Spyderco Forums

Hi All,

Please be gentle, I'm a n00b.

I somehow found myself with a burgeoning little collection of Spydercos. I'd had a Native for many years without much thought about collecting, per se. It was a tool and when one broke I'd get another. Fast forward to today and I am enjoying my knives so much that I find myself buying ones without any specific purpose in mind other than the fact that I like em.

But when reading a lot of the maintenance, fine tuning and modding you guys are doing, I am totally lost. Can you guys please suggest some basic tools to get me started? For one, I think I need some torx wrenches or something, I can't find the size that fits the screws in the Spydercos I have, as they don't seem to be a common size (are there more than one size?). Also, I'd like to learn how to sharpen my own knives, a goal made harder by the fact that I am a big fan of the combo edge and serration in general (to me I don't understand why they even make so many plain edge blades). Anything else I need to get started? I have some good lubes already from firearms, I suppose they're ok for knives?

While I love a good deal as much as the next person I also realize that tools are important and I'm OK with paying more for the high quality when it comes to tools, which I plan to have and use for a long time.

Thanks and sorry if I messed up the lingo or these are stupid questions.

From what I've read on the Forum, as well as for the ones I've used, there are several torx bit sizes common to Spyderco knives... T-6, T-8, T-9, and T-10. I saw one reference regarding torx sizes between T-5 and T-15. You might be able to find a torx bit, or torx screwdriver, set that covers most, if not all, of these sizes.

For sharpening both plain and serrated edge knives, the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker (204MF) works quite nicely. As they say at Spyderco, "First we made things sharp... then we made sharp things."

Hope that helps.

I use bondhus torx drivers. I have some of the L shaped ones and a set with the "wings" I keep at home. The sharpmaker is a good start for sharpening. Especially with serrated knives.

This is the set I have in my pack. Should get you into any spyderco knife.


I use a lansky sharpener for serrations but I freehand everything. It's a shorter triangle ceramic sharpener with 2 rubber ends on it. It's more portable than a sharpmaker. I keep one in my pack, one in the car, and one at home.

1. Good quality torx set. Low end but good enough = Husky, high end but more expensive = Wiha. While it isn't necessarily critical to be able to disassemble your knives, I think it's crazy to not at least have the option to.

2. Sharpening gear. Since you're a fan of combo edges, you absolutely must get a Sharpmaker. It will handle the serrations better than anything else available and depending on the steel and you're uses you may never need anything else.

3. Something that reprofiles faster/more efficiently. I like the Edge Pro myself but there are lots of options. Personally I avoid clamp based sharpeners but you'll get lots of support for the Wicket Edge too. Since moving over to carrying SE exclusively I haven't touched my Edge Pro in over two years though so again you may never need more than the Sharpmaker, but setups like the Edge Pro are available with far more aggressive stones and are generally faster at reprofiling bevels than even the Sharpmaker with diamond/CBN rods.

4. Get those diamond and/or CBN rods for the Sharpmaker. This may not be essential right off the bat but I highly recommend them for the long run especially for repairing serration edge damage. Again...you may not need anything more than the Sharpmaker and these stones depending on what steels you have. You could get by with only the Sharpmaker/CBN/diamond rods if you mostly use and carry Salts for example.

5. Get a decent 10x loupe. This along with a Sharpie will teach you a lot about what's going on while sharpening.

6. Get or make a decent strop. While I believe stropping is often used as a bandaid for poor sharpening techniques and I think too many people think you can "maintain" an edge with practically nothing but a strop, they do have their uses. I rarely use them for plain edge though.

As a bonus if you're really into combo edges and/or serrations in general, you may want to check out the Goldenstone. I have been using it for all my routine sharpenings. I especially like to use the edge of the leather sheath that it comes with for stropping my serrations.

