Showed my uncle my new spyderco endura turned around and he was using the rough setting of the smiths pocket tool... now it looks a little serrated and I am having to get a legit sharpener... Thanks for the vid... just wish he had seen it
Yikes! My mom has screwed up kitchen knives by being aggressive with a pull through sharpener. Thankfully I recently picked up a spyderco sharpmaker. If you take your time with the medium stones, you can work chips out. On one of the chefs knives, the chips are almost gone and the knife is sharp enough to cut newspaper. So yea the sharpmaker is awesome. Now I just need to take some time with the other knives my mom damaged. I also need to get rid of my moms knife damager. :)
The smiths pocket pal works really well. However I only use the ceramic side on knives. I did use the carbide on my cold steel special forces shovel. Due to it's size and weight, the smiths is great to put in your pack. I use it backwards. Rather than pulling the knife through, I hold the knife blade up and slide the sharpener over the blade. For home use I recently got a sharpmaker. It's fantastic! However It's not as idiot proof as some youtube videos make it out to be. It does take a little practice. The cheap knives in the back of your knife drawer are good to practice with. Make sure to watch the included DVD. RU-vid videos are also handy to see how other people use it. Yes the hole on the side is for sharpening scissors. I LOVE that the sharpmaker can do things other than knives. As far as I can tell from youtube videos the Edge Pro and Wicked Edge can only do knives. For ease of use, compactness, versatility, and cost; the Spyderco triangle sharpmaker gets my vote :)
Jaysus! most of the opinion posted here strikes me as extremely narrow minded, given the broad expanse of knives in general and the materials they are made from to the extremes of knife condition that may need to be addressed when sharpening a knife. At the extreme, carbide could be a starting place for a really dull blade with nothing resembling a knife edge, to get a blade into the ball park of finer sharpening tools. Once the blade is there we can move on to the tools for creating and maintaining a fine edge. The guy who posted this video provided thoughtful and useful information to the vast majority of knife users who want to maintain usefully sharp knives without making it an obsession. With no intended disrespect to those whose life and livlihood center around knifes.
Indeed, the carbide is for just that. It's for getting an edge started. I wish people would learn their facts before posting these videos thinking they're experts and give incorrect information though. He is correct if you know nothing about sharpening a knife, don't use the carbide as it will do more damage than good to a half decent edge but carbide dose have its use which he should have specified if he knew anything about what he was talking about. I see people bad mouthing the carbide all the time because they are using it for the wrong purpose.
***** Yeah your right, I would only use one for fixing a badly damaged edge or a snapped off tip or something in the bush or to get a false edge started at least. I mean you could make a make-shift knife out of any scrap pretty quickly if you had a carbide sharpener and it would save your good sharpeners until you really need them. That's just what i'm trying to say.
I've found my long lost brother! From the cleanliness of your vehicle (although mine is arguably more cluttered), the love of sharpeners as well as other gadgetry, right down to the backpack in the passenger seat (full of more gadgets)! Good video, I'm only now learning of the defilement posed by carbide sharpeners, having recently obtained a Lansky. You get what you pay for. I'm looking at a Russian made rig that's far better than the Lansky, but based on similar idea. Keep up the good work! You've a new subscriber.
The Spyderco Sharpmaker produces phenomenal results at its intended purpose. I've found that most manufacturers use a grind profile higher than the Sharpmaker. I have Chris Reeve, Microtech, Spyderco, Cold Steel, Benchmade, CRKT, Buck, Gerber, Leatherman.........etc. I usually have to create a new profile on my blades to match the angle of the Sharpmaker. This is annoying at most but the Sharpmaker is so easy to use and portable I will continue to do this.
i just bought the smith's adjustable pull thru sharpener and i do plan on getting a stone, but i don't push down so hard that metal shavings are flying off my blade. i got a slight edge roll/burr from the ceramic rods and i called smith's, i'm getting new ones for free, i also took my knife to my wife's steel rod, and then my strop, contrary to your weak edge claim, my knife is scary, hair popping skin slicing sharp. i like my pull thru.
