Different Tools, Different Steels, Different Angles Different Grits to get your Spydies Blade Factory Fresh

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

This topic is loaded.

I would like to get input from others as to what are

1. The tools they use

2. The grits they use

3. The Angles they prefer for Slicers in various models of various steels. For example sharpening a Military in S30V versus M4 I discovered using the wicked edge pro I could re-profile my M4 Military to 30 degrees inclusive or 15 degrees per side starting at 600 Grit and it goes very swiftly but in order to re-profile S30V I have to start at either 100 or 200 grit otherwise it will take allot longer.

for the purpose of getting the optimal bevel degree and shoulder removal returning the blade to factory level of finish.

After all who among us has not relished the new blade of a fresh new Spyderco that is factory sharp.

[Bloke]

I use a Hapstone Pro guided system and SiC hones to reprofile. I aim for 28deg inclusive and maintain with medium SharpMaker rods at 40deg. Though I’ll try 22deg and 30deg micro bevel off the SharpMaker when I next reprofile anything because I’ve had no issues with any blade steel at my current settings and any (Spyderco) edge I’ve chipped to date has been my own fault.

Prior to joining the Forum I use to polish all bevels/edges because I don’t think I knew any better and chased “Sharp” through edge refinement. My knives were sharp all right and push cut cigarette paper etc. but they wouldn’t slice diddly and slipped on anything fibrous.

Reading the sharpening threads here and listening to what was being discussed I started playing around with coarse edges and I’ve never looked back. Now I concentrate on getting the sharpest edge I possibly can with the coarsest hone as is practical and I feel my sharpening skill has greatly improved for it.

I know there are two fairly distinct camps here as in the polished edge and coarse edge gangs. I’m not overly obsessed with either but find it very satisfying to get steels like ZDP-189 etc. as sharp if not sharper than the factory edge off a 220grit SiC rock and hair whittling sharp off a 600grit SiC rock and a couple of light swipes on stiff leather and Chrome Oxide. That said, if any steel is frustrating me (not many do of late) and I can’t get the result I desire I go to a 1200grit Venev bonded Diamond or CBN and happy days.

At the end of the day I’m sure different steels would reach their true potential at certain edge finishes but I’m fairly idle and just not that obsessed with sharpening which I view a bit like mowing lawns and washing vehicles, so basically I
sharpened every steel the same.

Rightly or wrongly, I reckon if an edge bites into and sticks to face stubble on both sides of the blade the same I have a clean apex and no burr. I call it sharp and it’ll slice anything I need cut better than average. :)

[ZrowsN1s]

These days I use the sharpmaker with the cbn stones and the ultra fine added to the kit. I believe the cbn are 400 grit, hard to say exactly for the other rods, I've read, 15, 6, and 3 micron. (1,200, 3000, 8000 grit) but I couldn't tell you for sure. I use a 1 micron strop to finish. I do everything 15dps. Grit depends on the steel. And no offense to the factory, but I like my edges better :D

[vivi]

This topic is loaded.

I would like to get input from others as to what are

1. The tools they use

2. The grits they use

3. The Angles they prefer for Slicers in various models of various steels. For example sharpening a Military in S30V versus M4 I discovered using the wicked edge pro I could re-profile my M4 Military to 30 degrees inclusive or 15 degrees per side starting at 600 Grit and it goes very swiftly but in order to re-profile S30V I have to start at either 100 or 200 grit otherwise it will take allot longer.

for the purpose of getting the optimal bevel degree and shoulder removal returning the blade to factory level of finish.

After all who among us has not relished the new blade of a fresh new Spyderco that is factory sharp.

1. I use a DMT XX Course bench stone to set my bevels. Spyderco medium bench stone to hone my edges. Sometimes I'll use my sharp maker for quick touch ups if I don't feel like getting out my bench stone.

I have a leather strop with green buffing compound as well. The only thing I use it for is double checking for a bur. I load it up real heavy with compound then strop only once per side, checking to see if there's a bur scraping off compound on either side of the blade.

2. Not sure what grit the DMT is rated at....something around 200-350 I'd guess? The medium bench stone is about 800 grit I think.

3. I reprofile all my knives to about 10-12 degrees per side, then apply a roughly 15 degree microbevel. Sometimes I'll leave rough use fixed blades a bit thicker, but I never give a knife a bevel 15dps or thicker. Only axes etc.

4. I don't like factory edges. The apex is sharp, Spyderco does a great job in that respect. But compared to my thinner edges, they cut with noticeably more drag. I can get my apex a little sharper too, once I fully remove the factory bevel and apply my own.

[soc_monki]

I just use a Lansky 4 rod turn box. I do have a smith's tri-hone, and a lansky deluxe guided kit as well. And one of the smith's 2 sided diamond thing that stores in the handle.

