Sharpening and bladeprotection.

[apollo]

Guys just out of interest.
What do you all use to sharpen youre spydies?
And how do you protect you're blades from scratching them up while you are doing it?

Myself i mainly use the Sharpmaker along with the ken onion worksharp.
Now the sharpmaker it self is offcoarse easily used without any chance of scratching the blade. And its superb for keeping a knife perfectly sharp , But when i need to reprofile a knife i am sorry to say this Spyderco but it just isn't it for me. (Even have the diamond stones and even with those it feels like years before you are done)

So there for i bought the worksharp and the thing does an amazing job but allas its a tool that scratches up the blade if you are in a lazy mood and forget to tape up the entire blade.
So i wonder what do you guys use and do any of you have a better way to protect you're blades then taping the thing up all the time?

Not that i have something against scratches on the knives that i use but sharpening scratches anoy me more then those made by everyday use for some reason.

[ladybug93]

i have the worksharp. i liked it for my outdoor blades because it gives a slight convex, but i don't like it for my pocket knives. i don't recall it leaving scratches, but i did accidentally round the tip of some cheaper knives using it. that's a big part of why i don't like it.

as of right now, i just use my sharpmaker for everything. i don't reprofile blades. i don't worry about slightly uneven factory grinds. i just touch up my edges on the sharpmaker occasionally when i feel they need it. a lot of people around here love to see how a blade sharpens and just start removing metal every chance they get. i'd rather keep the knife going longer and only do a light touch up when necessary.

i am curious about getting a better system though. now that i have a 15v manix and am planning on getting something in k390 and m4, i'm wondering if i should step up to a more aggressive system that is guided, so i don't mess anything up. i'll say this though, if i try to touch up 15v on my sharpmaker and i'm able to do it even half as easy as my other steels, i'll just save my money and stick with the sharpmaker.

[Wandering_About]

Bench stones. Nothing to protect blades from scratches. On blades where I'm experimenting with extra stupid thin edges, once in a while I will get some stray scratches from a coarse diamond plate like an Atoma 140. But for my normal sharpening it's extremely rare for me to ever get stray scratches on the blade.

[JSumm]

I use one of these for reprofiling then touch up on the Sharpmaker. Work Sharp Diamond Bench Stone System. I also want to try some of Spyderco's CBN benchstones at some point. No protection.

Photo from the WS website.

I also have their Precision Adjust system, but I prefer the manual method.

[Wartstein]

- Sharpmaker, brown, white and CBN rods - does everything I want, and is a must for SE for me

- Worksharp guided field sharpener (don´t really use that angle guides though) - nice for when I don´t want to set up the SM and for bringing it with me on a bit longer trips

- Some very coarse cheapo plates for crude reprofiling jobs

... A bit along the lines of what you said: I actually love scratches on my blades that come from real use, such from sharpening still don´t bother me though.

[olywa]

Hey ladybug, I think you'll be pleased with your Sharpmaker on 15V and K390. I have been using mine on the 15° slots and progressing from CBN rods to coarse Idahone rods, then brown, and finally white. If I want to go 10° I break out my Galley V and start with the CBN rods from my Gauntlet. I've also been pleasantly surprised to find out that the Sharpmaker rods fit in the Galley V base pretty effectively. There's a little fore and aft play there but they hold steady enough on the downstroke to work just fine.

[ladybug93]

Hey ladybug, I think you'll be pleased with your Sharpmaker on 15V and K390. I have been using mine on the 15° slots and progressing from CBN rods to coarse Idahone rods, then brown, and finally white.

that's the dilemma... do i buy some cbn rods or save the money for a guided system? i'll have to see what the brown rods do after some use on the 15v.

[jegred2]

Sharpmaker and the golden stone for my spydercos, worksharp field sharpener for my SAKs.

[ladybug93]

does anyone have experience with the fallkniven dc4? it's a diamond plate on one side and ceramic on the other. i've also considered getting a double stuff 2 as an alternative, but it's considerably more expensive. it would primarily be for a field sharpener.

[Danvp]

I don’t use the brown rods anymore. Diamond rods are all I need complemented with white for burr removal.
It takes less time and the coarser edge is a bonus.

