sharpener?

[Lt.Hawkins]

I'm getting my Native and a spydercard any day now (damn UPS ground! <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle>), and as all of you know, a dull knife is an unsafe (and useless) knife.



I'm not a knife expert, i'm not a knife fanatic, these will probably be my only two knives for a LONG time.



Whats a decent system to actually sharpen them? The native is a combo-edge, so a regular stone won't do... i suppose. the systems that spyderco sells seems to be a little on the steep side for a poor college student like me <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle>



or would it be better to have someone sharpen it every few months?

[gabo]

LT
I just bought a 204 sharpmaker and it cured my problem of getting a sharp edge on my 440v Native plain edge. I was having fits using ceramic sticks, diamond hone and a stone. tHE 204 is all you need. $45 at my brick and mortar shop.

[Mancer]

Yeah agreed, I got my 204 as my 1st spydie product (if not for it Id never have bought any spydies since I didnt even know of the company back then) but anyways, it isnt really good at removing alot of metal off of blades that are in really bad shape, but it worx superbly, its gr8 for the novice, with some practice (1 or 2 tries) and with the video the blades come out literally shaving sharp.
Its very well priced as well, a wonderful product, take my word on that, go 4 the 204

Seeya

MaNcEr

It's Time To Kick @$$ 'N Chew Bubble Gum

[The Stare]

Lt. Hawkins -- the world of sharpeners is a truly wide one. Ordinarily -- certainly on this forum -- but on most forums also, the Spyderco Sharpmaker Model 204 is easily the most frequently named sharpening system.

Hope you enjoy your Native as much as I enjoy mine. Fine knife!

If you're truly only going to buy 2 knives and quit there, then a system might be more than you need. Of course, you could be a gourmet cook with a jillion knives for the kitchen too.

What I'd like to suggest is that you hang around this forum, and maybe jaunt over to Blade Forums or Knife Forums, and see a much wider variety of subject matter. In the meantime, the Gatco Tri-Seps is a roughly 4&quot; long triangular ceramic stick for sharpening knives. (The 204 is essentially 4 longer ceramic rods, and a base to set them in, and carry them in.)

Lansky now has at least 3 models out to compete with Gatco's offering which won Gadget of the year last year -- maybe that's Accessory of the Year -- from Blade.

The shorter models rund under $10, and will do fine for keeping a decent edge on a knife. The Gatco model has a bunch of angles set on the rubber end piece on the TriSeps. This enables the user to put the angled end flat on a table, then hold the knife blade vertical, and then draw the blade down the stick, as if cutting a thin slice from the flat edge. Try to keep the number of drags across/down the stick to a rougly equal #. Ceramic sticks can be cleaned with cleanser and water.

Meanwhile, if you get stuck with teh addiction so many of us have, then you'll be having more knives, and need to do more sharpening -- at least theoretically. THen would be the time to move up to the Sharpmaker.

Stare