Spyderco Forums

A month back I purchased several Arkansas whetstones to try my hand at sharpening. To practice I bought a few used flatblade kitchen knives at a Thrify shop. I have to say the results aren't pretty and because of that I am not about to sharpen my own knives. The difficulty I have is keeping the angle while sharpening especially when I draw the knife towards me. Any suggestions?

A sharp maker is a must buy. Tons of good info by searching the forum...

swigert wrote:A sharp maker is a must buy. Tons of good info by searching the forum...

+1 on this. The sharpmaker is the easiest and simplest sharpener to use and it gets you fantastic results. Its easy to get your knife sharper than factory with the sharpmaker.

Yep. Buy a sharpmaker with the additional diamond rods. Watch the video that comes with it and ask questions around here as you go. You will be a pro in no time.

Sharpmaker is probably worth having but if you have access to a table saw and a chunk of 2X6 you can make your own "angle block". Cut the 2X6 at a 75º angle, mount it on a longer block of wood and mount your whetstone on it. It will be 15º from vertical and allow you to sharpen at the same 30º included angle as the Sharpmaker. Won't work for serrated blades, or those with concave edge contours (hawkbill, reverse S, etc) but will work fine for normal plain edge blades.

Surfingringo wrote:Yep. Buy a sharpmaker with the additional diamond rods. Watch the video that comes with it and ask questions around here as you go. You will be a pro in no time.

I noticed you suggested the diamond rods, do you prefer that to the UF rods?

chaps wrote:

Surfingringo wrote:Yep. Buy a sharpmaker with the additional diamond rods. Watch the video that comes with it and ask questions around here as you go. You will be a pro in no time.

I noticed you suggested the diamond rods, do you prefer that to the UF rods?

The diamond rods are on the opposite end of the spectrum from the ultra fine. They are to remove material quickly, and are a must have with all of high end steels Spyderco is putting out.

The ultra fine rods are a great addition as well, but not the frustration/time saver that the diamond rods are.

abbazaba wrote:

chaps wrote:

Surfingringo wrote:Yep. Buy a sharpmaker with the additional diamond rods. Watch the video that comes with it and ask questions around here as you go. You will be a pro in no time.

I noticed you suggested the diamond rods, do you prefer that to the UF rods?

The diamond rods are on the opposite end of the spectrum from the ultra fine. They are to remove material quickly, and are a must have with all of high end steels Spyderco is putting out.

The ultra fine rods are a great addition as well, but not the frustration/time saver that the diamond rods are.

This. I don't have the diamond rods, and I really wish I did. If you can, get them.

dplafoll wrote:

abbazaba wrote:

chaps wrote:

Surfingringo wrote:Yep. Buy a sharpmaker with the additional diamond rods. Watch the video that comes with it and ask questions around here as you go. You will be a pro in no time.

I noticed you suggested the diamond rods, do you prefer that to the UF rods?

The diamond rods are on the opposite end of the spectrum from the ultra fine. They are to remove material quickly, and are a must have with all of high end steels Spyderco is putting out.

The ultra fine rods are a great addition as well, but not the frustration/time saver that the diamond rods are.

This. I don't have the diamond rods, and I really wish I did. If you can, get them.

I'll re-iterate that. Figured I'd be good for awhile before I needed the Diamond (or CBN) rods, even though it was recommended as it "completes the SharpMarker kit."

I am about 1.5weeks into owning the SharpMaker and I probably went 3 days before I started thinking that I could really use the diamond rods for my wives Henkels that are decent, but duller than dull.

Never owned a knife even remotely as sharp as the 3 Spydies I now have and am thinking that there's no good reason I shouldn't be able to get daily use kitchen knives to a respectful degree of sharpness with the SharpMaker, just need those Diamond rods. Sharp knives are safer knives, I'm learning.

