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Last Updated: July 13, 2019
I occasionally get questions from readers about sharpening: what my “system” is, what products I recommend for sharpening, how I sharpen my knives, etc.
While I wouldn’t call myself a knife sharpening professional, I can certainly keep a blade sharp, and I have tried a number of different sharpening kits over the years.
Buy the Spyderco Sharpmaker at BladeHQ
Whenever I hand out recommendations for a sharpener, I always come back to the Spyderco Sharpmaker. It may not be the sexiest system, but it works. Some might be surprised to learn that before Spyderco sold knives, they sold knife sharpeners. The Sharpmaker is actually the first product Spyderco ever produced.
I’m not sure what these sold for back in the day, but today the Sharpmaker can be had for around $50. For $50 you really can’t beat it. It allows you to go from knowing nothing about sharpening knives to getting hair shaving, paper slicing edges in minutes. It almost sounds too good to be true, but I have experienced it first hand when I bought the Sharpmaker years ago. It was one of the first sharpening products I purchased, and I still have and use it to this day.
What You Get
The Sharpmaker is a very simple tool. Once you pry it free of its blister pack you are left with 4 ceramic sharpening rods (2 fine and 2 coarse), 2 brass guide rods, and a 2 part plastic base / case. I believe it also includes written instructions and a DVD, although these days everything is available online. All the components are well made and sturdy. I like how the entire package tucks into itself and forms its own little case. Very cool and easy to store.
Use
Using the Sharpmaker is pretty simple. If you can hold a knife perpendicular to the floor, then you can use the Sharpmaker. Basically, you put the base on a sturdy flat surface, put the rods into the base, hold your knife perpendicular to the floor, and run the edge of the knife up and down the rods. That’s all there is to it.
Once you get the basics down, you can play around with the nuances of the Sharpmaker. The rods come in 2 grits and you can place them in 2 settings: a 40 degree setting (20 degrees per side), which Spyderco advises for normal sharpening, and a 30 degree back bevel setting, which you can use to “relieve” the shoulders of the edge and make the edge a little more durable. You also don’t want to forget the brass guide rods. I’m sure general counsel for Spyderco wants me to mention that.
The rods themselves are ceramic. 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. Ceramic is porous and you will see the rods fill up with tiny metal shavings. Once they fill up they must be cleaned out or the rods won’t work as efficiently. The good news is that the rods are triangular so you can rotate them around and get plenty of use in between cleanings. The other nice thing about triangular rods is that you can even sharpen recurved edges if you use the corners of the stones.
Generally I have been pretty happy with these ceramic stones. The only thing I noticed is that over time they seem to have developed little bumps or chips. Apparently they don’t do anything to mess up your edge, but I find it a little unnerving when I use the system and the blade catches one of the bumps.
If you want to get really fancy you can order diamond and ultra fine rods for the Sharpmaker. The diamond rods are used to re-profile and aggressively remove steel. These diamond rods are good if you are trying to remove a chip or fix a really crummy edge, or maybe if you are working with a very difficult steel. The ultra fine rods can refine your edges even further for an even sharper knife. Personally, if the knife can cleanly cut paper and shave the hair off my arm, that’s as sharp as I need it. I can usually get that level of sharpness with just the regular stones that come with the Sharpmaker.
In addition to using the stones in the jigs, you can also use them as bench stones, and apparently you can use them to sharpen scissors. I free hand sharpen with the Sharpmaker stones all the time. I just hold the rod in one hand and sharpen with the other. That is the nice thing about the Sharpmaker system, you can use the guides to get a feel for how to sharpen, and then use it to learn how to freehand sharpen.
Spyderco Sharpmaker Review – Final Thoughts
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. It was one piece of equipment I purchased early on in my knife collecting career that I still use to this day. The system is near fool proof, the components are all high quality, and the price is right. For $50 you really can’t go wrong.
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.
In closing I cannot recommend the Sharpmaker more highly. It’s a versatile no-nonsense sharpening system that almost anyone can learn how to use.
- Complete Sharpening System - Includes medium and fine grit ceramic stones for both edge maintenance and precision sharpening of knives and tools.
- Versatile Performance - Perfect for sharpening knives, awls, scissors, and and many other tools, making it an all-in-one solution for your sharpening needs.
- Effortless Sharpening - The Tri-Angle Sharpmaker makes sharpening easy, removing steel at the edge while maintaining consistent angles for precise results every time.
- Two Grit Options - Comes with medium-grit (brown) ceramic stones for aggressive sharpening and fine-grit (white) stones for a professional-grade, polished finish.
- Safe & Compact Design - Includes aluminum safety rods to protect your hands during use, and all components snap into the durable ABS plastic base for convenient storage. Complete with an instructional book and DVD for guided sharpening.
I recommend purchasing the Sharpmaker at Amazon or BladeHQ. Please consider that purchasing anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.
I couldn’t agree more, so simple to set up and use, I love mine. Easy to get your blades back to factory sharp ( or better )in minutes. Just remember to give those rods a quick scrub with Comet before putting your kit away!
Thanks, Darren! I realize I am probably preaching to the choir on this one. Those who have spent any amount of time in the knife collecting hobby likely have some positive experiences with the Sharpmaker. Figure I might was well help spread the word. Take care.
Dan
You are right in your comments on the Sharpmaker. However the only drawback to the system for a more experienced person is the speed in which results are achieved. It is NOT a quick system for a dull knife edge that needs to be restored or reprofiled. If you need to touch up & hone your edges it’s a great product.
Very good point, Chris. I agree that is probably its greatest deficiency. If you have a very dull edge and don’t have the diamond rods you will be working with the Sharpmaker for a long time. Thanks for taking the time out to leave a comment, I think it adds something to the review.
