I'm posting this in the Kit Chatter section as it's a review of a piece of equipment, rather than putting it in the Edged Tools section where it might get lost amongst other sharpening threads.
Ever since I can remember, I have been able to sharpen just about any blade, by eye or feel to produce an edge noticeably keener than a lot of people around me.
Then a few years ago I became interested in Blade making and Bushcraft, where folk often dropped into conversation "...shaving sharp" or "...hair popping sharp" and that started me thinking about my technique again. There were methods being discussed that I hadn't heard about, the Hoodoo hone, the Starkie, amongst others. So I felt obliged to try a few of them out - and true enough, these methods were indeed able to give an edge sharp enough to shave hairs from my arm. I had been able to do it in the past but I needed to concentrate and take a huge amount of time.
I had toyed with some home-made guides to get a consistant angle to my sharpening technique but it all became a bit too fiddly, removing the enjoyment of sharpening it by hand.
I noticed the Spyderco Sharpmaker a couple of times and put myself off by looking at the price in the UK. I thought - "would the set, produce an edge that is £50 better than I can do by hand!" I "Ummed" and "Ahhed" for a few weeks then, as was inevitable, placed an order for one. It arrived last week, so you could say that I'm still getting used to it.
The package contains;-
the Sharpmaker itself, described as being able to fit in a shirt pocket - it would have to be a big pocket, but at about 8 x 3 x 1 inches, it is hardly a big lump to carry around.
an instruction book, showing the steps necessary to sharpen just about anything that has a blade.
and a DVD, describing how to use your new sharpening system - led by Sal Glesser, the founder of Spyderco.
In the introductory sequences of the DVD, he is shown chopping through a hand-held length of thick rope in one cut, and more intrigueing to me, sharpening a piece of paper like you would a pencil!
My first thoughts were that this was a set up, as surely you couldn't get an edge to do this sort of thing outside of Hollywood with their camers tricks and computer generated half truths.
Well I set about re-edging a few of my knives that I thought were pretty sharp anyway and on each occaision, I came up with an edge that could shave hairs off my arm, and with two knives where the blade does not even have to touch the skin to do it!
This system has the ability to sharpen plain or serrated knives as well as scissors, nail clippers and much more besides. It is small enough to be transportable with ease, but not so small that you might experience difficulty with a larger bladed tool. It has caused me to have a major rethink about my hand sharpening skills and has introduced me to a whole new world of properly sharpened blades. It is convenient to use and gives stunning results every time. If you can hold a blade straight up/down while you move is against the stones, you can use it too. To me, it was definately worth the money as it really does give an edge that is £50 sharper than I could get by other methods.
If you want to keep yout knives sharp, get a Spyderco Sharpmaker - you'll have to go a long way to beat it.
Ogri the trog
Ever since I can remember, I have been able to sharpen just about any blade, by eye or feel to produce an edge noticeably keener than a lot of people around me.
Then a few years ago I became interested in Blade making and Bushcraft, where folk often dropped into conversation "...shaving sharp" or "...hair popping sharp" and that started me thinking about my technique again. There were methods being discussed that I hadn't heard about, the Hoodoo hone, the Starkie, amongst others. So I felt obliged to try a few of them out - and true enough, these methods were indeed able to give an edge sharp enough to shave hairs from my arm. I had been able to do it in the past but I needed to concentrate and take a huge amount of time.
I had toyed with some home-made guides to get a consistant angle to my sharpening technique but it all became a bit too fiddly, removing the enjoyment of sharpening it by hand.
I noticed the Spyderco Sharpmaker a couple of times and put myself off by looking at the price in the UK. I thought - "would the set, produce an edge that is £50 better than I can do by hand!" I "Ummed" and "Ahhed" for a few weeks then, as was inevitable, placed an order for one. It arrived last week, so you could say that I'm still getting used to it.
The package contains;-
the Sharpmaker itself, described as being able to fit in a shirt pocket - it would have to be a big pocket, but at about 8 x 3 x 1 inches, it is hardly a big lump to carry around.
an instruction book, showing the steps necessary to sharpen just about anything that has a blade.
and a DVD, describing how to use your new sharpening system - led by Sal Glesser, the founder of Spyderco.
In the introductory sequences of the DVD, he is shown chopping through a hand-held length of thick rope in one cut, and more intrigueing to me, sharpening a piece of paper like you would a pencil!
My first thoughts were that this was a set up, as surely you couldn't get an edge to do this sort of thing outside of Hollywood with their camers tricks and computer generated half truths.
Well I set about re-edging a few of my knives that I thought were pretty sharp anyway and on each occaision, I came up with an edge that could shave hairs off my arm, and with two knives where the blade does not even have to touch the skin to do it!
This system has the ability to sharpen plain or serrated knives as well as scissors, nail clippers and much more besides. It is small enough to be transportable with ease, but not so small that you might experience difficulty with a larger bladed tool. It has caused me to have a major rethink about my hand sharpening skills and has introduced me to a whole new world of properly sharpened blades. It is convenient to use and gives stunning results every time. If you can hold a blade straight up/down while you move is against the stones, you can use it too. To me, it was definately worth the money as it really does give an edge that is £50 sharper than I could get by other methods.
If you want to keep yout knives sharp, get a Spyderco Sharpmaker - you'll have to go a long way to beat it.
Ogri the trog
as opposed to the £50ish plus postage in good old Blighty.
