Spyderco Forums

Hello spyderco masters,

I call you all masters because I am an ultra novice, tip rounding, steel jockey who has recently discovered the error of my ways. I have recently purchased a SM and have not even gotten it yet, however, I have been reading alot of what you all have posted here and I would love some help with a few questions I have at this point.

Let me begin by apologizing if these simple questions are answered elsewhere on this forum but here goes. The SM has a clear flaw that I cannot swallow even before using it, it won't set a back bevel on all the knives I intend to fix. I want to clip lower grit rectangular stones onto the SM rods (as I have read in this forum, this is suggested by several people)and I want some feedback on what kind are preferred by those who know considerably more than I do, ruby or moldmaster? Would you use the 1x6 in the 1/8 or 1/4 thickness ? I have not purchased the diamond rods for the SM. Also, what grit progression would you guys suggest for me as the med rods are approx 600 grit. I am looking for suggestions on what your preferences are and any other suggestions are more than welcome if I have overlooked anything else ( which I am sure I have) . Thanks in advance for any help avoiding rookie mistakes.

I'm not an expert but I can tell you that the 1/4 thick stones won't fit because there's not a 1/2 inch clearance between the rods at the bottom.

I use MoldMasters in the 1x6x0.125" size. These stones are fairly agressive, so I only use a couple of the medium grit stones, then convert back to the sharpmaker grey stone to finish out.

TedP

I haven't tried the Ruby stones but wanted to going by the description on congress tools.com. The Moldmasters are a great choice. They cut fast and are inexpensive. I have the 320, 400 and 600 grits. I only use the 600 for edge trailing strokes when I use water on them. It's soft and pushing the edge into the stone using normal strokes the stone scrapes off in a mud form. The 400 grit leave a great edge anyway. I have tried the FLEX stones and love them. They leave a closer to mirror finish on the edge. I have the 400 and 600 grit FLEX stones that I use as the finishing stones if I want after the 400 grit MM. With these stones being so inexpensive you can try different types to find out what you like. Maybe not all at once. I would start with the MM stones in a set of 3 or 4 stones with 400 grit being the finest grit. IMO you will have a great set to use and will keep your knives sharp. Keep in mind that the stones sold by Congress Tools are meant to be used with oil. I have used water and they work fine like that. I've also used them dry and they perform fine but clog much faster.

That's about all I know about these stone. I have thought about getting what I would call a complete set of stones from CT. I would get 4 or 5 MMs and a couple of FLEX stones in the finer grits. If I ever do this I'll probably throw in a couple of Ruby stones just to try them.

Hi SmilingFury,
Welcome to the Forum.

Currently I use 6"x1x1/8" moldmasters in 120->240->400 grits->mediums. I used the dry and wet, currently only dry. it seems to me a little faster. I used Ruby in the past for VG10. I believe that they remove steel faster, but also shed much faster. I am not sure how they will perform on harder steels with more carbide content. I also used them wet and dry.
If you clamp them to sharpmaker rods, clean rods well to remove any abrasives dust from the surface before use.

Wow! That was fast! Thank you Chuck, Phil, Jack, and BH. I have seen pics of knives posted by all of you and I am more impressed than I can say. I am living in Europe right now and want these orders to arrive before I take the family home n june (xmas in June!). I am ordering the MMs in 120,240, & 400 stones in 1x6x1/8.
Also if anyone can give me a brief explanation as to the pros and cons of using these wet/dry. As I am truly a newbie, will wetting the stones give me a margin of error that will protect the stones and my blades from my inexperience? Or does it keep the stone from scraping off too fast? Just a guess... Thanks again guys!

SmilingFury wrote:Wow! That was fast! Thank you Chuck, Phil, Jack, and BH. I have seen pics of knives posted by all of you and I am more impressed than I can say. I am living in Europe right now and want these orders to arrive before I take the family home n june (xmas in June!). I am ordering the MMs in 120,240, & 400 stones in 1x6x1/8.
Also if anyone can give me a brief explanation as to the pros and cons of using these wet/dry. As I am truly a newbie, will wetting the stones give me a margin of error that will protect the stones and my blades from my inexperience? Or does it keep the stone from scraping off too fast? Just a guess... Thanks again guys!

Use them wet. The only one I may use dry id the MM 600. It doesn't wear as fast but it will clog faster and need to be flattened. You can flatten them if you buy a flattening stone for $300. :eek: Or you can use a piece of coarse sandpaper on a very flat surface. :D If you get the MM 600 grit try it wet and use push strokes so you can see what I mean. Then you can decide how you want to use it. I use it for trailing strokes like stropping and putting a prettier finsh on the bevel.

Good luck

I want to add that after using the MM stones you will have a very consistant scratch pattern that looks more like a blurry haze instead of scratches. It's really a pretty attractive edge. But if you want a mirror finish that is easily achieved with a decant strop. So, you don't need the expensive stones. They do a better job for the truely anal but you have to be a real idiot to buy them. I have a set of them. :) Are they "worth" the money considering how good a job the MM's will do? Absolutely not. They are a sort of "when I have extra cash" type of item.

jackknifeh wrote:I want to add that after using the MM stones you will have a very consistant scratch pattern that looks more like a blurry haze instead of scratches. It's really a pretty attractive edge. But if you want a mirror finish that is easily achieved with a decant strop. So, you don't need the expensive stones. They do a better job for the truely anal but you have to be a real idiot to buy them. I have a set of them. :) Are they "worth" the money considering how good a job the MM's will do? Absolutely not. They are a sort of "when I have extra cash" type of item.

Thank you Jack , I appreciate your time and knowledge.

Fury, I was directed to Stropman for my strop (finishing/maintaining) and haven't looked back. You can find the website easily on google, I use it with the green and gray compounds and it leaves a heck of an edge for the price.

SmilingFury wrote: the pros and cons of using these wet/dry.

From my experience with MM dry remove steel faster, but also get loaded faster and leave coarse scratch pattern.

Thanks Clip and BH.