Peter1960 wrote:
If Spyderco will announce something new for this purpose in future, it has to be really good in use and price to convince me.
Agree... I have all those bases covered already with DMT Diafolds or Profiles...
If I was in the market for something, a triangle rod with 3 grits might get my attention, especially if it has at least one coarse diamond/CBN surface.
Hans Favourite Spydies: Military, PM2, Shaman, UKPK Others: Victorinox Pioneer, CRK L Sebenza 31, CRK L Inkosi
Cliff Stamp wrote:A CBN rod, carried in the plastic tube Spyderco ships them with is an excellent sharpening/grinding tool to carry. The only real issue is that it is very coarse. Imagine if that rod was actually three sided, coarse-medium-fine. Not only would that make it much more attractive for the Sharpmaker, it would make it very versatile for just carry/utility. For pocket carry they could just be cut in half and still work on the sharpmaker for smaller blades directly.
Hey CLIFF I know you've done a lot of looking into these new CBN rods and I'm wondering how hard or easy they are to clean>> because I'm with you concerning the Spyderco ceramic stones as much as I love their performance you've constantly got to keep them clean. I'm wondering if those CBN stones load up as bad or similar to the ceramic stones?
They are much more coarse and they have a much more open structure. I use them with water with Hon-Rite (an anti corrosion agent). They don't load significantly, nothing like the solid sintered ceramic stones.
Cliff Stamp wrote:They are much more coarse and they have a much more open structure. I use them with water with Hon-Rite (an anti corrosion agent). They don't load significantly, nothing like the solid sintered ceramic stones.
Hey that's got my attention in a good way>> so is it fair to say that they would be very much easier to clean and maintain in the field than the present Spyderco sintered ceramic stones? I think I already know the answer but I also am trying to determine if they would also be a better or just as good of choice as the diamond sharpening tools for field or survival scenerio sharpening chores?
Because I seem to remember in a previous thread that you didn't think that diamond stones give as good of a finished/polished/refined edge as many other types of stones can that we often discuss here on the forum. I mainly like diamond stones for one thing and that is rapid stock removal because I do think that there are a lot of types of stones that produce a better, more refined sharp edge than diamond stones are capable of producing. Personally I would never use a diamond stone for any of my woodworking tools other than removing a serious ding or nick on the surface of the cutting edge and I'm hoping that these CBN stones would also be a much better selection for overall field use.
I do love Spyderco's three grits of ceramic stones for many knife sharpening jobs but again "cleaning" and "maintaining" them is a real problem without having running water and commercial scrubbing powders to properly clean them with. It sounds to me like you could possibly use stiff nylon brushes to keep CBN stones clean enough for most field uses. Because even natural stones like novaculite ( ARkansas Stones) or coticules ( Belgium Razor Stones) need a good thorough cleaning often.
Whatup Joe?! Good to see ya bud. I've been away a while. I agree with ya brother! Good to see another 701 Profile user. :) I still use mine along with some DMT stones. :)
"I'm calling YOU ugly, I could push your face in some dough and make gorilla cookies." -Fred Sanford
David Lowry wrote:Whatup Joe?! Good to see ya bud. I've been away a while. I agree with ya brother! Good to see another 701 Profile user. :) I still use mine along with some DMT stones. :)
Greetings DAVID!! Long time, no hear from :) Always good to see one of the gang from the mid 2000s era :cool: Our good pal Dr. Hannibal Lecter M.D. just chimed in recently as well. I almost forgot that you were a disciple of the 701 Profiles>> I remember when you started using them. The 701 Profiles are truly a well kept secret of the Great Spyder Factory and they simply must come back into the main line up.
But I'm hoping that they do them in more grits like diamond and ultra-fine. And now that they have CBN rods ( cubic boron nitride) maybe it would be good to have some 701 Profiles in CBN as well.
The 701 Profiles truly are a very versatile tool. I've talked to a couple of guys here in the past 3 months that tell me that the 701 Profiles are the only sharpening tool they use. I do find that very interesting and it goes to show how versatile they are. Glad to see you back David :)
PWork wrote:Yes you can sharpen on a rock. Some rocks work better than others.
The bottom rim of a coffee mug will work in a pinch, as will the top edge of your car/truck window. A tablet back makes a decent strop.
Agreed. Some rocks work better than others. You can also use the sidewalk concrete in a pinch as well. But don't expect stellar results - this strategy will only fix severely deformed edges.
The car window edge is also a good trick - but is probably best viewed as more of a "steeling" operation rather than an abrasive/sharpening operation. The primary action of the glass is to push a deformed edge back into some semblance of straight. It won't get rid of chips or dings.
I wouldn't think a smooth enough rock would be easy to find unless you had some moving water nearby. I have done a lot of wilderness survival and have done a lot of interesting stuff like starting fire with a bow drill and building deadfall traps but I have never tried any primitive sharpening. I guess the edge junky in me has always had a hangup about letting my knives touch rocks. :eek: I have heard in the zombie/prepper world that the back of a toilet under the lid is a viable option but have never tried it. It sounds a lot like the coffee cup option. I suppose in the post apocalyptic world it could be an option but until civilization crumbles I will stick to sharpening stones.
Back to the topic of pocket sharpeners, I just ordered a DMT diamond credit card three pack so hopefully they will be good.
bearfacedkiller wrote:I have heard in the zombie/prepper world that the back of a toilet under the lid is a viable option but have never tried it. It sounds a lot like the coffee cup option. I suppose in the post apocalyptic world it could be an option but until civilization crumbles I will stick to sharpening stones.
Ha right? And even after it crumbles, why are you so much more likely to have a knife than a small sharpening stone/rod?
I can appreciate planning for every contingency, but if that's the case, why don't we also see people attempting to make knife-like objects out of sharpening stones?
PWork wrote:Yes you can sharpen on a rock. Some rocks work better than others.
The bottom rim of a coffee mug will work in a pinch, as will the top edge of your car/truck window. A tablet back makes a decent strop.
Agreed. Some rocks work better than others. You can also use the sidewalk concrete in a pinch as well. But don't expect stellar results - this strategy will only fix severely deformed
That's interesting you mention using rocks in your immediate geographical area for an emergency sharpening stone. I remember talking about using all different types of rocks to use for abrasive in a thread I started about a year ago dealing with "survial sharpening"
Now of course you people from Arkansas have some advantage with all of the novaculuite they have in that state natuarlly. I've also heard that obsidian which is a rock/mineral that is very similar to novaculite and I've heard it has nice polishing properties. A good friend of mine who is into flintknapping said that the Native Americans actually made arrowheads with obsidian and novaculite both as well as flint.
But back to portable manual hand sharpening tools>> of which Spyderco markets quite a few of them. But I still wish that they would offer more of them. Because It's my firm belief that if you don't learn how to sharpen the hard way you probably never will be proficient at even using gadgets like the 204 Sharpmaker. Razor Edge Systems out of Ely, Minnesota has angle guides for assisting you in using sharpening stones of all sizes.
Two other companies that do make manual small sharpening tools are "Lansky and Gatco">> I have some stuff from both of them and they both made decent tools as well.