I like to have my knives sharp, but don't want to waste time on bench stones even though I have them. Just not enough time to really devote to them. The turn box works amazingly. I touched up the edge on my Kershaw Thermite a little bit ago and shaved hair off my arm and cut paper with no problem. Don't need any more than that! Touched up my lightweight manix 2 as well, also hair shaving and paper cutting (push cutting).

I want to get a sharp maker soon. I really like that kind of system! So easy!

[Tucson Tom]

I'm dancing around the actual question, but ....

I am looking just a little cross-eyed at the "factory fresh" as a standard of comparison.

Now don't get me wrong. I think Spyderco does a superb job of shipping really sharp knives, so it isn't a bad standard to strive for at all. My experience is limited with other makers, but among those I have sampled, Spyderco is head and shoulders above almost all of them. But I think it is a reasonable goal to do even better, and even with my modest sharpening skills, I have gotten some of my Spydercos noticeably sharper than when they were shipped to me. If I can manage that, I think most folks can.

And it only makes sense. The factory has to "crank 'em out" and they do a heck of a good job given that. We on the other hand have time to burn and can fiddle endlessly and should thus be able to better, once we learn how to slice our onions.

P.S. I have noted and filed away what Bloke says about toothy versus polished edges.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

I'm dancing around the actual question, but ....

I am looking just a little cross-eyed at the "factory fresh" as a standard of comparison.

Now don't get me wrong. I think Spyderco does a superb job of shipping really sharp knives, so it isn't a bad standard to strive for at all. My experience is limited with other makers, but among those I have sampled, Spyderco is head and shoulders above almost all of them. But I think it is a reasonable goal to do even better, and even with my modest sharpening skills, I have gotten some of my Spydercos noticeably sharper than when they were shipped to me. If I can manage that, I think most folks can.

And it only makes sense. The factory has to "crank 'em out" and they do a heck of a good job given that. We on the other hand have time to burn and can fiddle endlessly and should thus be able to better, once we learn how to slice our onions.

P.S. I have noted and filed away what Bloke says about toothy versus polished edges.

Ok and what do you do?

[StuntZombie]

I use a Hapstone Pro guided system and SiC hones to reprofile. I aim for 28deg inclusive and maintain with medium SharpMaker rods at 40deg. Though I’ll try 22deg and 30deg micro bevel off the SharpMaker when I next reprofile anything because I’ve had no issues with any blade steel at my current settings and any (Spyderco) edge I’ve chipped to date has been my own fault.

Prior to joining the Forum I use to polish all bevels/edges because I don’t think I knew any better and chased “Sharp” through edge refinement. My knives were sharp all right and push cut cigarette paper etc. but they wouldn’t slice diddly and slipped on anything fibrous.

Reading the sharpening threads here and listening to what was being discussed I started playing around with coarse edges and I’ve never looked back. Now I concentrate on getting the sharpest edge I possibly can with the coarsest hone as is practical and I feel my sharpening skill has greatly improved for it.

I know there are two fairly distinct camps here as in the polished edge and coarse edge gangs. I’m not overly obsessed with either but find it very satisfying to get steels like ZDP-189 etc. as sharp if not sharper than the factory edge off a 220grit SiC rock and hair whittling sharp off a 600grit SiC rock and a couple of light swipes on stiff leather and Chrome Oxide. That said, if any steel is frustrating me (not many do of late) and I can’t get the result I desire I go to a 1200grit Venev bonded Diamond or CBN and happy days.

At the end of the day I’m sure different steels would reach their true potential at certain edge finishes but I’m fairly idle and just not that obsessed with sharpening which I view a bit like mowing lawns and washing vehicles, so basically I
sharpened every steel the same.

Rightly or wrongly, I reckon if an edge bites into and sticks to face stubble on both sides of the blade the same I have a clean apex and no burr. I call it sharp and it’ll slice anything I need cut better than average. :)

How do you maintain the coarser edge when you touch up the edge? I would imagine using the coarser grits would wear a blade down rather quickly.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

Thanks Vivi I ordered a Spyderco double stuff and a Spyderco brown stone. I know I can flip the Sharpmaker and free hand it but the base gets in the way a bit with some knives.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

What do you guys do to get rid of I guess what is called the shoulder where the bevel becomes the flats of the blade!

I have used a Ken onion grinding system to accomplish this but was wondering if there are other ways.

[Pelagic]

You don't have to get rid of the shoulder, but I have before. I have an old military that (going from spine to apex) starts off as a mirror polished convex, gradually transitioning (probably starts around 5dps and ends around 12dps but rounded) into a crisp 15dps 325 grit apex. It was an attempt to preserve performance since it has seen a lot of sharpening. Seemed to work well. Just some random experiment.

[Bloke]

How do you maintain the coarser edge when you touch up the edge? I would imagine using the coarser grits would wear a blade down rather quickly.

