Spyderco progression

[Thomas Martin]

Zeroed the edge of my 6/8 Hart on glass and did a bevel set on the Spyderco medium, one layer of tape (because Hart says so) and it took me about 30 laps until I could easily shave my arm's hair. Then I moved over to the fine. About 50 laps and I got already a good HHT 3-4. Then the ultra fine. This took me a little longer (about 100 laps, it's a very slow stone) but the end result was a solid 4-5 root in root out along the entire edge bevore stropping. The shave was awesome. The edge is insanely sharp without being harsh. These are fantastic hones that do not cost too much, are easy to maintain (no lapping needed, can even be washed in the dishwasher) have just about the perfect dimensions and weight (can easily be held in your hand to hone) and don't need water and always get me good results. I think they'd deserve much more praise here.

 

[Blorkin]

Thank you very much for posting this. I have all 3 as well (use for regular knives), its good to know someone has a progression that works with them. For putting them in the dishwasher, just top rack? Is there anything special, like colder temp?

 

[rickboone1]

I've never understood dulling on glass. Just creates more work, but hey...
What's the price on these run? Very cool you got a great shave.

 

[Blorkin]

Together $140

Medium: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012QUE7U/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Fine: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Q99RVI/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Ultra: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MDB4C8/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They are great for kitchen knives!!

 

[Thomas Martin]

I've never understood dulling on glass. Just creates more work, but hey...
What's the price on these run? Very cool you got a great shave.

The dulling allows you to make sure that the bevel is right. Let's assume you have a razor that is not completely dull but needs a rehoning and you don't know if the edge is rounded or if it was previously honed with tape. You'll never know if your honing actually reaches the apex of your edge or if you'r just honing the sides of your bevel. The only way is to dull the edge and hone until it shaves your arm's hair. Then you'll know that you got the bevel right. That's the foundation of every honing.

 

[Thomas Martin]

Thank you very much for posting this. I have all 3 as well (use for regular knives), its good to know someone has a progression that works with them. For putting them in the dishwasher, just top rack? Is there anything special, like colder temp?

Don't know. Never did this. I just clean them with soap and warm water. This is important to remove any steel residues.

 

[PapaFish]

I have the 306UF (the 8"x3" Ultra Fine). I think it's too bad that Spyderco doesn't make a full 8"x3" progression. I have gotten great edges off my UF, and for the price, I would say it was a great deal.

As for bottom rack safe... The Spyderco Fine and Ultra Fine are made of compressed, sintered Aluminum Oxide abrasive, making it a ceramic. This is much the same as the Kyocera ceramic knives, or the ceramic tiles that protected the Space Shuttle on reentry into the upper atmosphere. Granted, the Space Shuttle tiles were made from fine strands of Aluminum Oxide, not a more spherical abrasive, but I would think the principals would hold, kind of like how I can put my ceramic dishes in the oven, microwave, bottom rack of the dishwasher, etc. With that said, I have never tried it, and just plan to continue using some soap and my fingers to do the cleaning. Don't use a metal cleaning pad, but plastic/nylon are ok. I have heard that erasers (yes, pencil erasers) work well, and I have heard the magic erasers also work well. I haven't tried any of those either, but thought I would throw them out there.

 

[Brooksie967]

Everything I've read about the spyderco stuff is that they aren't really suited for razors. Something about the fired ceramic not letting to of cutting media and therefor being slow and useless. Lapping them apparently dulls DMT's?

 

[PapaFish]

Not suited for razors? That's a new one. They are slow, but that doesn't make them unsuited. You should never need to flatten the thing, ever. Use it for a billion razors? Well, maybe then... maybe not.

I have heard of people using diamond sprays with them to speed things up, making a synthetic slurry. It is supposed to give a very nice edge quite quickly. AND after using diamond on the surface for a while (I have no idea how long) the surface is supposed to get more and more refined, and the finishing qualities get better and better. I have wanted to get some ~1 micron Diamond, CBN, or Aluminum Oxide to test it out, but haven't done so yet.

Yes, they are HARD (Mohs 9). Diamond is harder (Mohs 10), but DMTs are fused diamond, meaning they can pop out. I attempted to lap mine with wet/dry sandpaper. It took forever (over 40 hours), but I eventually did manage to get the high spot worn down. It didn't really improve things, so I would say it wasn't worth my time.

 

[Puerco]

How are you using these? Dry or with water?

 

[Thomas Martin]

Dry. What's that nonsense of them not being suited for razors? Why? Because they're slow? Makes no sense. If they're slow all the better to give that final level of keeness a razor needs. BTW: the medium is a pretty fast stone. Like I've said above. It reset the bevel of my Hart in no time. Also I read somewhere that Tim Zowada uses them too. Not suited for razors? you bet...