My grandfather taught me to use japanese waterstones properly, 5 different grades in total. I never had any problems with knives or axes getting dull when I butcher reindeer or cut firewood. I will look into that spyderco sharpener as its easier to carry with me in the field than my mobile diamond hones.
that yellow smiths pull through sharpener is actually a very good sharpener, you only use the carbide side when the edge damage is severe, otherwise the ceramic side will keep a fine shaving edge on your knife with little effort. it also depends on the angle of your edge in the first place, they don't work with really obtuse knives. as far as carbide sharpeners shearing off metal, that's basically what all sharpening stones do as they remove metal. i may have to try one of those sharpmakers some day.
Smith's like any carbide sharpener, works very well, if you know ho wto use one. Carbide should be used GENTLY. If you do, it will not tear up or damage your blade. Start gently with carbide, and then finish up with a pocket stone, and the blade will be just as sharp as any other system can make it. All sharpeners remove metal from the blade. There is no other way to sharpen a blade. Used properly, carbide will remove no more metal than ceramic, or anything else. All sharpeners are harder and stronger than your black. Even an Arkansas stone has a Rockwell of 90-92. Try actually using a carbide sharpener, and do it GENTLY. I'd never use a carbide sharpener at home, but in teh field, combined with a small, pocket fine Arkansas stone that has a leather strop on teh other side, and the knife will be more than razor sharp, and will have no more wear than with any other system. And, honestly, anyone who things your system is the best really has no clue.
Anything but a set of proper japanese whetstones are gimmick toys if you want a real proper scary sharp edge, as in sharper than a razor, however they require skill to use, and cost a smaller fortune. For field use I would recommend Fällknivens diamond/ceramic pocket combo stone combined with a small leather strop with polish compound pre applied to it (last quite a long time), it will keep your knife in business until you get home and can put a proper edge on the knife with whetstones.
I love and have many Spyderco knives. I would never use a Spyderco Sharpmaker. I use exact edge systems like Lansky or Wicked Edge. Then strop with a medium speed leather band on a 2x48 belt grinder. Fast and extremely effective.
Are the Lansky's still made right? Silly question, I know, but I was about to purchase the deluxe diamond on Amazon and some people are saying that there is shoddy QC over at Lansky now.
he's got the same use and advise for carbide as myself. i do use one on the kitchen knives because there are so many. i'm digging on the "smith's sharpening system" though. any guided sharpener will do fairly well though. i take it further and hit the edge with a ceramic rod and stop it if i feel the need. usually i'll bring out the diamond stone and touch a knife up as i generally don't really dull a knife to much. it's better to maintain an edge than to go to extremes sharpening them.
I think you're giving carbide sharpeners too much a hard time. If you're gentle when you're using them they don't take too much metal off. I use one on my (cheap) kitchen knives, along with a Schrade hone steel to finish the edge off. For pocket knives I use a Fallkniven DC4 and for decent big knives, I've got a Gatco kit I got as a present. They all give pretty decent results that will shave arm hair. If I'm going to take my time and do a proper job on a knife, I'll use a set of Japanese water stones.
I use a spyderco sharp maker and I have been using it for years. I agree with you Lord Alex. I would rather sharpen my knife with a coffee mug or dinner plate then any cheap sharpener.
There is a reason pull through sharpeners often have two slots. One is carbide, which does shave a lot of metal off your knife, which is why it is meant for a damaged or extremely dull knife. The other is a ceramic slot, made for touching up your knife and getting that "razors edge"
The carbide is still useful, if you have a blade in bad shape then you use it. But if you just have a blade that is still sharp but not as sharp as you want it use the ceramic, they are cheap to replace but can make your blade last longer to where you won't need the carbide.
I'm kind of new at this, but I like free handing on stones, then strop. One of the best all in one sharpeners I've seen is the Work Sharp Field Sharpener (for only $30).