Like you I started with a couple Arkansas whetstones. Also picked up some Japanese water stones. It took me a good year to learn how to actually get a sharp edge. Even now, I'm still not as consistent as I would like to have the right angles to have even bevels. It gets tricky with with knives that have a belly or any shape. Sheepsfoot or wharncliffe style blades tend to be easier (for me) as they are straight. I've decided to go with the sharpmaker myself for my "nice" knives in effort to keep the blade shape and bevels as close to original. It's much easier. I'm done with sharpening in 5 mins or less with it. Even at my first attempt. I plan on getting the diamond rods one day, everyone says they're a must have. I can get my spidies shaving sharp without them. I don't let my knives get too dull before resharpening. If your bade gets real beat up or butter knife dull it will be necessary cause' it'd take forever with the stones it comes with.
If you want to keep practicing with the stones I suggest making light passes, I found that light passes work better than using pressure.Took me awhile to figure that out. You can also mark the edges with a sharpie to see where you're grinding at to get a feel for the right angle. I also go from side to side (left and right) rather than forwards and backwards (away from me and to me). It's however you're comfortable though. You can either sharpen wet or dry on stones also. I'm led to believe that dry stones take off more steel than wet. I've stopped wetting my stones altogether cause' I like the quick result (I still wash them clean). Hope that is some help.

The Deacon wrote:Sharpmaker is probably worth having but if you have access to a table saw and a chunk of 2X6 you can make your own "angle block". Cut the 2X6 at a 75º angle, mount it on a longer block of wood and mount your whetstone on it. It will be 15º from vertical and allow you to sharpen at the same 30º included angle as the Sharpmaker. Won't work for serrated blades, or those with concave edge contours (hawkbill, reverse S, etc) but will work fine for normal plain edge blades.

I'm going to try this. Thanks for the tip.

Malfeasant wrote:Like you I started with a couple Arkansas whetstones. Also picked up some Japanese water stones. It took me a good year to learn how to actually get a sharp edge. Even now, I'm still not as consistent as I would like to have the right angles to have even bevels. It gets tricky with with knives that have a belly or any shape. Sheepsfoot or wharncliffe style blades tend to be easier (for me) as they are straight. I've decided to go with the sharpmaker myself for my "nice" knives in effort to keep the blade shape and bevels as close to original. It's much easier. I'm done with sharpening in 5 mins or less with it. Even at my first attempt. I plan on getting the diamond rods one day, everyone says they're a must have. I can get my spidies shaving sharp without them. I don't let my knives get too dull before resharpening. If your bade gets real beat up or butter knife dull it will be necessary cause' it'd take forever with the stones it comes with.
If you want to keep practicing with the stones I suggest making light passes, I found that light passes work better than using pressure.Took me awhile to figure that out. You can also mark the edges with a sharpie to see where you're grinding at to get a feel for the right angle. I also go from side to side (left and right) rather than forwards and backwards (away from me and to me). It's however you're comfortable though. You can either sharpen wet or dry on stones also. I'm led to believe that dry stones take off more steel than wet. I've stopped wetting my stones altogether cause' I like the quick result. Hope that is some help.

Hey Malfeasant, are you sharpening on the 40 degree setting on the SM? If so then you will find that over time and many sharpenings, your entire edge bevel will widen out to 40 degrees and each sharpening will become slower and more difficult. Where the diamond rods come in handy is when you want to reprofile your edge back to 30 degrees. I usually do this every 15-20 sharpenings or so. The longer you wait to reprofile, the more difficult sharpening becomes and the longer it takes to reprofile when you get ready.

Anyway, that is what I do because I use a 40 degree microbevel on a 30 degree edge. It may or may not apply to the technique you use but thought I'd leave it here since we were talking about the diamond rods. :)

Surfingringo wrote:

