Spyderco Forums

Just followed the simple directions in the pamphlet that comes with the Spyderco Sharpmaker 204MF. The only knife I had that was ready for sharpening was my trusty VG-10 plain edge Manbug. My EDC is the Manbug + Some longer utility knife (currently a Byrd Cara Cara 2). I mostly do a lot of fine cutting on wood and hard plastic material, and then a little large scale hacking on boxes, ropes, etc. , so I use the Manbug about 10|1 over the Cara Cara.

At any rate, the Manbug has had maybe ten sharpenings since I got it, always using a Smiths Fine diamond and wetstone kit. It gets sharp, but not as sharp as it was out of the box. Not only did the sharpmaker get the Manbug factory sharp, I think it's maybe even a little sharper, if that's possible.

I was so excited I repeated the same process on the Cara Cara which seemed like it was still out-of-the-box sharp. I had zero expectations that the 8Cr13MoV could get as sharp as the little VG-10 blade, but I was wrong! With relatively little effort (compared to the Smith wetstone) not only is the Cara Cara is way sharper than it was out of the box, I see no difference between it and the edge on the Manbug. Sure, it probably won't keep as well, but it cuts, feels, and looks (under a jewelers loop) like the same edge.

Now I'll probably be up all night sharpening my other five Spydies, and the other two Byrds, and Bucks, and all the Gerbers, and Victronoxes, and Scharades... and the axe, and all the scissors.... GAH!

I'm one of those mildly OCD guys that can't sleep as long as there is a chance that there might be a knife in the house that's not as sharp as it can possibly be. :)

jaxonunit wrote: I'm one of those mildly OCD guys that can't sleep as long as there is a chance that there might be a knife in the house that's not as sharp as it can possibly be. :)

You're in good company here. :D Me too.

:eek:
I thought I was the only one! :D

I received a pair of CBN rods over the weekend so I'm about to get OCD on some S110V! :D

Spyderco does 8cr13mov really well. I had one of my Byrds Rockwell tested by Phil Wilson about 10 years ago and it was 61.5 RC. It is quicker to sharpen than VG10, and it takes a great edge with minimal burring. It doesn't have the wear resistance of VG10, but it takes to very acute angles nicely (like 8-10 degrees per side with a 15 per side microbevel). If you like a steel that takes very little time to bring to a very high sharpness, and you don't mind sharpening a little more frequently to keep it very sharp, 8cr13mov as done by Spyderco is one of the best out there.

I have the Sharpmaker but I stink at sharpening knives with it. I ended up getting the Work Sharp Ken Onion edition and sharpened every dadgum knife in the house. Maybe one day I'll pull out the Sharpmaker and try again! As I get older I'm hoping I'll develop more patience.

My wife picked me up an old Chicago Cutlery knife at a garage sale for .75 cents. The blade was in rough shape. Spent probably 35 minutes on my Edge Pro re-profiling and another 10 or so on the Sharpmaker. Like a razor now, and I didn't really need another knife. She knows I won't have a dull knife in the house, my Sharpmaker gets regular use. My kids know I'm nuts for knives. :D

I'm finishing my second full reprofile with the SM diamond rods on an old VG-10 PE Cricket.

After doing the Cricket and earlier an S110V Manix 2 LW, I'm thinking for me the SM diamonds are better relegated to restoring a 30° apex rather than going all the way from 40-30°.
With 2 maybe 4 knives I'd like to reprofile from 40-30°, I'm wondering whether it'll be simpler just sending it out.

But then again a professional 30° reprofile won't necessarily match the 30° bevel from a SM. You have the same dilemma there, which pushes toward investment in the guided system I've been trying to avoid.