Dude, why would you say to buy the super fine rods to replace the other rods? You would simply use all 3 sets in succession. Gray, then the fine, and then ultra fine.
Over the years, I have used various hones. A few months ago, I started using Shapton Glass Stones. Now,I can't imagine using anything else. If you are serious about having a sharp knife, go ahead and make the investment. You'll be glad you did.
Carbide is the material for cutting tools, this are used in metal lathes and milling machines, carbide is a metal for cut off steel no for sharpening. The guy in the video is totally right about that. Nothing sharp better for sharp a knife than the old style wet stone.
dude thanks alot for your video. I literally just bought a carbide sharpener and was looking for RU-vid vids to learn how to use it for my Benchmade Mini-Skirmish with a S30V steel blade. I am so glad I found your vid and didnt ruin my blade with this $h!t carbide sharpener I bought. I literally threw it away after your vid and found a Spyderco Sharpmaker on eBay for $45.00 plus shipping. So thanks again!
Carbide is okay if you've lost your profiling and want to set a new angle. The Sharpmaker won't let you reset an angle on your knife. It'll just let you sharpen what you have. Lansky has a carbide sharpener that will let you set just about any angle you want, but you'd have to be crazy to use it as a sharpener.
Gadgets won't get you what waterstones can give if you know how to use them. It's not really a matter of opinion, it's actual grit. Spyderco Ultra Fine is 3 microns and Lee Valley and Shapton both offer stones of less than 1 micron. That being said - unless I'm sharpening my chisels (Iyoroi Blue Steel - so nice), I use my Spyder. I think it's been 15+ years since I bought it now. It's the bomb for a fast, beyond-razor-sharp edge. I'd use a gadget for sharpening chisels if they made any that were faster than just using a stone. I sharpened my dad's jackknife with my Spyder and the next time I saw him he told me he'd dropped it on his leg and it went clean in. He thought it was hilarious and told me I wouldn't be sharpening his knife again. I was just thinking "dude... you almost sliced your femoral artery - that shit isn't funny." But that's his humor. Anyway - yeah, Spyder is the bomb. Can't imagine needing a knife sharper than 3 micron, but I'm not a professional chef.
those carbide sharpeners have their use, to put an original edge to work with but yea that is only for the first edge or when there is a bad knick and you need to pull the metal down to smooth
I put a nice, thin, kitchen knife on one of those Smith's, carbide sharpeners. It destroyed the edge. The edge came out like a pile of rocks. It was super jagged. Luckily I was able to fix it. Obviously, I know nothing about knives.
Best budget combo is a lansky or KME for a good re-profile back bevel then a spyderco sharpmaker to put on a microbevel and maintain it til you need to re profile later down the track. End of story. Yes the Wicked edge and edge pro are great, so are stones and freehand, but for budget and ease of use you can't beat that combo.
I've got the spyderco and the lanksy. both work great. I get a better edge with the spyderco for knives with a 30 degree or 40 degree , basically worked great for all my spydercos benchmades etc, but for all my kitchen knives I use the lansky.
Lol I don't even use my Spyderco sharp maker. It's ben sitting in my car for years. I prefill free hand sharpening on either oil stones or waterstones. Then finish on some kind of natural stone. and strop with paper on top of the stone.
LOL- A wet stone is much more simple, lasts longer, gets it sharper, and you don't have to get multiples of different rods. I understand time is money though and there are multiple ways to sharpen too. So its all down to preference.
I use to think razor sharp blade on all types of knives I own was the answer. But I learned that certain knives... such as a thicker blade Tactical knives can be sharpened razor sharp but it wont cut for jack.
Smdh. Anyone who practices can make an edge perfectly usable using things commonly found around your house..Belts, Ceramic, and glass. These fancy gadgets to make ridiculously sharp knives are just pointless. Besides, the more you thin that edge out to some microscopic edge, the easier it is to fold the thing over if you're actually using it for more than a cardboard box and showing your friend how ridiculously perfect your edge is. Although I agree, carbide can't sharpen worth a shit.