I sold my guided system a while ago. SM will do fine. Even for reprofiling (use CBN or diamond). And yes it takes some time. But we all like to sharpen don’t we?

So no protecting of the blade is necessary when using the SM. Free-hand sharpening does need it imo (I am not as steady in hand movement like many others). Protecting the blade is not something I like to do. So I use the SM 99% of the time.

[apollo]

I don’t use the brown rods anymore. Diamond rods are all I need complemented with white for burr removal.
It takes less time and the coarser edge is a bonus.

I sold my guided system a while ago. SM will do fine. Even for reprofiling (use CBN or diamond). And yes it takes some time. But we all like to sharpen don’t we?

So no protecting of the blade is necessary when using the SM. Free-hand sharpening does need it imo (I am not as steady in hand movement like many others). Protecting the blade is not something I like to do. So I use the SM 99% of the time.

Do you like you’re diamond rods ? Because mine do not seem so much better as my normal brown rods. Plus they are extremely annoying since they do not seem to fit in the base that well for some reason.
Putting them in asks more force then seems necessary and getting them out is an even bigger nightmare.

Any one else also have this problem with there SM?


That is why i bought the worksharp to repare and reprofile edges. Where i work i need to cut stuff right next to metal or stuff that even wraps around metal so i do damage my edges now and then.
That is why the SM just not does it all for me. I have nothing against sharpening but not for hours on end.

[wrdwrght]

I’ve been using bench and pocket stones for as long as many here have been alive. Not a boast. I’m just long in the tooth.

Over the years, I’ve learned the angle and speed I should apply to get the results I want. I go slow to feel for resistance and thus rarely get unsightly scratches (removable with judicious use of high-grit sandpaper and/or Flitz). I hasten to say that hair-popping sharpness is not always my goal.

The challenging Spyderedge was new to me so I got a Sharpmaker (my only guided system) to learn about SE/CE maintenance (I now have 14 such edges to maintain). The SM is a masterful teaching tool (I gift it to family).

The lessons I’ve learned on the SM I now apply with handheld slips, which can reach right into the cusps/scallops. Spyderco makes them in two forms (a rod and a traditional) of the white stuff, and the Golden Stone can also serve. Each, of course, must be applied at an angle no less than the edge-bevel, and always slowly. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast scratchless.

[RustyIron]

What do you all use to sharpen youre spydies?
And how do you protect you're blades from scratching them up while you are doing it?

I use an EdgePro Professional.
If I'm working on someone else's knife, and it's in very nice condition, then I'll use blue masking tape on the blade. My own knives get used. They're not pristine to begin with, so I don't take extraordinary measures to avoid scuffs while sharpening. Regardless, my knives don't get scratched up during sharpening.

When sharpening, I keep everything clean. The table of the sharpener gets wiped off every time I change sides. The blade wets wiped off. The stones get rinsed or wiped frequently. I wipe my fingers frequently. I do not allow swarf to accumulate. That's what causes scratches. Also, I wipe with a clean area of the rag. A dirty rag will scratch a polished surface. I use TWO rags, a terrycloth one that is mostly for wiping clean water, and a paper towel that is used for wiping swarf. Dirty rags are disposed of and replaced with clean rags.

My Manix 2 15V is sitting here on my desk. I've carried it almost daily since I got it, and have sharpened it a handful of times. Examining it right now, I see no scratches or scuffing on the blade. Keep the work area clean, keep the blades looking good.

[bobnikon]

does anyone have experience with the fallkniven dc4? it's a diamond plate on one side and ceramic on the other. i've also considered getting a double stuff 2 as an alternative, but it's considerably more expensive. it would primarily be for a field sharpener.

I have both.

On the DC4 both sides are more coarse than their counterparts on the DS2. This isn't necessarily a negative and all depends on what kind of finish you like. No fish hook (or dart) groove on the DC4. Other than that, both quality pieces in my experience so far.

Cheers
Erik

[BeggarSo]

Ken onion with the angle guides is pretty much what I consider a half assed thought out product it will scratch the heck out of your knives.