Dan
My husband has used crock sticks for years but we moved and they are lost in the boxes somewhere. So I went online and googled “crock sticks” and came across your review —- very interesting. I ended up ordering 2 sets of the “old fashioned” sets with the wooden box. I also ordered 2 “Rusty’s Rags” to go with them. But thanks for the mention of the Spyderco because I plan on buying 3 sets of those for my guys for Christmas. Your page is bookmarked so I can refer to it in the future.
I agree, it’s a great system for the money. I would highly recommend the diamond stones though. I find that the stock medium stones just don’t cut it. (Pun intended) I have a coarse dia stone that I use to reprofile by laying it flat against the stones- an option that works for less money than the diamond rods.
Won,
Good point. If I didn’t have a DMT Aligner kit (a set of diamond stones) I would have probably picked up some diamond rods for the sharpmaker. Sometimes you need a more aggressive stone for harder steels, re-profiling, etc.
Dan
Dan, thanks for putting in the time and effort in your Sharpmaker review along with numerous knife reviews. 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!
Thank you, Darren! I really appreciate the kind words. The site is a labor of love and I have really enjoyed working on it and meeting people through it.
Best,
Dan
Unsurprisingly, I totally agree. Within a wide range of ordinary knife edge restoration tasks, the Sharpmaker works great.
It will not do reprofiling at all well with the stock stones. (Haven’t tried the diamonds yet.) 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.
That said, all of my ZDP-189 and S30V knives have come adequately acute, so I’ve had no trouble keeping them up with the Sharpmaker. After normal wear, I actually prefer touching up ZDP blades over S30V. A slow but sure task. I speculate it’s because ZDP is vanadium-free, so it may have a finer grain structure than S30V.
With steels in the middle tier — AUS-8, 14C28N, 8Cr13MoV — the Sharpmaker really makes life easy.
Quick touchups with the white (fine) stones and a bit of stropping will keep your edge eager through weeks of normal use.
Thanks, R.D. Your insights are spot on. This system (at least with the stock stones) is not good for re-profiling and I agree that sharpening S30V can be kind of a pain in the ass on it. Still, if you are using it for touchups and on milder steels it’s tough to beat the Sharpmaker.
Dan
I’ve used the Sharpmaker system since it first came out. One thing I’ve learned is that using the corners of the stones can cause blade tips to round off if you are not careful. Applying pressure can cause the tip to rub against the flats as it slides off of the corners. For myself, I no longer use the corners at all, except for serrations.
Hi Kyle,
Good point. That is true – you have to be careful to pull the tip off the stone without rounding it. I’m guilty of that myself sometimes. Thanks for the good tip.
Dan
Guys I recently came across a YouTube video from crocket20 ( Spyderco Sharpmaker improvements part 2) which I felt was extremely helpful , I actually tried his advice on two handed sharpening- INCREDIBLE difference! Going slow and hitting the sweet spot on the rods really works out well, try it!
Thank you, Darren. Crocket20 knows his stuff so I am sure it’s well worth a watch.
Dan
I love my sharpmaker, but am I the only one who never seems to get knives with < 40deg edges from the factory? 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. I really, really stink at re-profiling (and I have tried about every method there is). I really wish companies were more careful about this (I was particularly surprised at the obtuse edges on my df2 and my techno).
Interesting, Ameer. I mostly free hand with the little ceramic rods these days, so I don’t notice this as much, but uneven edges are common on factory knives. I might suggest some diamond rods if you don’t want to spend all day with the brown stones.
Dan
Dan, two questions if I may; what are the little ceramic rods you refer to? And somewhat of a newbie I realize I’m mostly hitting the apex on the knives I sharpen with the Spyderco, is this a problem or is there a need to re profile the entire edge with diamond rods at some point?
Thanks
Darren,
I am referring to the ceramic rods the kit comes with. Usually the white ones.
I don’t think hitting the apex of the edge is a problem. It will gradually balance out.
Dan
Thanks for the info Dan!
Hi Dan,
Do you happen to know how well will the ceramic rods work with VG10 steel?
Hi Tommy,
They will work very well with VG-10. I use them on my Dragonfly II in VG-10 all the time.
Dan
Dan,
I consider you the best knife reviewer on the internet today. This review was especially useful. Do more sharpening system reviews, like the Wicked Edge.
Your bro,
Hey Adam,
Thanks for the kind words – making me blush over here. I appreciate the feedback on the sharpener review. I have been thinking about doing more sharpener reviews. I know the Wicked Edge is considered the gold standard. It’s pricey, but I’m not opposed to checking it out.
Dan
Dan,
Update know this is old, but what about combo blades with serrations? Any recommendations for those?
Daniel,
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. I think the Sharpmaker is the best system I found for serrated knives, including partially serrated knives.
The success you have with it will depend somewhat on the style of serrations. Typically the wider the serrations the easier it is to use on the Sharpmaker (and I think that will hold true for basically any method of sharpening serrations). Also, you have to decide whether you want to sharpen both the back and front of the serrations. I have a couple fully serrated kitchen knives that I sharpened both sides of, and it works really well.
Dan
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
Mark, That is a glowing endorsement if I have ever read one! 30 years – that is pretty nuts! I have had mine for at least 5 or 6 years now and still use it regularly. It’s a tremendous sharpening system.
Dan
Have been using a Spyderco 204 since the first one i bought decades ago (Nothing fancy, just plastic packaging that has now fallen apart) turned my dad who swore by a whetstone, brother in law who had a Lansky, friends who couldn’t believe in a shaving edge in several minutes. It is bar none the best system i have ever had.