Malfeasant wrote:Like you I started with a couple Arkansas whetstones. Also picked up some Japanese water stones. It took me a good year to learn how to actually get a sharp edge. Even now, I'm still not as consistent as I would like to have the right angles to have even bevels. It gets tricky with with knives that have a belly or any shape. Sheepsfoot or wharncliffe style blades tend to be easier (for me) as they are straight. I've decided to go with the sharpmaker myself for my "nice" knives in effort to keep the blade shape and bevels as close to original. It's much easier. I'm done with sharpening in 5 mins or less with it. Even at my first attempt. I plan on getting the diamond rods one day, everyone says they're a must have. I can get my spidies shaving sharp without them. I don't let my knives get too dull before resharpening. If your bade gets real beat up or butter knife dull it will be necessary cause' it'd take forever with the stones it comes with.
If you want to keep practicing with the stones I suggest making light passes, I found that light passes work better than using pressure.Took me awhile to figure that out. You can also mark the edges with a sharpie to see where you're grinding at to get a feel for the right angle. I also go from side to side (left and right) rather than forwards and backwards (away from me and to me). It's however you're comfortable though. You can either sharpen wet or dry on stones also. I'm led to believe that dry stones take off more steel than wet. I've stopped wetting my stones altogether cause' I like the quick result. Hope that is some help.

Hey Malfeasant, are you sharpening on the 40 degree setting on the SM? If so then you will find that over time and many sharpenings, your entire edge bevel will widen out to 40 degrees and each sharpening will become slower and more difficult. Where the diamond rods come in handy is when you want to reprofile your edge back to 30 degrees. I usually do this every 15-20 sharpenings or so. The longer you wait to reprofile, the more difficult sharpening becomes and the longer it takes to reprofile when you get ready.

Anyway, that is what I do because I use a 40 degree microbevel on a 30 degree edge. It may or may not apply to the technique you use but thought I'd leave it here since we were talking about the diamond rods. :)

Ah, I remember Sal saying this in the SM video. Everyone said just to get the diamonds, I didn't find a post that said why. Thanks for cluing me in. Guess I'll get the diamonds sooner rather than later. Don't want that to happen. I also do the 30 then 40 microbevel. Do you use the diamond rods for the inital 30°?

Malfeasant wrote:
Ah, I remember Sal saying this in the SM video. Thanks for telling me again though. Guess I'll get the diamonds sooner rather than later. Don't want that to happen. I also do the 30 then 40 microbevel. Do you use the diamond rods for the inital 30°?

Yes sir. The reprofile can require a fair bit of material removal so the diamonds are pretty much a must. The reason sharpening is so easy right now with the ceramic rods is you are microbeveling. *I'm assuming you are sharpening spydercos (which typically come at around 15 dps). Eventually that microbevel will start to take over the 30 degree edge bevel. The wider the mb gets, the longer touchups will take. You are fine for now with the ceramics...I was just chiming in so you wouldn't be' surprised when they start getting more difficult to sharpen.

Surfingringo wrote:
Yes sir. The reprofile can require a fair bit of material removal so the diamonds are pretty much a must. The reason sharpening is so easy right now with the ceramic rods is you are microbeveling. *I'm assuming you are sharpening spydercos (which typically come at around 15 dps). Eventually that microbevel will start to take over the 30 degree edge bevel. The wider the mb gets, the longer touchups will take. You are fine for now with the ceramics...I was just chiming in so you wouldn't be' surprised when they start getting more difficult to sharpen.

Thanks Surfingringo. Everyone says to get the diamond rods, I never read why. Good little tidbit of info there.

ryguy76 I know you're fairly new at collecting, so am I. I don't know if you like mid size folders. I usually carry smaller folders. Picked up a paramilitary 2. I recommend getting one. I knew they were popular, didn't know what all the hype was about until.. I held this one in my hand. Wish it was the second knife I purchased. It's not too big but on the larger size. This knife alone has gave me the fix that I was looking for. After going nuts and buying about 6 different models in a months time. Not for everyone though I see why it's so popular now. It has moved its way up to my daily carry as soon as I took it out of the box. I'm going to get the jade m4 when it comes out after falling in love with this one.. Also really love the Gayle Bradley folder but find myself keeping it in a safe place and fondle it more than it's carried, think it's so nice afraid to lose it or mess it up my "black tie event" folder. Waste of a hard use folder... There's something wrong with me.

