but I've got a feeling that Spyderco is going to cover a lot of sharpening needs with it>> and I'm hoping that it will be released soon.

Wait, what? I missed that one... What is known about that?

Ken

[bearfacedkiller]

How is everybody sharpening their SE Ladybugs? I have a hawkbill one and it took me a while to figure it out.

The gauntlet is a larger sharpmaker with, I think, cats eye shaped stones. It should help with larger knives which I would love.

[kbuzbee]

Thanks Darby,

Yeah, that'll be nice. Doesn't sound like it'll apply to SE blades, though.

Ken

[Able Dog]

There certainly are some niche blade shapes out there.

Anyone have experience sharpening the Whale Rescue? I'm curious about that.

[SG89]

How is everybody sharpening their SE Ladybugs? I have a hawkbill one and it took me a while to figure it out.
.

Do you use the corners?

[elena86]

What attracted me to Spyderco above other things, was the spyderedge.It's a great feature and we need, or at least I need, an efficient reliable, protocol based sharpening system for spyderedges.

[JD Spydo]

There certainly are some niche blade shapes out there.

Anyone have experience sharpening the Whale Rescue? I'm curious about that.

Interesting that you would bring up the "Whale Rescue" model. I've never held one in my hand before but I've seen several close up pictures of the Whale Rescue. I would actually like to have one of those at some point because I'm sure there is a lot of jobs you could do with it not to mention the vast amount of different handles you could implement for it.

I believe that the GOLDENSTONE would be an ideal sharpening tool for the WHALE RESCUE model. Which is another reason I would eventually like the see the GOLDENSTONE offered up in more grits.

[JD Spydo]

What attracted me to Spyderco above other things, was the spyderedge.It's a great feature and we need, or at least I need, an efficient reliable, protocol based sharpening system for spyderedges.

The fully serrated/Spyderedged folders are the same thing that drove me to get my very first Spyder as well. My first model I obtained being a stainless handled, GIN-1, full SE Mariner model back in 1995. I was wanting a premium grade, fully serrated knife for jobs I was needing to do where I worked at the time and the Mariner sure was a great tool in Spyderedge.

Now I've heard conflicting information about the upcoming GAUNTLET sharpening tool>> I heard that it was going to have more versatility and could indeed do Spyderedged blades as well as bigger fixed blades along with some of Spyderco's specialty knife designs. The one response I got from Mr. Glesser some time back was that there is going to be some of the "cat's eye" shaped stones in the GAUNTLET sharpening kit similar to the ones used in the older Spyderco GALLEY V sharpening kit from the mid to late 90s. Over the years I've found several viable uses for those Cat's Eye stones and the ones I have from my GALLEY V unit are mainly what I use to sharpen my blue PE Dodo model with. I've also used the "Cat's Eye" stones for PE Hawkbills on occasion as well.

Again I hope at some point Spyderco will try out some different serration patterns.

[bearfacedkiller]

How is everybody sharpening their SE Ladybugs? I have a hawkbill one and it took me a while to figure it out.
.

Do you use the corners?

I have couple finishing nails that are about the right diameter and I wrap fine grit wet dry sanpaper around them and sharpen the serrations individually. You can control the size by how many wraps the nail gets. It works well enough. I use sandpaper a lot when sharpening. The downsides are that sanpaper wears out fast and if it isn't tight it is easy to get scratches above the bevel.

[demoncase]

So....I guess no-one is using the Whale Blade on a pole to trim their hedges then?

Shame :)

[Surfingringo]

The problem is I am not interested in sharpening my spyderedges using the SM cause I don't want to round the tips.I want to keep the scalops tips as pointy as possible for as long as possible

You don't have to round the tips of the teeth on the sharpmaker. Just sharpen each scallop individually with the sharpmaker using and up and down motion. Works fine. Personally, I don't bother with that and just sharpen like normal because all my se salts are users/beaters and I don't mind rounded teeth...might even prefer them.