CM154 Sharp and Wenger Sharpener

[Tapage]

Hello it's me again ( newbie ) with couple of more questions .. place this thread here, instead general discution .. coz it's not all about spyderco products ..

I have a couple of blades out form my swiss army, leatherman CX and others .. first time bought was a wenger shapener ..

http://www.swiss-army-knife-wenger.co.uk/wenger_swiss_knife_sharpener.jpg

I try it a couple of times but can't archive the desired results .. that drive to me at my next question ..

How much sharp I can expect from my leatherman .. ?

when it's sharp a edge . .?

Then .. it's the wenger a good sharpener option .. ?

After this experience .. and weeks of research on internet .. driveme to the Spyderco sharpener .. the product looks amazing and I do my sharp sesion as the DVD said. Nice but I feel my leatherman it-s not enought sharp ..

After readng a couple of old threads here .. end with the question ..

Are my sharpening skills, my leatherman CM154 or simple a combination of all .. .

thanks again for all comments ..

[cobrajoe]

In my experience, a quick sharpener like a pull through will never get the blades as sharp as a good freehand sharpening or a system like a sharpmaker.

My leatherman Skeletool would easily shave hair when it was new, now it just barely scrapes (though I tend to abuse this blade far more than I would a spydie blade).

I don't have one, but I've heard the sharpmaker takes a little practice to get used to. A little more practice will make for better results, and make sure to keep the angle of the blade very consistent. You should see nearly factory level of sharpness once you get good.

If you aren't sharpening the edge, it will take a very long time to sharpen a knife. One way to check where the stone is removing metal is to color the edge of the blade with a sharpie marker. After coloring the edge, try a few swipes on the stone of your choice, and then you can tell where the blade was contacting the stone by where the marker has been removed.

[bh49]

I think that most of "pull through"(the ones with pieces of carbide) just damage the edge and creating burr. After you use them on your knife, you can cut somehow until you break the burr and the knife is dull again. Some "pull through" has ceramic small rods instead of or in addition to carbide. This type is little better, but they will not make dull knife sharp because ceramic rods are fine grit.
Sharpmaker on other hand is a great tool. I use mine for three years and love it, the best $45 I ever spent. It comes with instructions and DVD. Easy to learn and you will make you SAK sharp right away. 154CM is much more wear resistant than steel on SAK, so it can take longer. Also if 154CM blade is really dull, it would be better to have diamond rods in addition to sharpmaker, you can sharpen even without diamond, but it can take a lot of time. I reprofiled my S30v Native on medium rod, but I wouldn't want to do it again.
good luck.

[Tapage]

My skelet it's fairly new .. about 3 months old .. just I feel haven't the same sharp as when was new ..

I got the idea that the wenger should be usefull to brute cheap kitchen knife .. and the spyderco for more refined blades ..

What about the Edgpro Apex .. ?

[mrappraisit]

The Sharpmaker takes a little while to master. I would watch the DVD a couple of times, or watch it right before you sharpen a few times in a row. You can always buy a cheap knife to practice on, like an Opinel. Like anything it just takes some practice to get better at it.:D

I've never tried an Edge Pro but they are supposed to be pretty good, just expensive.

[bh49]

No experience with EdgePro. I read that it is one of the best systems of this class. But like everything has it own pros and cons.
You can a lot of information regading EdgePro on BF, on Mainntenace subforum.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=794

[GoMeR]

I have had an edgepro for about a year now and love it, its well worth the money if you ask me. I have the apex, not the pro and I recommend it to everyone. Its very fast and you can polish an edge like you wouldn't believe if the steel will take it. If you keep track of the color angles for each knife it literally takes just a few strokes to bring an edge back.
That being said, its not without its drawbacks. Its very easy to scratch the faces of blades if the right precautions aren't taken. The scratches are pretty permanent and look terrible, especially on coated blades IMO. It also takes quite a bit of practice to be able to sharpen very odd or curvy shaped blades. Knives with heavy recurves or large bellies are somewhat difficult and take a lot of practice. Not to mention it is expensive, however it's well constructed and should last a very long time if taken care of.

[Water Bug]

I use a Spyderco Sharpmaker for all of my sharpening needs, and I've used it to sharpen knives from Spyderco, Buck, Boker, imperial, and Leatherman. Once you get the hang of it (and, yes, it does take some practice), the Sharpmaker works quite nicely. And as mentioned, if you buy a Sharpmaker, you should also invest in the Triangle Diamond Stones as well. They do come in handy.

[Tapage]

Thanks for all comments and thanks for the link on the maintance forum .. I would read it.

Thinking about the spydearco sharp maker, belive it's nice .. just I'm not sure what to expect with it .. and definately after one use .. I'm not the better in it use.

