New Member and some questions!

[Xander3Zero]

Hello all, I'm a new member here but have been lurking for a little bit.

I have been into folding knives for a few years now and I have a decent little collection going on; few ZT's that I like, some other higher end production knives and a few mid-techs/semi-customs. I just bought my first Spyderco the other week, the S35VN Para 3 sprint, and I am loving it. Instantly hooked on Spyderco and loving all the sprint and exclusive runs.

I am already looking over all the upcoming lists and thinking of picking up 2 more Para 3's (St Nick and Cutlery Shoppe)! Honestly, its not hitting the knife fund that bad since Spyderco's pricing is so reasonable. I am used to spending $200-400 for some ZTs and mid-techs, so paying ~$150 for all these great color/blade combos seems manageable.

I will do some research here on the forums as well, but I thought I would fire off some quick questions to pick y'all brains:

1) Anyone have any idea when the Cutlery Shoppe Para 3 with the CTS-XHP blade will be dropping? I saw the upcoming list mentioned 2018, but I also saw someone post that it was anticipated to be early 2019?

2) What are most people using for basic sharpening needs? Is the Spyderco sharpmaker a good investment? Obviously its price point is fair and I have heard good things but just curious. I have a strop and some basic compounds, but all I ever use that for is just touching up some edges every now and then, and its obviously not effective at all for removing any real edge dings. I'm not looking to break the bank either so I won't be getting one of those $300+ setups lol.

3) What is everyone using for lubricants and corrosion protection products for non-stainless steels? I disassembled, cleaned and lubed my new Para 3 with just some basic gun-oil and it seems smooth as glass, but wondering if most people are using specific lubricants like tuf-glide or whatever? For corrosion protection I have heard about Aegis Solutions corrosion inhibitor but am open to suggestions. Asking cause I may have to pick up that CPM-4V Para 3 from StN lol!

Looking forward to seeing what suggestions you guys have for me, and also glad to join the community here. Seems like Spyderco is really active on here and takes care of their customers, so I look forward to adding many, many spydie's to the collection! Thanks all.

[Fixmeister]

Welcome Xander. Can’t help you with the sprint drops but can comment on a couple of the other questions.

The Sharpmaker is a go-to touch up sharpener for a lot of us. It’s absolutely worth the price and something you should seriously consider since it doesn’t sound like you’re equipped to do a reprofile or deal with a severely dull edge. Consider adding the diamond or CBN rods. We all have our pet sharpening systems and you can find a wealth of information here on the strengths of each system if you want become an edge junky.

Nano oil is a popular pivot lube and is widely used and recommended here. Benchmade also has their Blue lube. Both excellent.

The surface treatment of your blade... depends on what you primarily use your blade for. If you cut or prep any food, stay away from anything with petroleum distillates since most if not all of them are bad to ingest. Stick with mineral oil. Varieties abound but they can be found in the cutting board aisle. If it’s strictly a work tool, gun oil or almost any automotive protectants work. Clean and dry works too.

Have fun. Buy more Spydies.

Tom

[Water Bug]

Welcome to the Forum! Of your questions that I can address...

- For me, the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker is well worth the investment. I use it for both touching up blades as well as sharpening knives that have gotten pretty dull... the Sharpmaker can be set up in its standard configuration or as a bench stone. Definitely recommend investing in a set of Spyderco Tri-Angle Diamond Stones for getting an edge started on dull blades.

- For me, Norton Sharpening Stone Oil has worked fine when it comes to using bench stones that need oil as well as using it for lubrication of tools... it is a highly refined mineral oil. I've also used Hoppe's 9 Gun Oil for lubricating knives.

[kodai78]

I have used Rust Free from AG Russell and White Lightning chain lube ( available at bike shops) to protect non-stainless steels. Tuff cloth works too. I sharpen with a Sharpmaker and I believe the diamond rods are the way to go for an edge in bad shape, I also have all 3 grades of ceramic for the Sharpmaker.

[Slash]

Weapon shield clp for guns and knives. It's non-toxic

[Xander3Zero]

Thanks for the responses guys. I just ordered the Sharpmaker with the UF stones, will probably end up with the diamond stones too at some point. Going to look into the nano oil.

The S35VN very sharp from the factory so I will have to get some practice with the Sharpmaker on some of my other knives!

[SF Native]

The sharpmaker is really good. The diamond or cbn rods are a must. I reprofiled s110v last week with my cbn rods.

Spyderco never tells us when anything will drop. If the dealer gave an estimate, it’s just that. Might not be ready when they say. Also the cutlery shoppe has a coated and uncoated blade coming. Maybe difference in estimates was for each blade type?

I use food grade mineral oil. Easy to find at local drug store. Sometimes sold as baby laxative. Nontoxic. And cheap.
Welcome to the forum.

[Eli Chaps]

Welcome. :)

If I was dropping $200-400 on multiple knives I would sacrifice buying one or two of them and get myself well set up with very good sharpening gear so I could maintain my knives.

[Woodpuppy]

Sharpmaker is fantastic. There are some threads on sharpening gear I’ve found interesting:

//forum.spyderco.com/viewto ... =2&t=79863
//forum.spyderco.com/viewto ... =2&t=80385
//forum.spyderco.com/viewto ... =2&t=80985

[ferider]

3) What is everyone using for lubricants and corrosion protection products for non-stainless steels? I disassembled, cleaned and lubed my new Para 3 with just some basic gun-oil and it seems smooth as glass

Be careful with that gun oil, might attack the brass washers and is probably not food safe.

