These also make great gifts, and are not just for hardcore knife enthusiasts. The Lansky kit comes in a square plastic box with a snap closure on the front for use on the go, if you’re so inclined. It will not do reprofiling at all well with the stock stones. Best Tactical Knives Take care. If I sound happy about this product, you bet it’s true! It was one of the first sharpening products I purchased, and I still have and use it to this day. SHARPENER FOR THE NOVICE - Every Sharpmaker comes complete with a detailed instruction book and DVD that guides you step by step through the process of sharpening knives, scissors, awls, and many other tools. As we know, some knife steel is easier to sharpen than others. I speculate it’s because ZDP is vanadium-free, so it may have a finer grain structure than S30V. I’m sure general counsel for Spyderco wants me to mention that. 30 years – that is pretty nuts! I appreciate the feedback on the sharpener review. For myself, I no longer use the corners at all, except for serrations. I would highly recommend the diamond stones though. If you want to get really fancy you can order diamond and ultra fine rods for the Sharpmaker. Best High Value Knives. SHARPENER FOR THE NOVICE - Every Sharpmaker comes complete with a detailed instruction book and DVD that guides you step by step through the process of sharpening knives, scissors, awls, and many other tools. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Spyderco Tri-Angle Premium Sharpmaker Set with DVD and Two Sets of Alumina Ceramic Stones - 204MF at Amazon.com. I realize I am probably preaching to the choir on this one. I love my sharpmaker, but am I the only one who never seems to get knives with < 40deg edges from the factory? We will test these differences between the Spyderco and Lansky sharpening system, using kitchen knives to measure the results. If you have knives that have been particularly abused (e.g. Thanks for the good tip. EASY TO USE, OUTSTANDING RESULTS - This has everything necessary to sharpen any type of edged or pointed tool in just a few minutes' time. But what sharpening system will serve you best? Your insights are spot on. Still, if you are using it for touchups and on milder steels it’s tough to beat the Sharpmaker. What are the variations and what is the perfect model for you? What makes it so much better than other knives on the market? To test knife sharpeners, you need dull knives. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. The Spyderco is by far one of the most reviewed knife sharpeners on Amazon, and I think it’s only fitting I write a Spyderco Sharpmaker Review of it for those who are curious to learn how it works. Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker with Safety Rods, Instructional DVD, Two Premium Alumina Ceramic Stone Sets for Blade Repair and Professional-Grade Finishing - 204MF. To test knife sharpeners, you need dull knives. The other nice thing about triangular rods is that you can even sharpen recurved edges if you use the corners of the stones. Your email address will not be published. Lansky Sharpeners recently contacted us about their “Deluxe” sharpener setup, which is a 5-stone guided rod style sharpener. Overall, the Spyderco Sharpmaker is our go-to sharpening system for everyday knife maintenance. I’m not sure what these sold for back in the day, but today the Sharpmaker can be had for around $50. Manual sharpeners: The Brod & Taylor Professional Knife Sharpener is a durable and effective manual model; it works on serrated knives, and its slim build makes it reasonably easy to store. The system is near fool proof, the components are all high quality, and the price is right. It will gradually balance out. For example, I want to achieve the hanging hair test, with a knife. It’s a tremendous sharpening system. Thank you, Darren. We purchased our top pick chef’s knife, the Mac MTH-80, and the budget pick, the Wüsthof Pro 4862-7/20. The main things to watch out for with ceramic sharpening stones is to be careful not to drop them as they are brittle and can shatter, and that you will need periodically clean them with Ajax or a similar powdered abrasive cleaner. People don’t realize how much work goes into columns like the ones you produce, just wanted to say well done and keep it going! Thanks for taking the time out to leave a comment, I think it adds something to the review. I use them on my Dragonfly II in VG-10 all the time. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Filed Under: Misc. If you are new to the world of sharpening or are just looking for a simple kit that can take you from dull to sharp in minutes, I can safely recommend the Sharpmaker. After sharpening just three knives, I wanted to write a review and respond to those who had given it a one star, which I did. Learn how your comment data is processed. Do more sharpening system reviews, like the Wicked Edge. Gear, Sharpening and Maintenance Products, Spyderco. Dan, two questions if I may; what are the little ceramic rods you refer to? Sometimes you need a more aggressive stone for harder steels, re-profiling, etc. The review may be a couple years old (actually only about 1.5 years old), but this system is still as good today as it was when I wrote the review. This post contains affiliate links. I really appreciate the kind words. I waited until now to review it because I’ve carried and used the knife as my primary every day carry for several months—the only worthwhile review comes from someone who has actually cut something with the knife. In the past few years I have purchased a Benchmade Mini Grip, Dragonfly 2 zdp-189, a paramilitary 2, and a techno, and the only knife that was acute enough to touch up on the sharpmaker was the pm2 without re-profiling first. This was serendipitous for me as I’d been looking for an alternative to my trusty Spyderco Sharpmaker and had actually been considering the Lansky setup, so an opportunity to review it seemed ideal. For $50 you really can’t beat it. Thanks for the kind words – making me blush over here. (Haven’t tried the diamonds yet.) The site is a labor of love and I have really enjoyed working on it and meeting people through it. The Sharpmaker is actually the first product Spyderco ever produced. The Spyderco Gauntlet Premium set is a nice knife sharpening set-up. INCLUDES - Instruction book and DVD. So if you get a knife with a factory edge bevel of more than 40 degrees inclusive (which, sadly, can happen), setting it right with the Sharpmaker is gonna be a struggle, especially if it rocks a high-carbide or high-HRC blade steel. The ultra fine rods can refine your edges even further for an even sharper knife. The only thing I noticed is that over time they seem to have developed little bumps or chips. After normal wear, I actually prefer touching up ZDP blades over S30V. Good point. That is true – you have to be careful to pull the tip off the stone without rounding it. I believe it also includes written instructions and a DVD, although these days everything is available online. Any recommendations for those? It was one piece of equipment I purchased early on in my knife collecting career that I still use to this day. Within a wide range of ordinary knife edge restoration tasks, the Sharpmaker works great. Applying pressure can cause the tip to rub against the flats as it slides off of the corners. I have a couple fully serrated kitchen knives that I sharpened both sides of, and it works really well. Very cool and easy to store. Last Updated: July 13, 2019 I have used the Spyderco Sharpmaker for about 30 years after meeting the inventor in Honolulu thru friends in the same business and have found nothing better reguardless of price.