This is fairly typical of their products. I have discovered they are cheaply made and are pretty close on the money but not quite there.

I consider them the Harbor Freight of sharpening products.

The Ken Onion Blade Grinder Attachment for the Ken Onion is good though. It is still cheaply built and the belts do have a bit of bump, bump, bump to them as they rotate but for casual use you really cant go wrong for portability and ease of use.

Yes it will convex the blade but you can avoid this by adding a stiffener behind the belt. As far as I know every Spyderco I ever bought was sharpened on a belt excepting SE blades so.... it is a matter of getting the belt stiff enough not to overly convex the edge.

Here is a good article with excellent tips and advice on using it. https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/ken ... r.1767797/

[BeggarSo]

Oh and one more thing.

You cant go wrong with Spyderco CBN Rods or Plates I have both just be aware the double stuff will come apart on you. I have the CBN & Ceramic and the Brown and white ceramic and on both of them the glue does release, so if you but them be prepared to either re-glue them or just use them as is, Lol on the ceramics I just consider them twice the surface area to work with. Too bad the CBN is Bare metal on the other side.

I am also considering buying the large CBN plate that is how good it is.

[Xplorer]

I use bench stones and nothing to protect the blade. I mostly use a 400 grit BBB vitrified CBN stone followed by an 800 grit Naniwa professional ceramic stone. For certain applications I finish with a 3000 grit Naniwa diamond stone but for most edges I stop at 800 grit and strop lightly on leather with 1000 grit diamond powder embedded in the strop.

I find that I don't need to protect the blade as long as I am consistent with locking my wrist at the angle I am using for sharpening. It took time to develop that consistency but it was worth the practice because the same consistency is needed to produce keen edges if you don't use a fixed-angle sharpening tool. No matter what tool one uses for sharpening there's just no substitute for practice.

I frequently do touch-ups with a Spyderco double-stuff as well.

If you get scratches on the sides of the blade you can just use masking tape to cover the blade and sharpen the edge right through the tape.

[Guts]

I use bench stones with simple fixed angle jigs I designed and 3D printed with either Venev resin bonded diamond stones or Ultrasharp diamond plates. Been wanting to get the Spyderco CBN bench stone as well. Coming from the Sharpmaker I was used to that fixed angle style of sharpening but wanted more options in terms of stones/grits. Don't really protect the blade at all, haven't needed to thankfully. Still trying to learn free hand though lol.

[Wartstein]

I,,,,,,,

So no protecting of the blade is necessary when using the SM. ....

As said I personally don´t mind scratches of whatever origin on my blades at all anyway.

But when sharpening SE, the Sharpmaker can scratch up one side of the blade, when using certain methods - like the one I use, where I remove the burr on the non scallop side by holding the blade almost flat to the rod, so that the factory steep (SE) chisel grind is preserved as much as possible.

[Danvp]

I don’t use the brown rods anymore. Diamond rods are all I need complemented with white for burr removal.
It takes less time and the coarser edge is a bonus.

I sold my guided system a while ago. SM will do fine. Even for reprofiling (use CBN or diamond). And yes it takes some time. But we all like to sharpen don’t we?

So no protecting of the blade is necessary when using the SM. Free-hand sharpening does need it imo (I am not as steady in hand movement like many others). Protecting the blade is not something I like to do. So I use the SM 99% of the time.

Do you like you’re diamond rods ? Because mine do not seem so much better as my normal brown rods. Plus they are extremely annoying since they do not seem to fit in the base that well for some reason.
Putting them in asks more force then seems necessary and getting them out is an even bigger nightmare.

Any one else also have this problem with there SM?


That is why i bought the worksharp to repare and reprofile edges. Where i work i need to cut stuff right next to metal or stuff that even wraps around metal so i do damage my edges now and then.
That is why the SM just not does it all for me. I have nothing against sharpening but not for hours on end.

I recognize this. The diamond rods have one end that has no diamond coating on it. That part fits my SM but it’s tight in the beginning. After a lot of uses the base will loosen up a bit and switching rods will be easier. That’s my experience. I even appreciate the tighter fit. Is helps keeping the rods in its place while sharpening.