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VisualKeiKei t1_j1rcwvp wrote

Spyderco Sharpmaker is simple with ceramic stones. I use those to touch up knives and the ceramic doesn't have problems with stupidly hard Japanese steels or exotics like ZDP-189. Clean the sticks with Barkeeper's Friend. Ive not seen any wear yet and there are rougher and finer grits available (but it compromises the compact nature of the set). I use King or natural water stones for anything that needs a super keen edge or requires heavy work (working out a chip or nick).

If you need more angle selections, you can 3D print blocks that contain numerous angles increments.

The clampy stuff like Lansky or Edge Pro are just too fussy for me.

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BlackEyedAngel01 OP t1_j1rf4a2 wrote

Thanks! Helpful insight, I have a lot to learn.

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VisualKeiKei t1_j1ru6ut wrote

If you've got a decade of wear on them, one of those clampy systems might be good to re-establish a baseline, symmetrical bevel on either side that you can then maintain with more frequent touch-ups. It depends on your level of patience since they do take some time to set up and figure out the mechanisms (if you set it wrong, your angle at the tip can be much more acute than the belly.) I mentioned waterstones and those can be a rabbit hole, but also a fun zen thing you like that kind of thing. Hard arkansas stones are also a thing but they remove material very slowly so it requires a lot of skill to freehand sharpen with them.

I'd definitely recommend avoiding any powered grinding system as they remove grotesque quantities of material from the blade, and do not recommend any type of pull-through vee notch systems because they also scrape off a lot of met

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