Oh as for lube, I prefer Phil Wood bearing grease. If you don't wanna mess with that, I did a little testing with motor oil and found it to be as good and in some ways better than Nano Oil. Keeping your pivot clean and adjusted properly is probably as important as whatever lube you use.

ducknado wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 14, 2020 2:44 pm

......
Also, I'd like to learn how to sharpen my own knives, a goal made harder by the fact that I am a big fan of the combo edge and serration in general (to me I don't understand why they even make so many plain edge blades). Anything else I need to get started? I have some good lubes already from firearms, I suppose they're ok for knives?
.....
Thanks and sorry if I messed up the lingo or these are stupid questions.

These are not stupid questions at all, but very sensible ones and your thread might very well help some more people who did not ask those questions by themselves! :)

Ok, on sharpening: I think many here will recommend getting a Spyderco Triangle Sharpmaker, especially if you want to sharpen serrations! It really is a great tool - for all kinds of edges, not only SE and CE, but in my experience SE is even easier to sharpen than PE if you have a sharpmaker . Don´t hesitate to get one, you won´t regret it! It comes with a very good instructional dvd, when it comes to sharpening serrations this thread (especially the very first post) is also worth reading: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=84544

Other than sharpening I am not of great help. Sometimes a drop of oil in the pivot area (in my case Victorinox multitool oil), that´s about it.

And don´t get cheap drivers for the screws on the knives! I am sure others will chime in here and tell you which one are good (can´t recall at the moment which one I got, but it is an European brand anyway).

Welcome to the forum ducknado!

A good set of torx drivers is nice to have. Wiha seems to be the recommended brand here. Personally I've been getting by fine with an inexpensive set from Amazon.

For lube, I recommend Nano Oil. It might seem a little pricey but one tube will last forever and the needle applicator is worth its weight in gold.

If you love serrations you need to get a Spyderco Sharpmaker, plain and simple. :) The included DVD will get you started and there's a ton of great info here on sharpening teeth. Here's a great thread on the subject:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=84544

Edit: looks like everyone beat me to it. Lol

The Meat man wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 14, 2020 3:06 pm

Welcome to the forum ducknado!

A good set of torx drivers is nice to have. Wiha seems to be the recommended brand here. Personally I've been getting by fine with an inexpensive set from Amazon.

For lube, I recommend Nano Oil. It might seem a little pricey but one tube will last forever and the needle applicator is worth its weight in gold.

If you love serrations you need to get a Spyderco Sharpmaker, plain and simple. :) The included DVD will get you started and there's a ton of great info here on sharpening teeth. Here's a great thread on the subject:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=84544

Edit: looks like everyone beat me to it. Lol

I beat you only on the serrations-sharpening thread, on everything else others did beat ME... :D

(EDIT: But always nice to see how everybody wants to help here! :) )

Basic tools to start:

Torx driver, the previously mentioned Husky set is a decent starter set under $10.

Sharpmaker is the easiest way to sharpen. Master that, then if you feel like going beyond, there are other tools out there. The sharpmaker does everything you need pretty well, especially for combo edges or serrations. I'd skip the strops for now, as mentioned, too many people think they are all you need to "sharpen" and in my opinion they are best used to refine an already sharp edge after a proper sharpening (which isn't really worth worrying about as a newbie sharpener). Add diamond rods after you get the ceramics down. Practice on a swiss army knife or kitchen knives as they have softer steels and are a good place to learn proper technique.

For lube, buy a $3 bottle of mineral oil at any pharmacy, it'll last you a decade. Use it sparingly. Too much is worse than not enough. It's also food safe so when you cut an apple, you don't have to worry about what might be on your knife.

A tube of Flitz metal polish will also last years and is great for cleaning blades and removing light corrosion.

Barkeepers Friend powder cleanser is useful for cleaning your Sharpmaker ceramic rods up and also works on blades.

For most people, those tools are all you ever need. If you decide to get deeper into the hobby, you can expand your kit, but this will be a very solid foundation.

ducknado wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 14, 2020 2:44 pm

Hi All,

Please be gentle, I'm a n00b.