I use Black Rifle Balm for lube, and a cloth soaked with Frog Lube for corrosion protection.

Roland.

[Xander3Zero]

3) What is everyone using for lubricants and corrosion protection products for non-stainless steels? I disassembled, cleaned and lubed my new Para 3 with just some basic gun-oil and it seems smooth as glass

Be careful with that gun oil, might attack the brass washers and is probably not food safe.

I use Black Rifle Balm for lube, and a cloth soaked with Frog Lube for corrosion protection.

Roland.

Thanks for the heads up and suggestions, I have some 85W nano-oil coming that I will probably try as lubricant. Don't do much food prep with my knives so I am not too worried about food-safe considerations.

As far as the gun oil, it was MPro7 LPX, I just tried a quick search to see if this is safe to leave on the phosphor bronze washers but couldn't come to any conclusion. In hindsight, I'm thinking its probably not the best lubricant for this application since typical gun "CLPs" have some sort of solvent for removing brass/copper fouling... I will probably strip it from the Para 3 and try something else. I also have some Mil-Comm TW25b that I may try while waiting on the nano-oil.

Also got my sharpmaker the other day and was able to get some practice on a few of my older ZTs. Just had the included medium and fine grit stones, but have the diamond and UF stones on the way as well. I was able to touch up the edge on an Elmax and S35VN ZT pretty well. With the Elmax it seemed that the fine sharpmaker stone was sufficient to get it to shave paper nicely, but I noticed with the S35VN it was still lacking so I took it to a strop with some fine compound which got me closer to the results I was looking for.

[legOFwhat?]

Welcome! You have entered an enabler zone! I had 2 spyders when I 1st posted here and now I think the total will hit 15 when the St. Nicks hits the mailbox. Gave a few away as well.

Again welcome!

[Hopweaver]

I use mineral oil. It is inexpensive, safe for cutting food, and best of all... it works. No need to over-think it.

I also use the Spyderco Sharpmaker. So far it has worked on every blade steel I have thrown at it: S30V, M4, S110V, S90V, BD1, VG10. After a few swipes on the Sharpmaker, they are back to 'paper slicey' sharp.

[JonLeBlanc]

Regarding lubrication, and in addition to all of the good suggestions made so far, you may also want to try liquid silicone, if you aren’t using your knife on food. It’s inexpensive and actually quite robust; I find that if my blade isnt subsequently exposed to any solvents, the thin coating of silicone isn’t going anywhere once it’s dried!

[vivi]

1. no.

2. sharpmaker to maintain my edges, plus an extra course DMT bench stone for repairing edge damage, setting a thinner edge angle, etc.

3. I lube pivots with food safe mineral oil. I avoid carbon steel folders and stick with rust proof H1 folders primarily, so I don't have to be concerned with rust at all. On stainless models rather than stainproof....I try to keep them clean and dry, and take them apart once a year to scrub off any rust on the internals and re-lube the pivot.

[sal]

Hi Xander,

Welcome to our forum.

aal

[M4Life]

Hey Xander,

I'm not sure when about any of the release dates are for the sprint runs but I am a para 3 fanboy and I lubricate mine with 10 weight nano oil and it has worked great on the my para 3s. If you have not already thought about it, I would also highly recommend adding a Casey Lynch/Lynch Northwest deep carry clip to your para 3. They are just really great clips and there are video reviews of them that you can check out if you want. Casey was super nice the times I've interacted with him and he really goes above and beyond by doing things like including extra clip screws in case you accidentally strip the factory ones, and including a little handwritten note with each order of clips. I'm rambling, but the point is Casey makes awesome deep carry clips and they work great on the Para 3.

[Bloke]

Hi Xander

I sharpen with a guided system but I maintain everything except zero grind Scandi’s with a SharpMaker and I highly recommend it. Prior to joining the forum I used to maintain edges with a couple of strops but I’ve found the SharpMaker is quicker, easier and gives me best results.

I do no food prep with folders so I use Nycolube 127 gun oil on any pinned knife. Knives made to disassemble, I disassemble to clean and tune and give blades, liners, pivot pins etc a coat of Eezox, let everything dry in the sun and for good measure I do it all again.

When I reassemble everything I use Shimano Ace-2 Reel Grease very sparingly on/in pivots, pivot pins and thrust washers. I’ve run my most carried and used S30V Military this way for close to eighteen months without any other maintenance whatsoever and it’s as smooth and slick today as the day I reassembled it. :)

[Xander3Zero]

So while I'm still waiting for CS to drop the XHP Para 3 exclusive, I did order my second Spyderco from KC; the Native 5 with fluted CF scales and S90V steel. I am a left hand user so it will be interesting to see how I like operating the back-lock as opposed to all my liner/frame-locks. I actually don't have a problem using any of the lock types with my left hand but it will be nice to have something that is truly ambidextrous.

In other news, got a little more practice in with the sharpmaker and wow I am sold. I now have the diamond stones and UF stones to go along with the kit and last night I decided to work on my LionSteel KUR. The original edge was pretty even and looked to be in decent shape but it was not even close to shaving paper. Even after just using the medium stones it was already shaving paper easily. Took it through the fine and UF stones and wow this thing is sharp now. Easily shaved a large patch of hair on my leg with one push, this is the sharpest I have ever seen a blade.

Not sure if any of you guys are familiar with Sleipner steel, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it sharpens very easily and gave me no trouble on the sharpmaker. Feeling pretty comfortable on the sharpmaker and very happy with the results so far, have a new found love for my knives knowing that I can sharpen them like this.