SE performance is more than simply teeth vs no teeth.

[Bill1170]

Anyone is sharpening spyderedge free hand on single triangle rod? I get that Sharpmaker allows to keep an angle but I'm quite good with sharpening free hand plain edges on flat stones. I bought two triangle rods for now, to sharpen Police 4 spyderedge and Ulize with recurve.

I use single Sharpmaker rods for sharpening SE. Works just fine. Anyone experienced with freehand sharpening shouldn’t have a problem. The Double Stuffs work well too. The offset on the Double Stuff 2 is nice, but the Double Stuff flush edge works too.

I keep hoping we will see a Double Stuff 3 with 400 and 800 grit CBN.

A CBN Double Stuff would be great to have for field sharpening of SE.

[Michal O]

Funny thing that I have Double Stuff 2. I use for sharpening serrations this chamfered edge of the DS2. It cuts very fine newspaper, decapitate pet bottles like nothing but in thick cardboard se in Police 4 k390 is not as good as sharp plain edge. It snags a little bit. I hope for better effect with brown and white triangle rod. Maybe I need more patience considering it's K390.

[Bill1170]

Funny thing that I have Double Stuff 2. I use for sharpening serrations this chamfered edge of the DS2. It cuts very fine newspaper, decapitate pet bottles like nothing but in thick cardboard se in Police 4 k390 is not as good as sharp plain edge. It snags a little bit. I hope for better effect with brown and white triangle rod. Maybe I need more patience considering it's K390.

Yes, changing geometry on hard K390 requires quite a bit of patience! I’m not sure freehanding with the DS stone has exactly the same effect as using the Sharpmaker, because the motion is different. To duplicate the Sharpmaker motion with a freehand stone would place your hand in jeopardy of being lacerated.

Using the Sharpmaker will gradually round the points on SE K390. I reprofiled the scallop side of my K390 Endura SE on the CBN Sharpmaker rods from factory to 15 degrees. It took hours and the points were only slightly rounded by the end. Rounding the points makes a big difference in how well the blade cuts corrugated cardboard. My Endura is now a cardboard-cutting monster after the reprofile job.

[Michal O]

Yeah, some good movie and beer and...

I like my Police but it's probably last K390 spyderedge in my collection if I fail to sharpen it to my taste. I'm thinking about Lil Temperance 3 SE or Chaparral. I was considering Endela too but in K390.

[olywa]

I use the Goldenstone as often as not.

[Wartstein]

...
The Chap LW SE is one of those ‘far greater than the sum of its parts’ bits of engineering. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

I am still and even more amazed by the Chap SE now that I have been owning and using it over a longer period of time... and glad to see that obviously quite some folks state the same in this thread too!

[Michal O]

Police is now pretty sharp. Triangle stones, used free hand, are level higher than DS2 for me.

Now I must decide between Endela SE K390, Military 2 SE and Chaparral SE.

[Evil D]

Police is now pretty sharp. Triangle stones, used free hand, are level higher than DS2 for me.

Now I must decide between Endela SE K390, Military 2 SE and Chaparral SE.

Those are 3 very different options, all in different steels, and one with a drastically different size.

My SE Chaparral basically lives on my computer desk. I use it for every mundane cutting task I come across in my living room, from opening package and mail to oftentimes cutting my dinner. Oddly enough I use it almost everyday but don't carry it much just because I prefer larger knives in general.

Of the other two your biggest difference will be the steels and how their serrations are ground. The Endura in K390 will have smaller serrations than the Military 2 and the edge retention will be way better than S30V, but it'll also rust very easily compared to S30V. I actually prefer the current Golden ground serrations over what Seki are doing, they've gotten way better than what Golden were doing even 10 years ago. My SE Military 2 has way better serrations than my 2009 SE Military 1 which was one of the options I used in the original comparison pics of this thread. They look similar but the angles and the blade grind itself is way better today than they were in the past.

A bit off topic but the Native Chief currently has my favorite serrations pattern. I don't know why it differs from other Golden options, maybe it has to do with blade stock thickness or something but the serrations are ground at a lower angle so you can sharpen them on the 15 degree slots on a Sharpmaker, so there's no need for a reprofile job. The teeth are more aggressive than the Chap but after a few sharpenings once the teeth are a little less pointy they cut very well.

[Michal O]

I was thinking about Endela, not Endura, to have something se but smaller package than Police. My Police 4 K390 has some patina I forced.


Chaparral has hype here but it's for me kinda secondary knife. Small and very thin, Endela has probably more durable blade, like Police 4 compared to Watu. I was thinking about that Native Chief too. Closest thing to old Benchmade AFCK with spyderedge. But again with Military 2, both are big knives like Police.

[Bill1170]

The Endela is a sweet spot for me in size and capability. Mine is SE VG-10 that I reprofiled to 15 degrees on the scallop side using CBN rods in the Sharpmaker. That alloy reprofiles much faster than K390 does.

[Michal O]

Police edge after few ~5 minutes free hand sessions on brown and white rod. Pic with some contrast for better view. You can see where teeth are smoothed and shiny. It cuts very decent, even shaving sharp a little bit. I wonder why K390 models have such rough manufacture finish on spyderedge. Different method of cutting them?

