Spyderco Forums

My Spyderco factory 2nd Paramilitary 2 in Maxamet needs professional sharpening. I know Spyderco doesn't offer sharpening on their seconds, and I'm the Dullmaker. Does anyone have a good service who sharpens by hand? Josh at REK is great with the Wicked Edge but he has been focusing on his knife making.
Thanks

Will Spyderco not even sharpen if you pay them $5-20?

Look locally for a knife maker. Pretty sure they will help you.

Have told many to go to their local butcher shop for great results for standard steel knives over the years. (If they are too far from me) Most have ended up with a great result and been educated and coached to being capable over time as well. Make sure to buy a few steaks at the time.

Jerad Neeves and Michael Emler offer sharpening services. I know Jerad can sharpen Maxamet like a champ. He's near Chicago if I recall correctly, maybe a bit far from ya.
(For sure far from me!!)

Probably not the answer you want but you need to learn for yourself, be it on a bench stone or Sharpmaker or whatever. In the long run you'll spend more paying others to do it than you will on sharpening tools, and the advice and help to learn is all right here and is free.

I would not advise to start sharpening on Maxamet steel, but the answer of Evil D is of course the "best one".

Sharpening yourself will always be the most rewarding process. However, a lot of people are afraid to sharpen Maxamet. As long as you have diamond or CBN abrasives and that you put LITTLE to NO pressure, you'll be perfectly fine !

Since the OP asked for a sharpening service, I prefered to offer some options. If you ask someone to sharpen your Maxamet blade, you won't be asking again soon, it'll last very long

Being a factory second, I also wonder why it was a factory second? I have one as well, it looks pretty good and works great as a work knife...but it is slightly warped (I'm guessing why it's a factory second)

Thankfully I've only had to touch it up so far, but a full on sharpening someday will be interesting!

Deadboxhero (Shawn Houston, Triple B) might sharpen it for you. He's a member here.

I have to say though that the best option for you would be to buy some equipment and learn for yourself! That's what I did. I went from sharpening 8Cr13MoV to Maxamet. I highly recommend buying a good guided sharpening system such as the Hapstone, Edge Pro, or best of all, Wicked Edge (if you can afford it.) I bought a Hapstone V7 early on and that really helped me take me sharpening skills to another level.

These discussions always have two perspectives:

1. Those who've had good luck; Oh it's a piece of cake all you need to do is _______.

2. Those who've struggled; Oh it's a nightmare avoid at all costs.

Seems we're either trivializing it or overcomplicating it. I reprofiled and sharpened a Maxamet Native 5 on a Sharpmaker with various grits of SIC sandpaper, not because I'm awesome at sharpening but because I'm patient. It's less about difficulty and more about persistence.

The Sharpmaker is a pretty ingenious and effective gadget. If you watch the old videos on youtube that Sal made, it's hard to screw anything up. I just started using mine recently and I admit that for some reason I'm doing better on the left side of the blades than the right side, but having the angles set for you is a big help. All you need to do is get in the groove.

kennethsime wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 30, 2021 9:32 pm

Will Spyderco not even sharpen if you pay them $5-20?

No, not on a factory second.

TkoK83Spy wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 31, 2021 6:07 am

Being a factory second, I also wonder why it was a factory second? I have one as well, it looks pretty good and works great as a work knife...but it is slightly warped (I'm guessing why it's a factory second)

Thankfully I've only had to touch it up so far, but a full on sharpening someday will be interesting!

I've got a couple of the Maxamet factory seconds with just water spots on the blade, (from tumbling?,) and one with a warped blade.

I used the Native 5 to cut red Scotchbrite pads, the Scotchbrite won that contest. Enter the Sharpmaker, diamond and CBN Tri-Angles and it's back to being sharp again.

I should have mentioned I have a Sharpmaker, a KME, and a work sharp precision adjust.
Good equipment, but I lack the patience and have partially numb hands-not an optimal combination for super steel sharpening. I want to get the most from the steel. I am in New York State, but willing to send out of state to a paid service that offers hand sharpening.
Thanks

dullmaker wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 31, 2021 9:35 am

I should have mentioned I have a Sharpmaker, a KME, and a work sharp precision adjust.
Good equipment, but I lack the patience and have partially numb hands-not an optimal combination for super steel sharpening.

Part of the problem might be seeking advice from the Interwebs, where some people don't know how to do something or have never done it, yet comment as if they're experts. Maxamet is a lot easier to work with than some of the more common steels you might find in Spyderco knives. The fact is, whatever techniques you're using on your Bunk, Goober, or Cold Stool knives, are exactly the same techniques as you need for your fancy Spyderco Maxamet blade. As you already know, diamond plates or stones are what you need to get the best results. You have the tools. Get the stones.

I don't sharpen knives for money, so maybe my thoughts are way off base. But consider the time involved for a craftsman to sharpen your knife. He's got to get the package out of the mailbox and look the knife over. That's ten minutes. Then he needs to set up his sharpening gear, another fifteen minutes. How long will it take to sharpen the knife? Half an hour? Add another fifteen minutes for cleaning up and putting away the gear. Another ten minutes for boxing up the knife, and a half hour to take it to the post office. Don't forget the cost outlay for all his equipment, incidentals, and gasoline.

Unless the craftsman is one of the Sisters of Mercy, it's going to cost you a bundle. Buying a "second" knife might not have been as economically feasible as buying a top shelf knife, and then sending it back to Spyderco periodically to be resharpened. When you consider everything involved, their sharpening service is a smokin' deal.

Thanks for the responses. I use the Mothership's amazing service on a regular basis. I agree it is a bargain. I have many more Spydercos than my wife knows about, or i even remember that I own. I've gotten knives back within 10 days from the time I've sent them in. I don't expect any factory service on a factory second. I would gladly pay Spyderco whatever they required. But since they don't, I'm looking for a Pro for knives out of my comfort zone.
Have a safe holloween!