The Spyderco system must not be too bad, my local Cutco Dealers use them to keep the factory edge on my Cutco knives. I've been using the Spyderco System for about 25 years now, with excellent results.
I rarely buy those stuff, cuz those are like a quick sharpening so rarely used unless have to use sharpener and I use a sanding block with different grits, I admit... its not that so functional with those papers but... its cheap, replaceable, and easy to use and no need for water :D but ur video is helpful :3
I would like to point out that a carbide sharpener is for reconditioning a blade. That is why in the instructions in any carbide sharpener to pull through only 3-4 times at most. If they ruined blades like you say they do why does every professional knife business sell them.(kitchen knives)
flat stones are well! you need skill to use them but if you have the skill you can get really sharp knives with them. I understand that many people cant really handle them well but that doesnt mean they are bad.
Still better than those pull through, we guess so will not ruin your knife if you know how to handle them. I would suggest regular stones for flat edge knives and the spyderco or better brands for sharpening serated blades, i do not know how to sharpen serated with a standard stone.
Carbide sharpeners have a place. If your edge is really damaged and needs to be reshaped a carbide sharpener will do that quickly. I do agree you don't use them on a regular basis, but they do make quick work out of reshaping a badly damaged blade.
It still takes some skill and practice, but you get a much better quality edge from people who are less skilled in using an ultra fine wet stone. When free handing an edge on a standard stone can actually create too fine of an angle on a knife and will be razor sharp, but the edge will not hold up to much more than simple light cutting tasks. Edge dynamics depend on a lot...blade steel, blade grind, sharpening angle, back bevel angle, and what is the knife's intended use.
I use a carbide sharpener for really large chips, to take them out quickly on knives that are not impressive. xD Took me 10 minutes to get a massive chip out of my victorinox sak and sharpening after that took me another 10 minutes but it took me several hours on ceramic rods to take a chip out of my Cold Steel Code 4 but it was worth it imo.. For just general sharpening I use a cheapo Lansky sharpening rods system and it works well.
I use use a carbide pull through to sharpen disastrously dull blades on a regular basis. It puts a good edge on the blade and, if you aren't an idiot, doesn't remove *too* much material.
+Eric Creache On harder steels you need to be careful not to put too much pressure on, but it still works. The only times I won't use a carbide sharpener are if the blade isn't extremely dull (because it only takes a few minutes to sharpen most blades), or if the blade has chips. A chip in the blade turns into a nightmare if you use a pull-through.
Buck says it's angle is 13 to 16 degrees. (I recently acquired a 105 and a Vanguard) This means, I think, that I put the rods in at the 30 degree angle. However, I have heard several other people say that 40 degrees is the way to go. Which one would you use?
A 1$ sharpening stone (coarse and even coarse) + a 10$ sharpening stone (medium and fine), + something to strop (cardboard, leather belt, etc) => best value for sharpening in general. - it requires skill but that comes with practice, no fuss about it, just freehand it. After that you can go really fancy with all kinds of waterstones ranging from 10 to 100$
60 bucks is a lot for a knife sharpener? The wicked edge pro pack costs 600 dollarsand the sharpmaker can put an edge that is very comparably sharp. When you consider that this will easily last a lifetime and can sharpen any knife that already has somewhat of an edge to begin with, I think 60 bucks is absolutely worth it
yeah most of my work knives are around four inches with a thick backing but to fix the possible scratching the blade, I usually take a rag from an old t-shirt and place it in with the clamp. I was just making sure I wasn't grinding it down for nothing, I'm pretty satisfied with the product myself thanks for the reply take it easy dude.