I somehow found myself with a burgeoning little collection of Spydercos. I'd had a Native for many years without much thought about collecting, per se. It was a tool and when one broke I'd get another. Fast forward to today and I am enjoying my knives so much that I find myself buying ones without any specific purpose in mind other than the fact that I like em.

But when reading a lot of the maintenance, fine tuning and modding you guys are doing, I am totally lost. Can you guys please suggest some basic tools to get me started? For one, I think I need some torx wrenches or something, I can't find the size that fits the screws in the Spydercos I have, as they don't seem to be a common size (are there more than one size?). Also, I'd like to learn how to sharpen my own knives, a goal made harder by the fact that I am a big fan of the combo edge and serration in general (to me I don't understand why they even make so many plain edge blades). Anything else I need to get started? I have some good lubes already from firearms, I suppose they're ok for knives?

While I love a good deal as much as the next person I also realize that tools are important and I'm OK with paying more for the high quality when it comes to tools, which I plan to have and use for a long time.

Thanks and sorry if I messed up the lingo or these are stupid questions.

The only stupid thing you did, was join this forum. :p

If you can swing it, Wiha makes a great torx set.

Get a Sharpmaker. The diamond rods aren't a bad idea either.

The only lube I use is mineral oil. Food safe and wallet friendly.



If you are getting a sharpening system, aside from the Sharpmaker, I would recommend one that holds the blade on a stand. I did not enjoy my Edgepro.

You will likely go down the rabbit hole characterized above. But you don’t need all that stuff to begin.

I conclude from your comments that you don’t know how to sharpen. I recommend that the first thing you get is just the Sharpmaker (with its included brown and white triangle stones). And that’s it.

The Sharpmaker gives you everything you need to MAINTAIN the factory edge, at the very least. It ain’t cheap, but you get what you pay for.

But before you even try to get your edge back, watch the DVD that comes with the Sharpmaker. The master’s voice is greatly reassuring.

Once you gain confidence getting back your edge—we’re good at encouraging noobs—you’ll be ready to build out your kit in directions your curiosity takes you.

1 piece of advice from me. Don’t take a knife apart unless you need to.

Welcome to the forum!

Lots of great advice above, so I only have a little to add.

1) A few weeks ago I wanted to get a better set of torx wrenches, and here is the thread I started asking for advice. Lots of good and affordable recommendations in here:

viewtopic.php?t=86088

2) A small soldering iron is a tool that might never occurred to you, but it is very handy to have if you plan to disassemble your knives. Occasionally you'll have a screw that got a bit too much locktite at the factory and it won't budge. The iron lets you heat up the screw and loosen the locktite so you won't strip your screws. Great to have around, and you can get one for $20 bucks.

3) I use a KME guided system to sharpen, which is awesome and easy to learn, but not cheap. The Sharpmaker is great, too, and more affordable.

Enjoy your knives!

Welcome to the Forum, ducknado!

I don't have anything else to ad, all the experts got here first. :-)

Hi Ducknado,

Welcome to our forum.

On disassembly, easy does it. Go slowly. These are very hi quality close tolerance tools. Many folks that take them apart muck them up and don't have the knowledge or skill to even know.

sal

ducknado wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 14, 2020 2:44 pm

Hi All,

Please be gentle, I'm a n00b.

I somehow found myself with a burgeoning little collection of Spydercos. I'd had a Native for many years without much thought about collecting, per se. It was a tool and when one broke I'd get another. Fast forward to today and I am enjoying my knives so much that I find myself buying ones without any specific purpose in mind other than the fact that I like em.

But when reading a lot of the maintenance, fine tuning and modding you guys are doing, I am totally lost. Can you guys please suggest some basic tools to get me started? For one, I think I need some torx wrenches or something, I can't find the size that fits the screws in the Spydercos I have, as they don't seem to be a common size (are there more than one size?). Also, I'd like to learn how to sharpen my own knives, a goal made harder by the fact that I am a big fan of the combo edge and serration in general (to me I don't understand why they even make so many plain edge blades). Anything else I need to get started? I have some good lubes already from firearms, I suppose they're ok for knives?

