Mud Shrimp Moe wrote:I hope this isn't thread hijack, but can anybody advise appropriate dimensions for a leather strop? I'm torn between buying or making. Widths seem to range from 1.5" to 3" and lengths from 6" to >20". I'd just as soon buy a small one (cheaper and easier to store) but wonder if I'd miss having more room to work. Any input?
It is, but we won't tell.
I started with a small strop and regretted it. I wouldn't go with anything under 2-3" wide and at least 12" long.
Heck I just make a recommendation for the Sharpmeker and have one, but after reading all of the great comments here, I might just have to order another one, AND the diamond and ultra fine stones. :eek:
You definitely want to get a Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker if you are serious about using and maintaining knife edges. It's truly the best kit type sharpener out there in my opinion. Now I hear a lot of guys saying that the Sharpmaker is completely useless for difficult reprofiling>> I see where they are coming from and I understand their frustration but that could easily be remedied by Spyderco coming out with a new extra coarse stone of some sort.
They could either offer a diamond stone that is considerably coarser than the one they offer now. They could also add a very coarse silicon Carbide or aluminum oxide stone to their line which could be a very nice addition.
I've often wondered why they don't do that. I've also wondered why they don't offer the Sharpmaker with all the extra stones available in a deluxe/ultimate kit similar to what Razor Edge does with their kits.
But to answer your original question>> YES by all means get a Sharpmaker and learn to use it. You will not regret it at all.
I just got my Sharpmaker 2 weeks ago :D I am a total noob to knife sharpening but after watching the DVD a couple of times and taking my time when sharpening, my blades are SCARRY sharp :eek: Picked it up off Amazon for I think it was 47 shipped :cool: Going to order the diamond and ultra fine rods very soon :spyder:
19cohiba75 wrote:I just got my Sharpmaker 2 weeks ago :D I am a total noob to knife sharpening but after watching the DVD a couple of times and taking my time when sharpening, my blades are SCARRY sharp :eek: Picked it up off Amazon for I think it was 47 shipped :cool: Going to order the diamond and ultra fine rods very soon :spyder:
Welcome 19cohiba75. Yea, I go back every once in a while and watch the video. It takes a while to get the muscle memory down to do a consistently good job, but to knife sharpening novices like me it works awesome.
Mud Shrimp Moe wrote:I hope this isn't thread hijack, but can anybody advise appropriate dimensions for a leather strop? I'm torn between buying or making. Widths seem to range from 1.5" to 3" and lengths from 6" to >20". I'd just as soon buy a small one (cheaper and easier to store) but wonder if I'd miss having more room to work. Any input?
I use the BRK strop that KSF sells. It's fairly close to the dimensions that NYRich mentioned and it's double-sided. All I do on it are 3" folders so it gives me plenty of room for a final polishing after using the SM.
Regards,
Dale
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went."
~ Will Rogers, 1879-1935
dalefuller wrote:I use the BRK strop that KSF sells. It's fairly close to the dimensions that NYRich mentioned and it's double-sided. All I do on it are 3" folders so it gives me plenty of room for a final polishing after using the SM.
Sorry, but I'm having trouble with the acronyms. Googling "BRK strop" or similar isn't getting me anywhere. And I'm not sure with "KSF" is.
Mud Shrimp Moe wrote:Sorry, but I'm having trouble with the acronyms. Googling "BRK strop" or similar isn't getting me anywhere. And I'm not sure with "KSF" is.
My guess is KSF=Knives Ship Free.
I forget where I bought mine. It's also double-sided and I know that it was less than $20. Right now I'm using the gold stropping compound from Flex-Cut but have used others.
You can make your own strop if you can find a decent piece of leather. Glue it to a board and sand the surface of the leather if needed as it will hold the compound better.
Thanks Chuck and NYRich. I have a 3" wide leather guitar strap that I don't care for. I may use it to make a strop. Or I may just buy a strop. I bought a Sharpmaker last week as well. I'm pretty excited to advance my sharpening prowess.
Let me give some advice from the other side of the fence...
The Sharpmaker is a nice device to have but I would NOT recommend it to everyone. I am not sure if I am the first to say this on this site, but I am going to be honest.
If you have a nice edge that you want to maintain, the Sharpmaker is something I would recommend. If you have something that is not sharp and you want to make it sharp and it is a fairly wear resistant steel, I would NOT recommend the Sharpmaker. The provided ceramics are not aggressive enough to effectively re-edge many modern offerings that have been rendered dull from use.
For the novice that understands that it is better to maintain an edge regularly instead of letting it get truly dull, and will resort to sending if off for re-profiling every 5 years or so...the Sharpmaker will provide what they need to maintain a very sharp edge.
UNIT I agree with you up to a point>> but the reprofiling issue that you and others raise is just not that big of a problem. Currently I agree with you that Spyderco doesn't equip the Sharpmaker with the necessary aggressive/coarse stones as I would personally like to see with that kit >> to do the prep work necessary for extremely dull blades.
But what I've done to remedy that problem until they modify or re-equip the Sharpmaker kit is to use a couple of coarse and extra-coarse diamond stones to do the really hard stock removal. I have a Norton Coarse and a 3M extra-coarse stones and I get all of the seriously dull blades prepared very satisfactory for final use of the Sharpmaker or my set of Spyderco 302 Benchstones. I do like diamond stones the best because they remove stock more rapidly and uniformly than anything else I'm aware of on the market.
Actually they should have called the unit the SHARPKEEPER rather than the Sharpmaker. Because it is truly designed to keep an already fairly maintained blade sharp rather than do serious stock removal for a very dinged up and seriously dull blade.
I prefer freehand sharpening, but after testing several other options now (although I didn't buy a SM) I use the three sharpmaker rods (from medium to UF) for my every sharpening needs.
I used to use freehand sharpening, then a lansky setup then finally the sharp maker. It has been a very interesting transition for me. Only now, several years into my knife foray can I get edges to where I want them (Scary shaving sharp). I wish I could get them a little better still but have not fully mastered the art of stropping.
Also, my sharpened knives tend to look like they have been sharpened after I'm done with them! Certainly don't look factory any more.
I use diamond rods for heavy duty work but only rarely. I use my Ultra fines much more and would recommend them sooner.. It all depends on the type of sharpening your looking to do. 99% of my sharpening is maintenance and not repair.
I love my Sharpmaker for the ease of daily maintenance, just don't try to reprofile an edge with it. I got the edge pro like chuck to set the bevel and maintain the edge with the sharpmaker. Perfect combo IMO.
19cohiba75 wrote:I just got my Sharpmaker 2 weeks ago :D I am a total noob to knife sharpening but after watching the DVD a couple of times and taking my time when sharpening, my blades are SCARRY sharp :eek: Picked it up off Amazon for I think it was 47 shipped :cool: Going to order the diamond and ultra fine rods very soon :spyder:
Thank you very much "Cohiba" :) That's exactly what I tell everyone who buys a Sharpmaker and to those who are contemplating buying one. You absolutely must view that instructional video/DVD at least 2 to 3 times before attempting to use the Sharpmaker. Also you really need to start out with a couple of old kitchen knives or any old knife that you've had for years to practice on before you try to sharpen your high dollar Spyders or any other piece of premium cutlery for that matter.
There are a lot of sharpening tips and tricks you can learn from that video/DVD. I wish that they would do a video/DVD on all the other great sharpening tools that they have offered as well. I do believe that they would sell thousands of 701 Profiles if they would do a video showing how great of a sharpening tool that they are.
YES!! Get a Sharpmaker, Room for improvement? Absolutely
