Jeff

I use a Spyderco sharpmaker for quick touch ups. It is inexpensive and a couple of passes on each side brings back a great edge. Done in a minute. Issue is it is fixed to 20  and 15 degrees when using the base. I use it on my edcs which I typically sharpen at 15 dps.  Never used it on my kitchen knives which are typically sharpened at a lower a…[Read more]

Yes that steel can’t compete with some others in todays world of really high performance knife steels. Within the same brand Spyderco probably has greater variety then most especially considering all the sprint runs and dealer exclusives too. However, like everything there is tradeoffs. In this case $ .  You can buy something in a current hotrod…[Read more]

Sounds to me like it is just sharper than she is typically used to.  I do agree with tcmeyer and 600 is maybe a little coarser than most would prefer for a kitchen knife but it will cut just fine.  Way better than any dull knife 🙂 .

Typically I would think 15 dps is fine for a chef style knife.  I sharpen a lot of my kitchen knives at 13 dps bu…[Read more]

Does it appear on the other side of the bevel too?  8Cr13MoV is considered stainless and is fairly resistant to typical corrosion.  To see it on a sharpened bevel that removed the steel though makes one think it isn’t corrosion unless it was really deep.

Spyderco typically has good customer service. Send it in they fix or replace.

I’m not sure h…[Read more]

Hey Tim I’m a bit of a Spyderco fanboy with lots of them to sharpen so I certainly understand that frustration.  I took the route of modifying slightly the stones as I’m not a fan of grinding sharpening choils in the blade.  I cut the plastic edge off of one side of each stone grit.  Did it on opposing corners so as you rotate the stone around th…[Read more]

Hi. Welcome.  Regarding those Spyderco blades you shouldn’t have any issue with a “typical” bevel angle for a pocket knife like =>15 dps.  Most of my folders are Spyderco’s and any of their models with their traditional “Leaf” shaped blade work just fine.

This issue one can have in this system with smaller blades is typically those that are s…[Read more]

Terry I’ve sharpened at least 1/2 dozen Paramilitary2, some multiple times, in different blade steels over the past few years.  I use the settings found in this linked youtube video below work great for me.  You can watch the whole thing but around the 2:00min mark is when the clamp settings using the advanced alignment guide comes up (top h…[Read more]

Another option that has worked well for me on distal tapered blades like a lot of Spyderco’s are is using a piece of soft leather chamois material between the blade and vise.  A soft sheepskin chamois can be found on Amazon for about $10 to your door.  Lasts years as you only need a small piece that can be used mutliple times.

I bought a Tormek T4 recently to compliment the Wicked Edge.  It really excels at cleaing up a damaged blade or setting a different bevel in a very timely manner.  Very pricey way to go for just one knife though.  I second the 50/80 stones as a reasonably quick way to hog off metal comparatively quick.

Marc’s suggestion of using a small piece of leather chamois has served me well also on blades with weird geometry or a distal taper which can compound the issue where you want to clamp, however, in the picture of that knife the hollow grind appears to only go about 50% up the height of the blade around the mid point on the length of the blade. …[Read more]

I find a Spyderco Sharpmaker is a great tool for quick edge maintenance.  Relatively inexpensive too.  I use it for a very quick touch up to return to sticky sharp.  Just a few strokes on each side gets the job done.  After 3 or 4 touchups it is time to get back in the WE system and run through a full progression.  Starting grit dependent on the…[Read more]

Thanks for the insight Clay.   I’m certainly no expert but my approach, which works for me with the stones and accessories I have, after I’ve sharpened once and set my own bevels.

Diamond stones 400 through to 1500 ->  Lapping films 6, 3, 1.5  .  All edge leading after some brief initial scrubbing with the 400.  I typically stop there as they…[Read more]

Quality Japanese kitchen knives are such a treat to use for food prep especially if you are used to the thicker, softer stainless that most of us probably “grew up” on.  The Henckels, and Whustofs, etc.  The sky is the limit (and price) when it comes to Japanese kitchen knives.  Shun seems to be a very common gateway brand with decent qu…[Read more]

I used the settings shown in this video by Clay.  Worked great for me.  I actually mirrored a Para3 beside the Paramilitary 2 clamped like this to see how it aligned on the AAG and use those settings now on that model.  I find I get a nice even bevel in both cases.  I sharpen all of my Para models to 15dps and that covers a range of steels cur…[Read more]

I agree that post by Jende was really informative and glad this got bumped up to the top.  Also almost 7 years old.

Ed that Bess score is excellent.  I’ve sold all brands of folders I have except Spyderco now and keep around 8-12 at a time buying and selling trying different steels.  Keep the odd favourite.  They just have so much steel selection (albeit a lot of them are sprint runs that sell out very quickly) and seem to also spend a lot of R&D on nailing th…[Read more]

This is great stuff for anything you use in the kitchen as it is food safe.  I use it on my “carbon” kitchen knives.  It would work to for a folder that isn’t really used, however, I find it pretty light (thin).  I don’t think it would be ideal for an EDC folder.

This is a great choice for anything used in the kitchen as it is food safe.  I use it on any kitchen knives I have that aren’t stainless, however, it is very light (thin).  Still would work for something that is not being used (ie. safe queen) but maybe not so good for something that is carried.

This is an awesome choice for any knife used for food prep.  I use it on any non-stainless kitchen knives I have, however, I find it can be a little bit light (thin) for a edc type pocket knife.

It appears you have found a solution already.  I will add, however, that I have a Cryo that I have sharpened many times on a WE system.  My edge looks somewhat like yours but not near as pronounced.  I believe it is because of the shape of the blade.  How the hollow grind sweeps up towards the ricasso.  It is quite a bit thicker in that area…[Read more]