While I love a good deal as much as the next person I also realize that tools are important and I'm OK with paying more for the high quality when it comes to tools, which I plan to have and use for a long time.

Thanks and sorry if I messed up the lingo or these are stupid questions.

Not stupid questions at all -- however if it's coming from me, you might get a stupid answer on occasion :p

From my personal experience, a quality Torx set, libricant, and sharpener is a great place to start.

As far as Torx sets go, Wiha is an excellent brand of tool manufacturer and a quick google search will find lots of options from a bunch of sites.
Another set that I really like is the Benchmade Blue Box set, which has two T6, two T8, and two T10 and they are really well made... (The only Benchmade product I own) :D

Lubricant in my experience is somewhat of a personal preference item, there are tons of good ones out there (and bad ones too) -- ones to perhaps do a little research on would be "Nano-Oil" or "Liberty Oil Products" I'm sure lots of folks have other suggestions, those two are just the ones I use frequently.

In terms of sharpeners & sharpening 'systems', much like Torx bits & lubricants, there are a bunch of options out there, but if you want a high quality & fairly quick to learn setup, I would highly recommend the Spyderco SharpMaker, it's a great setup and it comes with a great DVD to walk you through getting up and going, plus YouTube has lots of videos from regular Joe's about tips & tricks... HTH

Cheers,

John

Wow thanks for all the great suggestions here! I am digesting all this info and plan to make great use of it before my Amazon 20% amex deal expires this weekend. Discovering and following both "Crazy Good Deals" threads really grew my little collection of Spydercos and now it's time to step up my game a bit, beyond just accumulating knives to actually knowing how they function and taking proper care of em :) I will say the straw that broke the camel's back was not being able to find a tool in my existing ones that could help me reverse the clip on my Para 2s, lol

ducknado wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 15, 2020 2:56 pm

Wow thanks for all the great suggestions here! I am digesting all this info and plan to make great use of it before my Amazon 20% amex deal expires this weekend. Discovering and following both "Crazy Good Deals" threads really grew my little collection of Spydercos and now it's time to step up my game a bit, beyond just accumulating knives to actually knowing how they function and taking proper care of em :) I will say the straw that broke the camel's back was not being able to find a tool in my existing ones that could help me reverse the clip on my Para 2s, lol

Just saw on IG thst Wiha is having a big sale today: 50% off your order with code 50KCELEBRATE at wihatools.com. If you haven't already bought your torx set...

Not much to add that hasn’t been said already. Sharpmaker, lube, and T6-T10 torx mainly. But don’t forget the tool that you’re already using. This forum. This has been one the greatest tools used during my hobby. Keep coming back and asking the so called “stupid” questions. No one here is going to flame you. Full of good people that are ready and willing to help.

JuPaul wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 17, 2020 7:20 am

ducknado wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 15, 2020 2:56 pm

Wow thanks for all the great suggestions here! I am digesting all this info and plan to make great use of it before my Amazon 20% amex deal expires this weekend. Discovering and following both "Crazy Good Deals" threads really grew my little collection of Spydercos and now it's time to step up my game a bit, beyond just accumulating knives to actually knowing how they function and taking proper care of em :) I will say the straw that broke the camel's back was not being able to find a tool in my existing ones that could help me reverse the clip on my Para 2s, lol

Just saw on IG thst Wiha is having a big sale today: 50% off your order with code 50KCELEBRATE at wihatools.com. If you haven't already bought your torx set...

This is such a good deal. I bought 6 torx drivers and a bunch of other tools for half off.

50% off is a great deal! Unfortunately I'm struggling to reach the minimum for free shipping.

Before I learned of the Wiha sale I had already bought these two items from the other thread about torx wrenches:



I guess I could try to cancel that order and reorder from Wiha direct using the 50% off promo.

@twelchlen, you seem to have gotten some useful stuff, can you share if any of those items would be helpful to me as a complete n00b?