Early Sharpmaker

Discuss Spyderco's products and history.
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The CoPilot
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Early Sharpmaker

#1

Post by The CoPilot »

Sal:

What are we looking at here in this photo? Is is some kind of early form of the Sharpmaker, or it it something else? I can see the edges of some brown ceramic rods.

Thanks.
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Looking for: C04 Executive plain edge, C09 CoPilot plain edge with brass liners and a G-2 marked blade
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sal
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Re: Early Sharpmaker

#2

Post by sal »

Hi CoPilot,

Looks like an early "Fold-A-Vee". We made them in the late 70's, early 80's. Ended up selling the patent to Lansky. ( Needed the money ) I tried to buy the Tooling back from them, because they shelved it, but it wouldn't move.

sal
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The CoPilot
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Re: Early Sharpmaker

#3

Post by The CoPilot »

Very interesting. I vaguely remember reading about the Fold-A-Vee now that you mention it. Might have been in the Spyderco Story.
><> The most important blood trail leads to the Cross <><
C09 CoPilots My Specialty
Integrity is Being Good Even if No One is WatchingTM
Looking for: C04 Executive plain edge, C09 CoPilot plain edge with brass liners and a G-2 marked blade
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Sharp Guy
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Re: Early Sharpmaker

#4

Post by Sharp Guy »

I remember Sal mentioning the Fold-A-Vee a while back. The latest catalog I have that shows it is 1990. Looks like the one in the pic is missing some parts

https://www.knifecenter.com/item/LSLCSF ... -sharpener
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Mini2white
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Re: Early Sharpmaker

#5

Post by Mini2white »

Here is a pic of mine.

Image
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sal
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Re: Early Sharpmaker

#6

Post by sal »

Thanx for the pic Mini2white.

It worked well on knives under 4" blade length. Had 30 and 40 degrees. I originally designed it for Peter Gerber, who had requested a field sharpener. the new GM (Raske) said that I took too long to develop it and Gerber had retired so he decided to have Blackie Collins design a field sharpener for them.

We produced them for a while, but I had considerable investment in protos and tooling and Arthur had asked for it so I sold it to him.

sal
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Re: Early Sharpmaker

#7

Post by Mini2white »

Thank you Sal for the history. That means a lot to me. I think it was such a great design. I was lucky to pick mine up from another collector who shared this with me. I don't have the instruction sheet yet but like always I am looking.
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Re: Early Sharpmaker

#8

Post by sal »

We've thought about retooling and remaking the model. patents are long gone.

sal
Sumdumguy
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Re: Early Sharpmaker

#9

Post by Sumdumguy »

This is an interesting one.
What would the cost on something like this be, today? I'd be interested.

It looks a good bit thinner than the Sharpmaker.
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Mini2white
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Re: Early Sharpmaker

#10

Post by Mini2white »

sal wrote:
Tue Jul 07, 2020 8:40 pm
We've thought about retooling and remaking the model. patents are long gone.

sal
Time for the new and improved model. Wow that could be exciting.
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Re: Early Sharpmaker

#11

Post by nrajeff »

CoPilot, I saw that sharpener on Ebay and was tempted to bid on it but I didn't know anything about how it worked, how complete it was, or how good it was at sharpening. I'd never seen anything like it before. So I didn't bid.
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The CoPilot
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Re: Early Sharpmaker

#12

Post by The CoPilot »

nrajeff wrote:
Wed Jul 08, 2020 9:35 pm
CoPilot, I saw that sharpener on Ebay and was tempted to bid on it but I didn't know anything about how it worked, how complete it was, or how good it was at sharpening. I'd never seen anything like it before. So I didn't bid.
To tell you the truth I'm a little embarassed that I didn't recognize what it was right away either. At first glance it looked to me like some sort of prehistoric Sharpmaker. I'm glad that Sal and others could see that, in fact, it was a "very tired" partial Fold-A-Vee that was missing some pieces. Glad I didn't bid!
><> The most important blood trail leads to the Cross <><
C09 CoPilots My Specialty
Integrity is Being Good Even if No One is WatchingTM
Looking for: C04 Executive plain edge, C09 CoPilot plain edge with brass liners and a G-2 marked blade
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