Hey Chris, I s’pose one of the other things I’m anal about is not grinding away any more steel than I absolutely need to in one session. For example if a knife comes with an uneven and obtuse factory grind or I chip an edge I don’t try to or worry about fixing it in one sharpening. If I can get say 85-90% of the apex clean when I reprofile a new blade I’m happy. Any chips I may incur I ignore and figure I’ll either grind them out eventually over a few touch ups/sharpenings or maybe even incur more so I don’t stress over them like I used to in times gone by.

I generally only use the medium rods on the SharpMaker to maintain edges and take the absolute minimum amount of passes. :)

[Tucson Tom]

Ok and what do you do?

Ha, ha! OK, fair enough.

Believe it or not .... (drum roll please) ... I use the Sharpmaker! Just the stock rods. I use a sharpie to verify that the 30 degree setup is hitting the factory bevels. I may or not put on a micro-bevel at 40 degrees using the fine rods. At any event, I give it a few licks with both the brown and fine rods at 30.

I have the ultra-fine rods, but never use them. I may have "wasted my money", but we will withhold final verdict on that as I have a lot to learn.

I do have a goldenstone and have used it with great success when I am too lazy to drag out the sharpmaker and set it up. This is more and more frequent as I get lazier and as I discover that the goldenstone accomplishes what I want.

I have all kinds of dreams and aspirations about freehand sharpening, but that is not what I am actually doing at this point in time.

[SleeplessInSoCal]

Is 30° inclusive the Sharpmaker angles that we should use to maintain the factory angle on our knives? In other words, is that the angle that I’m looking at when I pull a brand new sprint Para 2 or Manix 2 from its box?

Asking for a friend.

[vivi]

Thanks Vivi I ordered a Spyderco double stuff and a Spyderco brown stone. I know I can flip the Sharpmaker and free hand it but the base gets in the way a bit with some knives.

Those stones should work nicely for you.

Regarding the sharpmaker, I'm not talking about the slots on the bottom. There are four storage slots on the top....two near the base, two on the top. Lay a rod in one of the slots on top and you can use the sharpmaker like a bench stone.

The slots in the bottom never worked well for me because the amount of clearance between the rods and base is less than the width of most knife handles. I use the storage slots instead.

[Archimedes]

My 3 main tools are a Ken Onion Worksharp, a Sharpmaker. and a Strop.

I have some other tools in a box, like bench stones and a full Edge Pro system and miscellaneous stones. I don't really use the Edge Pro anymore but keep it anyway.

The Workshop comes with a v angle attachment but I never liked that so I use the attachment pictured below and free hand on the belt. This is my choice for bigger knives and re-profiles. I also use this tool for axes. I use all the belts but mostly use the lower grits for faster material removal.

I use the Sharpmaker the most and maintain all my folders on this tool. I have CBN rods, 2 sets of diamond rods, I also have the extra fine. Depending on the steel I may use all the rods but mostly use a The CBN or Diamond followed by the medium brown and my knives are shaving sharp.

I also once in a while use the Strop. But not that much. It is nice to have one as sometimes you want a polished edge for show.

I can't really speak to angle and such as every knife and steel is different so that would take a book. Plus I freehand on the belt.

Here is a picture of my main tools as mentioned above.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

Today I experimented to determine 2 things. One of which is comparing grits of the Sharpmaker brown stones to other systems.

I did this by using the Sharpmaker with stones in place then laying the stones of the Wicked edge on those to get the angle.

1. What is the angle of the Sharpmaker set at 30 degrees with WE PRO stones in front. My angle cube shows 15.10 degrees close enough for me:)

2. How do Wicked edge pro grits compare? I tried the 400 Grit it was like scraping the blade against concrete by comparison to the brown stones. Then laying the stone against the brown rod again to set the angle tried 600 Grit. Still much rougher. Will do some more later

[Ankerson]

I use the Edge Pro with Congress Mold Master SIC stones.

I finish at 400 grit.

Normally profile to 15 DPS except for large blades (Choppers) then go with 20 DPS

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

Well now this is interesting, it turns out the Spyderco Brown stone they are calling coarse is anything but coarse.

I went ahead and used the 800 Grit WE Pro stone and it is more coarse, then the the 1000 Grit and it is more coarse it was not until I used the 1200 Grit fine ceramic stone that I was close to the brown stone it is only slightly more fine and it will start a polish on a blade I would say it is 100 Grit more fine as a scale of measurement.

[tjsblade]

Well now this is interesting, it turns out the Spyderco Brown stone they are calling coarse is anything but coarse.

I went ahead and used the 800 Grit WE Pro stone and it is more coarse, then the the 1000 Grit and it is more coarse it was not until I used the 1200 Grit fine ceramic stone that I was close to the brown stone it is only slightly more fine and it will start a polish on a blade I would say it is 100 Grit more fine as a scale of measurement.

There is a grit comparison chart on the Wicked Edge website although I think it only includes Shapton and Chosera stones, nothing Spyderco.
There is also a chart showing the micron size of each Wicked Edge diamond, ceramic and stropping compound.

Just some more information. Coarse, fine, ultra-fine. It is just a relative description really.