 

[Brooksie967]

Dry. What's that nonsense of them not being suited for razors? Why? Because they're slow? Makes no sense. If they're slow all the better to give that final level of keeness a razor needs. BTW: the medium is a pretty fast stone. Like I've said above. It reset the bevel of my Hart in no time. Also I read somewhere that Tim Zowada uses them too. Not suited for razors? you bet...

I've never used them so it's just from what I've read. Perhaps they just don't stack up to the competition.

 

[rickboone1]

Makes no sense to dull a razor. All that ensures is a dull razor. If the bevel is uneven it's typically due to wear and/ or warping. A piece of glass won't fix that. The hones will. Tape/ no tape. Blah. malarkey. It doesn't matter. That makes no geometrical sense. If tape was used....ahhh nevermind.

Rock on. Do that which you feel is right.

It is cool to hear about the spyderco stones.

 

[PapaFish]

I actually glassed an edge just a couple weeks ago. It was my first time. The reason I had to resort to glassing was because I had established the bevel with a cheap harbor freight diamond hone that wasn't flat, so when I took it to a flat stone, I couldn't tell when I was hitting the edge. I suppose I could have used sharpie, but I wanted to try something new. I still haven't finished that razor, it has one monsterous bevel .

 

[Alum of Potash]

There was a chef here on the forum a while back who swore by the Spydercos. Always wanted to try them as they can be used dry. To clean them, I believe the recommendation is to use a mild cleanser like Bon Ami and a sponge or scouring pad. Do not lap them. In theory, the range is limited, the latter end of bevel-setting to the beginning of finishing. More or less the same holds true for the Arkansas line, which is what I've used instead.

 

[jpcwon]

I have a Spyderco Sharp Maker for use with my knives, and it says right in the manual that you can lay the 2 rods side by side and hone a straight razor with them. I have never tried it, but I guess it's possible....Are the hones you guys are talking about made of the same kind of material as the Sharp maker rods are I wonder?

 

[Thomas Martin]

Yes, it's the same stuff (I have them both). The sharpmaker dos not have the UF though.

 

[Blorkin]

So I have been trying/practicing honing on a razor I ordered off ebay. Its a cheap, stainless steel blade; no brand. It came to me with no edge whatsoever. I have been trying to set a bevel on the medium but it is taking forever (at least 100 passes). After a while I went up to the fine, made very little progress (failed a HHT). So I decided to go back to the medium; I thought maybe the bevel was not set correctly or that I just suck at this. I guess currently the blade might be able to cut through butter. Any advice on how I can fix this problem?


If it is not too much trouble could you post a video of yourself honing with the spyderco hone progression. It might also help show everyone that you can hone with the sypderco's.

 

[Thomas Martin]

Let me assure you. The Spyderco medium will do the job. You'll probably just have to put more time and muscle in it. The medium is a pretty agressive hone for something labelled "medium" and I'm sure you can set any bevel with it. These hones have no grit rating, but based on my personal experience, the medium will be around a 1000 grit. That is still pretty fine for heavy duty work. Some people use 600 grit stones or even coarser ones for serious bevel setting work but with a 1K you will eventually get there. Just as an example: I honed once a bread knived MK32 (notoriusly hard swedish stell) on a 1000 grit Naniwa stone. It took me around an hour to set that bevel even with brute force. I did not count the laps but it was sure as hell much more than a 100. Just make sure that you don't move to the fine unless you can easily shave your arm's hair. That may take 100 laps, 300, 500...

A video of me honing will not help you much. It's a completely regular honing process. I use x-strokes but halfstrokes, circles or whatever you feel like doing will just be fine (just make sure you do the same thing on both sides for an even bevel).

For all about bevel setting read this : http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/154799-The-Key

 

[Brooksie967]

Let me assure you. The Spyderco medium will do the job. You'll probably just have to put more time and muscle in it. The medium is a pretty agressive hone for something labelled "medium" and I'm sure you can set any bevel with it. These hones have no grit rating, but based on my personal experience, the medium will be around a 1000 grit. That is still pretty fine for heavy duty work. Some people use 600 grit stones or even coarser ones for serious bevel setting work but with a 1K you will eventually get there. Just as an example: I honed once a bread knived MK32 (notoriusly hard swedish stell) on a 1000 grit Naniwa stone. It took me around an hour to set that bevel even with brute force. I did not count the laps but it was sure as hell much more than a 100. Just make sure that you don't move to the fine unless you can easily shave your arm's hair. That may take 100 laps, 300, 500...

A video of me honing will not help you much. It's a completely regular honing process. I use x-strokes but halfstrokes, circles or whatever you feel like doing will just be fine (just make sure you do the same thing on both sides for an even bevel).

For all about bevel setting read this : http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/154799-The-Key

They sound so suited for razors?