Let's talk about sharpening...

CTfam · #1

Greetings gang. I finally got around to using my sharpmaker and watching the DVD that came with it. I believe I heard Sal say they ship their knives out with a "utility" edge. Does anyone sharpen their blades when they are brand new? Every knife I've ordered came very sharp out of the box but it wouldn't be any trouble to give it a few swipes on the white stones to get it razor sharp.

Also, how often do you guys touch up your blades? All of my :spyder: s are VG-10 and I used them pretty light.

Just wanted some info from the pros around here. I want to take good care of my babies... :)

BuffaloBill · #2

i dont bother sharpening until i notice a degradation in cutting ability.

a lot of people on here claim to be able to get their knives very sharp but I dont think i've ever gotten them even back to even factory sharpness.

i've only really sharpened 1 of my delicas.

i have 2 s30v blades, 3 vg10 and 1 zdp189

yablanowitz · #3

I generally sharpen my knives when I get them, although it is less of a concern with Spyderco than with many other brands. Spyderco knives come out of the box sharp enough to suit me almost 60% of the time.

That's actually a lot better than it sounds. :D

Yes, I'm one of those guys who can get knives beyond factory sharp, and it only took twenty years of daily practice to achieve that level of proficiency. Of course, that was before Sal invented the SharpMaker. It is a wonerful tool that probably could have cut that time in half. Having become proficient freehand sharpening long ago, about the only thing I use my SharpMaker for is serrated edges, which it excels at sharpening.

BuffaloBill · #4

i use my foliage green delica as kind of a guinea pig when it comes to sharpening as it is the most used of my spydercos.

so hopefully by the time i need to sharpen my other blades i will have enough practice.

WhiteWillie · #5

I use the convex method to sharpen most of my knives. This involves the use of two grades of sandpaper and three compound charged leather pads. In most cases, I can enhance the factory edge with five minutes on the leather pads. Then, periodically, I just use the pads to maintain the edge. It's a piece of cake.

vampyrewolf · #6

I don't do anything beyond strop a new knife until it starts to degrade. Then I get an appreciation for the new steels :rolleyes:

Coming up on 20 years of freehand sharpening experience and I still pick up tricks here and there. I can get em sharper than factory but it takes a while with the high carbon and high wear resistance steels... give me aus-8, ats-55, vg-10, s30v and s60v any day. Still have to get my ZDP caly touched up before I have to spend a day on it when it gets dull.

Look at the method for Japanese water stones. Now use that same method with a basic norton stone and the spydie ceramics. I may take a while to polish a new edge, but I can make it sing with my stones and strop.

vivi · #7

When I receive a new Spyderco I'll carry it, handle it and cut some light things with it. As soon as I know it's a keeper, I take it to an extra course diamond stone and thin out the edge. Then I polish it up to about 2000 grit an sometimes strop it too. At that point the edges are usually capable of whittling individual pieces of hair.

In between full blown sharpenings, I touch up the edge with a few passes of a fine ceramic stone. I usually touch up my edges when they can't easily shave, because I try to avoid having to grind off a lot of metal when I sharpen to get the edge I want. Keeping the edge at a high level of sharpness is also safer, as it requires less force to cut.