Spyderco Forums

Hey guys...new to spyderco but had good knives my whole life...spyderco seems to be very different steel...any tips on sharpening...thank you

Hey Vince, welcome to the forum. What model/steel Spyderco did you get? What type of sharpening equipment are you using?

Welcome to the Forum! :)

Like The Gringo said, tell us more and you'll have more help than you'll know what to do with.

Welcome. I’ll be listening in. I have an old Lansky and a newer Sharpmaker. I can learn a lot about sharpening from here too.

Welcome to the forum!

MichaelScott wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 19, 2018 8:14 am

I can learn a lot about sharpening from here too.

Ditto.

I've got a Sharpmaker that I use for most of my edge maintenance, and I'm hoping to get a good guided system sometime soon.

Hey guys! Start out with the lansky guided system, the diamond one. And then eventually graduate to a KME which is incredible. Its fool proof and your knives will be sharper than you ever felt possible. And also a trick with sharpening on anything including free hand is use a sharpie to color in the bevel on both sides of the knife and take a swipe or 2 and check. If all the sharpie is gone you are golden , if only the very edge is gone then you need to go at a lower angle, and if the sharpie is only gone above the edge then you need to go a bit steeper of an angle. You can reapply the sharpie as much as you need. Rubbing alcohol gets the sharpie off your knife like nothing so make sure you have some. Do alternating strokes after you have your angle, 10 on one side, 10 on the other, 9....9, 8.....8, and so on. Light pressure so you don't form too big of a burr (Google or YouTube burr) and once you get down to 1 on each side keep going once one each side as many times as you want. Then grab a leather strop or even a leather belt and stroke the knife at the same angle with EDGE TRAILING STROKES, meaning don't dig the edge into the leather as if you are sharpening, do the complete opposite. Do the same 10...10 , 9...9, down to 1...1....1....1....1....1 and see your results on a piece of paper ! With these little tricks you guys will be able to free hand in no time!

Hey Vince. Wanted to add my 2 cents worth. IMHO, there are two basic types of ‘sharpening’... tuneup and reprofiling. One is more like edge maintenance and the other is for when it’s truly dull. The tools needed to deal with a dull knife are usually a little more complex than tuneup tools.

Leather strops with an applied polishing paste are a great way to KEEP a knife sharp, but even that needs practice to keep your angles true. You can screw up an edge with improper stropping. I find the Spyderco Sharpmaker a great way to keep knives sharp as well... especially in its basic configuration. If you have to move metal on a Sharpmaker, you’ll need the diamond rods if you have hard steel on your Spyderco. It’s pretty easy to use and doesn’t hurt your wallet too badly.

To get a dull knife sharp again, you have to remove some metal and you want to remove as little as possible in order to get it back sharp again. Now, you’re talking about a slight (or major) investment. There are plenty of systems out there and we all have our favorites. Some of this is budget driven. It might be helpful to know what is an amount you’re willing to invest in keeping your knive(s) sharp. We’re all pretty fanatical about our edges and invest in our knives and the tools to keep them sharp. Paul uses the KME system and has outlined a good method. It’s good advice and good technique. The principles apply to any system you choose.

Holler back with the steel your Spyderco is made of and your sharpening budget and let’s get you going.