If you aren't cutting materials that damages the 15 degree edge, you can get better performance that way in my opinion. However, if you're doing things that is damaging your edge, 20 degrees could mean less work for you, because that edge may hold up without taking damage. Do you like toothy edges or polished edges? I like toothy edges myself. I have sharpened every steel Spyderco has used by setting the bevel on a diamond stone and then microbeveled/deburred with the brown rods and can get an impressive edge that way. It I want more a strop with 1 micron emulsion will get it sharper than I ever need and it will still have some toothy bite. Good lighting and 10x-15x loop will easily show the small burr which is very difficult to see unaided.

MAKE SURE YOU USE THE SAFETY GUARDS – Can’t stress this enough. I’ve hit them several times during the testing for this review, and would have cut my hand if I had not fitted them. 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. He references a keen edge being 0.1 microns. If you are achieving that or even a 1 micron edge then your knowledge of sharpening would be far from deficient. That is high level sharpening. You see this in many hobbies. A guy who needs a sub moa rifle who cannot shoot sub moa or a guy that needs an R1 with race tires to commute to work because he thinks he is Rossi. We need to be honest with our own abilities first before we can get too deep into the gear. Because the Medium stones on the 204 Sharpmaker are priced low enough that you don't have to lap them. It saves me a lot of time. I've even had to replace one of the medium stones on one set of my Spyderco 302 Benchstones. Even though the medium stones will wear over time it takes a while before they need replacing. Albeit if I could do it really efficiently I would be open to suggestions and time saving methods I may not be aware of. From my personal experience, a quality Torx set, libricant, and sharpener is a great place to start.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. I am just starting to learn what a burr is and am not really sure what Re-profiling is, but have an idea. Since I have no skill and am not confortable using a bench stone as of yet, I am looking for something in the middle. Something that is bounds over a cheap ceramic pull through, but something that doesn’t take a whole lot of time and knowledge to take the factory/utility edge to a hair sharpening edge. I do like the fact that as I hone my skills at knife sharpening, and learn some of those things that need to be learned, the Sharpmaker does have the option to use it as a bench stone instead of a guided system. In my understanding: WHENEVER you cut something, obviously you start with the apex and move the knife into the material (so in a way the material goes towards the spine...) 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? Also included in the design are two bench-stone options. Using the top channels in the base gives you a wide stone surface for large blades.

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?Thought I´d post a link to the sharpmaker instructional dvd on youtube, could be interesting for some. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LBDnJv5B58&t=2486s I don't have enough knowledge to evaluate that information; maybe you can edu-ma-cate me. My simple question is:

It’s easy to demonstrate, a little harder to describe but basically when you finish the stroke you’re blade/knife should be about 60degrees off horizontal. OK, that's about as best as I can explain it and I hope I haven't confused you. Maybe one of the other members will further clarify things for you. Either way ask all the questions you need. The only stupid question is the one not asked. :) Use one pass across the entire edge rather than sharpening individual serrations. The latter is a waste of time, taking exponentially longer to produce an edge that's no better than using one smooth swipe like a plain edge knife. The Colorado based knife company we know and love has proven here that they excel not only in knife production but the tools needed to keep us proud owners happy and our knives scary sharp. Once again Spyderco continues to impress me with their offerings.Not only is the Sharpmaker simple to use, it is simple to transport and set up. The ceramic stones are used dry so there is no oil/water mess while working, and you use normal kitchen/bathroom cleaning products to clean the stones when clogged. I take it with me to friends and family and into the office kitchen to touch up the edged casualties and give them new life. Always finish with a light touch. As a general rule of thumb when using the sharpmaker, you should be able to do your finishing strokes without moving the sharpmaker base at all, without securing it with your off hand, a clamp, etc. If it moves, you're pushing too hard. This is true for PE and SE, any blade shape, any steel, any grit rods. This ensures a crisper apex.

I will constantly be updating this first post, so that you won't have to read through the entire thread to absorb all the advice. In addition to a text list, there will be tutorial videos at the end of the post. These also make great gifts, and are not just for hardcore knife enthusiasts. They are handy in the kitchen and are designed to be used by almost anyone. In our fast-paced single serve world maintaining what we have sometimes falls to the wayside – especially when we can just buy new cheap stuff. Learning how to keep your edged tools sharp is fun and empowering, and for that reason I think the Sharpmaker can be a very thoughtful gift.People make sharpening out to be a lot more complicated than it has to be. The most important thing is that you have to understand what a burr is. Then you just refine the edge with smoother grits. vs 40deg depends on more variables ... what steel and what you're cutting being the two primary things to consider. So, as an example if you had a knife in a steel that you knew to be brittle with poor edge stability and you were to put it to heavy use on hard, tough material you'd likely be best off with a 40deg bevel as opposed to a 30deg bevel. On the other hand if you were using the same knife to open letters you could use a 20deg bevel. As mentioned above, most sharpening systems actually improve with use, and it was during this session of sharpening a set of sewing scissors that the stones of the Sharpmaker really developed some bite. The difference is significant and you can feel the stones cutting much more aggressively than when new. Perhaps more so than with knives, the process of keeping the blade vertical and drawing it across the stone makes it so easy to sharpen scissors. It only took around 20 minutes in total to get all of these scissors cutting beautifully. 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.