Perhaps in future I'll invest in cbn rods and Sharpmaker itself. But for now I've only this one SE.

BTW old pic I've saved from somewhere on Facebook. Don't remember author. Same serrations like on new C60 cruwear.

[Aladinsane]

Here’s something I found with sharpening my SE knives:

When I first got a SE Leafjumper, I watched the video for the Sharpmaker to see what Sal recommended. He showed 3-4 strokes on the bevel side, then one on the flat side, using the same angle on each side.

I also saw some videos of people using a very shallow angle on the flat side. This seemed like a good idea to me, so that’s what I did.

However, I couldn’t seem to get the edge as sharp as I wanted it.

So, I started sharpening my SE knives as Sal suggested in the video, and now I have scary sharp SE blades!

This is just my personal experience, perhaps I was unable to eyeball the shallow angle as well as just keeping the blade vertical for sharpening on both sides?

Either way, I achieved an edge that I am more than happy with, and can attest that the Sharpmaker works excellently on SE!

[Wartstein]

Here’s something I found with sharpening my SE knives:

When I first got a SE Leafjumper, I watched the video for the Sharpmaker to see what Sal recommended. He showed 3-4 strokes on the bevel side, then one on the flat side, using the same angle on each side.

I also saw some videos of people using a very shallow angle on the flat side. This seemed like a good idea to me, so that’s what I did.

However, I couldn’t seem to get the edge as sharp as I wanted it.

So, I started sharpening my SE knives as Sal suggested in the video, and now I have scary sharp SE blades!

This is just my personal experience, perhaps I was unable to eyeball the shallow angle as well as just keeping the blade vertical for sharpening on both sides?

Either way, I achieved an edge that I am more than happy with, and can attest that the Sharpmaker works excellently on SE!

Interesting...

Technically the "very shallow angle on the flat side" - method should result in a slicier edge since it leads to a more acute inclusive angle than the "same angle on both sides" approach (here the angle of course dictaded by the one that is used on the bevel side).

I personally use the "very shallow angle on the flat side" with good success (this also keeps the inclusive angle like or at least close to how the knife came from the factory).

The purpose of going with a very shallow angle on the flat side is (only) to remove the burr - perhaps you went TOO shallow? And the burr did not fully go away...?

That said: Does not matter at all, since you achieved an edge you are happy with anyway!!

[Evil D]

I sharpen the back side of some blades completely flat on the rods, and there's pros and cons of both. It keeps the apex as thin as possible but depending on what you cut that can also mean edge damage that you don't want to deal with. Some knives I just sharpen at 15 or 20 degrees on both sides and have a typical apex thickness, but still benefit from having a thinner cross section just above the apex.

[Wartstein]

Police is now pretty sharp. Triangle stones, used free hand, are level higher than DS2 for me.
Now I must decide between Endela SE K390, Military 2 SE and Chaparral SE.

Can´t talk about the Millie, but between Endela SE and Chap SE: Tough choice... to me a clear "you need both" (that´s the route I took at least )

Since your talking about the K390 SE version, I´d go Endela (first) though since this one got disco´ed and at least in Europe IS hard to find already... while the Chap SE will be around longer, hopefully...

I have both the K390 and the VG10 serrated Endela, both have similarly great serration patterns (as a matter of fact the VG10 Endela SE is what finally turned me into an SE guy when it comes to Spyderco EDC folders).

The Endela also is a great, compact carry for days when you don´t want or need a bigger model (which you have already with the Police anyway).

/ But imo in the end you also absolutely need a Chap SE... that kind of serrations in the thin blade are really amazing (viewtopic.php?t=96972)

[Michal O]

Some are left in Western Europe. Probably I'll buy at least one of them. Chaparral is a little bit too small and thin but has nice SE, good steel, gray frn, better lock. Endela has K390 and good size, but I'll need to buy some diamond/cbn rods and maybe finally whole Sharpmaker. For now I'm able to sharpen my Police K390 on ceramic rods by hand but not to reprofile spyderedge without spending probably two days on this.

In Poland spyderedge is not popular, most dealers have only some hawkbill Spydies in SE. I was lucky to buy that Police SE and bought also plain which stays in box as safe queen. People here are rather not familiar with sharpening spyderedge, some of them use tappered diamond pen sharpener and then complain. Tri-angle CBN stones cost is almost like Sharpmaker itself. I myself bought Police spyderedge at first because it looked cool. After some time and use on plastic oil canisters and thick cardboard I was sold but there was always topic at the back of my head, how to sharpen it properly when it dulls, considering it's ~64hrc K390.

SE in K390 Endela is somehow different than in K390 Police? Better deal now is to buy K390 than VG-10. Only western dealers have all of them. I doubt to see Chaparral SE in Poland.

BTW It would be cool to have Endela SE cruwear with gray G10/FRN. Or if Spyderco made Lil Temperance 4 in Taichung with their style spyderedge, Chinook style blade and that bottle green G10. Or just whole new design in that vibe of Lil Temperance and Rhino, but with SE as an option.