Check out German honing steel - it's about 3-4 inches long and helps keep the sharpest edge you can possibly get - unless you're into computerized sharpening a less than a .005 of an angled edge (paring knifes etc lol)
Lol... I agree, its overrated. Not every knife is beveled at 30 or 40 degrees, and if you have to reprofile it to make it work your going to be running your knife up and down those sharpening rods all day. Although if you have the ability to set the angle at 40 degrees, then the Sharpmaker can come in handy for a quick touch up.
What do you think of the Work Sharp or the Ken Onion Work Sharp, the K.O. has wider belt's and you can go further on it, you should do a face off between your Spyderco and the Work Sharp that would be a good video for you to do.
If you own Swords, or expensive blades, it would be worth investing in very good quality sharpening system. I believe Whetstone is the best way to go. It's hard to find a place that still sells them. Then I would practice on cheap knives until I became good enough to use it on my "Good Blades".
I would imagine if you sharpen ANY knife "every other day for a year" it would ruin ANY blade. Unless you're cutting, rocks for some reason, or you are consistently wearing your blade on materials that are harder than it is, I can't imagine any knife requiring sharpening every other day. Every time you sharpen a knife you are removing material and if you sharpen a knife at a more frequent rate then is required you will remove too much material from the blade and the edge will wear thin and ultimately become less than satisfactory or it will fail altogether.
if you have professional kitchen knifes, don't use anything he talked about other than the honing rod, and make sure it's the type recommended for your style of blade. this was a list of the crappies sharpener to ever be put out, but what do you expect from a Knife sharpening video made in a truck.
The "pull through" devices don't match the angle of a pocket knife edge 99% of the time. It tears off huge strips of the steel until the edge angle matches the sharpener, and will take off a huge amount of your blade. It's not necessarily the carbide, any pull through sharpener is terrible, it's just that ceramic will go through the (shitty) process slower.
The carbide 'sharpeners' as shown here are garbage. Knives 'sharpened' with them are left with micro edge serrations that make them seem sharp. In reality they are blunt and simply abraid materials rather than cut through them. This type of edge dulls really really quickly. A quality knife with a properly honed edge will remain keen for longer and will last longer as only a small quantity of blade material is removed at each sharpening. With the Sharpmaker it does take some time to sharpen a knife, but it will be truly sharp and will remain sharp in use. I have had one for years and highly recommend it.
Actually those carbide sharpener has a place. I would not use them on a good expensive knife. But on cheap kitchen everyday use knives, of course, in two or three pases it will be on a working condition. For a lot of uses this is all that is needed
They're also good for getting the edge started on a knife that's just dulled so bad that getting it started on a stone would be a nightmare. I used one to get an old fillet knife made of of old,. cheap pain-in-the-rear steel from completely blunt to sharp enough to hone-up on on a stone.
+Freddie Slaughter That sharpener works much better if you chuck the angle making guard. And you can use it for much more things. I have owned and used the Work Sharp for about 4 years now. I make $4 every 10 seconds sharpening restaurant knives, with the angle maker off. So much better.
3:50 it pulls the edge back? What's that mean and how is it different from sharpening? Yeah, the blue/white one and the yellow one in the beginning got great reviews, but I don't know if I like them.
+Roman Fox think of an edge as a piece of wrinkled paper ..a steel takes the wrinkles \bent edge out..sharpening removes metal ..a steel doesn't..it only makes a bent edge straighter
+Roman Fox a honing steel fixes burrs. a burr is when the edge of the knife is bent. honing is meant to unbend it. in sharpening, you are removing metal altogether.
Kids! Quit Nursing on yo Mama! When Old Timer knives were mostly CARBON Steel, (60's - 70's-80's) I used to use a whetstone and a leather strop to get a blade I could shave with. #1 you need a Carbon steel blade and whetstone. #2 , well you know what #2 is!?...It is that POS STAINLESS...
Does the Spyderco Sharp Maker, put convex edges on your knife, let say, I want to sharpen my Bravo 1, it has a Convex Grind, will the Sharp Maker ruin my convex Grind, and put a micro V secondary bevel on it, if I'm using the Spyderco Sharp Maker.