I will try it a couple of more times before I thought in Edge Apex again .. but in there, thought again that it's a better system than the spyderco, just coz it eliminate the human posible error in the position of the blade ..

About blade .. underestand that the best way to get the CM154 sharp are the diamonds rods .. ? so it would be a nice idea buy separately to add to my Spyderco sharpmaker ..

Which it's the skeletool edge angle .. ? 30 or 40 degrees .. ?

How much strokes ( ya I know .. it depends how much dull it's ) take normaly a good edge on to a CM154 blade .. ?

[bh49]

Thinking about the spydearco sharp maker, belive it's nice .. just I'm not sure what to expect with it .. and definately after one use .. I'm not the better in it use.

From sharpmaker you can expect to sharpen knives after you learn how to use it. Watch DVD couple time, try to repeat, what you saw and you should be able to sharpen you SAK. Remember, to use only light 2-3 lbs pressure and do it slow.
Also, this is not bad idea to read about sharpening and understand what are you doing. A lot of information available on the net, especially on various knife forums, a lot of videos on youtube.

http://users.ameritech.net/knives/ward.htm
http://www.knifeart.com/sharfaqbyjoe.html
http://users.ameritech.net/knives/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rYxHD3IzeY



I will try it a couple of more times before I thought in Edge Apex again .. but in there, thought again that it's a better system than the spyderco, just coz it eliminate the human posible error in the position of the blade ..


I cannot agree, that Edgepro is a better system and can eliminate human error.
Both systems have pros and cons and both are good.



About blade .. underestand that the best way to get the CM154 sharp are the diamonds rods .. ? so it would be a nice idea buy separately to add to my Spyderco sharpmaker ..


You need diamond rods or any other coarse stones or rods to remove material faster, if you need. In most cases when you need to reprofile or repair your edge. I have no problem to sharpen my S30V knife on medium rods.



Which it's the skeletool edge angle .. ? 30 or 40 degrees .. ?


30 degrees for primary bevel and 40 degrees for microbevel worked very well for me.



How much strokes ( ya I know .. it depends how much dull it's ) take normaly a good edge on to a CM154 blade .. ?

ya you know.., it depends.

Also do not hesitate to use search function on all forums. Most of these questions were asked many times and answers were found.
cutlerylover has many good sharpening videos on youtube
Good luck.

[Water Bug]

I will try it a couple of more times before I thought in Edge Apex again .. but in there, thought again that it's a better system than the spyderco, just coz it eliminate the human posible error in the position of the blade ..
If I may please say so, it takes many tries to get good with anything to include the Spyderco Sharpmaker. There have been days when I could not get a knife sharp, or at least the entire edge sharp, with the Sharpmaker. I would stop and try again the next day and eventually succeed. Having used the Sharpmaker many times for my sharpening needs, I am better now at using it than I was before. Also, if I find that I just can't get an edge using the brown Course Triangle Stones, I then get out the Diamond Triangle Stones and use them. That usually does the trick to get an edge started.


About blade .. underestand that the best way to get the CM154 sharp are the diamonds rods .. ? so it would be a nice idea buy separately to add to my Spyderco sharpmaker ..
Actually, in most cases, which stone you use may depend on how dull the edge is. For a VERY dull blade that hasn't been maintained periodically, you may need to start with the Diamond Triangle Stones. The brown Course Triangle Stones will work just fine for CM154, provided the edge isn't very dull. There are some steels that are harder than CM154 that may be difficult to sharpen unless you're using the Diamond Triangle Stones.


Which it's the skeletool edge angle .. ? 30 or 40 degrees .. ?
The finished, cutting edge angle on my Leatherman Skeletool is 40 degrees.


How much strokes ( ya I know .. it depends how much dull it's ) take normaly a good edge on to a CM154 blade .. ?
Depending on how dull the edge is, I typically go 10 strokes on each side with first the corner then the flat surface of the brown Course Triangle Stones, then 10 strokes each side with first the corner then the flat surface of the White Triangle Stones. If, say with the Course Stone, I don't get a good edge, I go 10 to 20 more strokes on each side then move on.

The Spyderco Sharpmaker makes sharpening a knife much easier and gives you better consistency in maintaining the edge angle, but it requires some practice, skill, and patience to make it all work

[Tapage]

Thanks all for comments ..

I got 2 clear ideas ..

1. Need to see the spyderco DVD a couple of times ( again ) and practice much more with the sharpener ..

2. The human error ( that make me think the Apex it's a better sharpener ) make the hole diferent .. to me or other else newb the human error it's the key and the Apex seems to work on it ..

The spyderco it's great stuff but keep the human error on it .. I'm pretty sure htat I'm keeping the blade just vertical .. on each stroke, but not sure how much pressure I'm putting on ir .. or if I'm doing the complete blade in each stroke ..