Malfeasant wrote:ryguy76 I know you're fairly new at collecting, so am I. I don't know if you like mid size folders. I usually carry smaller folders. Picked up a paramilitary 2. I recommend getting one. I knew they were popular, didn't know what all the hype was about until.. I held this one in my hand. Wish it was the second knife I purchased. It's not too big but on the larger size. This knife alone has gave me the fix that I was looking for. After going nuts and buying about 6 different models in a months time. Not for everyone though I see why it's so popular now. It has moved its way up to my daily carry as soon as I took it out of the box. I'm going to get the jade m4 when it comes out after falling in love with this one.. Also really love the Gayle Bradley folder but find myself keeping it in a safe place and fondle it more than it's carried, think it's so nice afraid to lose it or mess it up my "black tie event" folder. Waste of a hard use folder... There's something wrong with me.

It's on my list, and it almost was my first purchase. It was down to that and the similar, yet obviously different, Tenacious. I chose the Tenacious as I wasn't sure that I needed to spend that much on a knife. I wasn't into knives at that point, was just buying something to replace the one I had stolen of similar size. Turns out, that buying that in the first place would have likely saved me money in the long run as I will end up with one at one point and may not have necessarily purchased the Tenacious if I bought the PM2 first.

ryguy76 wrote:

Malfeasant wrote:ryguy76 I know you're fairly new at collecting, so am I. I don't know if you like mid size folders. I usually carry smaller folders. Picked up a paramilitary 2. I recommend getting one. I knew they were popular, didn't know what all the hype was about until.. I held this one in my hand. Wish it was the second knife I purchased. It's not too big but on the larger size. This knife alone has gave me the fix that I was looking for. After going nuts and buying about 6 different models in a months time. Not for everyone though I see why it's so popular now. It has moved its way up to my daily carry as soon as I took it out of the box. I'm going to get the jade m4 when it comes out after falling in love with this one.. Also really love the Gayle Bradley folder but find myself keeping it in a safe place and fondle it more than it's carried, think it's so nice afraid to lose it or mess it up my "black tie event" folder. Waste of a hard use folder... There's something wrong with me.

It's on my list, and it almost was my first purchase. It was down to that and the similar, yet obviously different, Tenacious. I chose the Tenacious as I wasn't sure that I needed to spend that much on a knife. I wasn't into knives at that point, was just buying something to replace the one I had stolen of similar size. Turns out, that buying that in the first place would have likely saved me money in the long run as I will end up with one at one point and may not have necessarily purchased the Tenacious if I bought the PM2 first.

Every self respecting Spyderco fan should own at least one Paramilitary. It is indeed a great design and is immensely popular for a reason. If I recall correctly, you lean towards smaller knives. The pm2 is no Dragonfly, but it really isn't all that big (just a tiny bit bigger than you Tenacious). You get used to the size quickly and it might sell you on the idea of larger folders...at least for weekend carry.

Surfingringo wrote: Every self respecting Spyderco fan should own at least one Paramilitary. It is indeed a great design and is immensely popular for a reason. If I recall correctly, you lean towards smaller knives. The pm2 is no Dragonfly, but it really isn't all that big (just a tiny bit bigger than you Tenacious). You get used to the size quickly and it might sell you on the idea of larger folders...at least for weekend carry.

Weekend carry is bang on. I like the small guys right now as they will allow me to comfortably EDC throughout the work week. Truth be told, I like the bigger designs just as much, but will be limited to the hours/week I can carry them. The Manix is mighty fine too, but the PM2 will likely be the first purchase on the Tenacious and bigger side of the collection. :)

Reading through the threads and watching some videos the Sharpmaker might be a better way for me to go. The issue I have is I paid a couple 100 dollars buying the bench stone setup. Until I get proficient with the setup I'm not going to sharpen my knives on it. That's a problem because it could take a very long time to master it leaving me with dull knives. I'm kicking myself for not seeing the Sharpmaker sooner. Before buying the benchstones I looked into two guided setups that were very impressive, but costly. The Arkansas stones seemed a good option given I have around the house maybe 2 dozens knives. Anyhow, thanks for the replies.