Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker Knife Sharpener 204MF
by Spyderco
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List Price: Our Price: $46.58 You Save: $43.37 (48%) Availability: Usually ships in 2-3 business days Category: Sports See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker Knife Sharpener 204MF
Customer Review: Simply works
Summary: 5 Stars
You need two things to succeed with this product. The ability to hold a knife vertically, and some patience. I'm puzzled by some of the negative reviews, but I think they may be due to blades that had a different bevel, so that the stones aren't actually working the edge.
Knives I've sharpened with this include an old Kamp-King folder that I salvaged and de-rusted. A cheap Chinese knockoff of a French Sabatier paring knife. My Henkel santoku, and a generic high-carbon asian cleaver, among others.
All got great edges - some took more work than others. The cleaver was a nine-dollar impulse buy at an asian market, and had clearly been hand-ground as the edge angle varied along the length of the blade. The Chinese Sabatier was also a bit of a pain - I worked and worked and worked and it wasn't getting any sharper. Again, the edge angle was the problem. I used magic marker on the edge, took a couple of passes on the Spyderco and looked with a magnifying glass - I wasn't even touching the edge - just the top of the bevel. In both cases, I borrowed a friends diamond stone that he uses for his wood tools and re-beveled the edges, then finished with the Spyderco.
Once you've got your bevels right, the Spyderco does a great job of sharpening. My wife specializes in knife abuse, and I was pretty sad about the state of some of my knives. Not any more. This tool really puts an edge back on, and I'm back to slicing instead of mashing in my kitchen. Yeah!
The only thing I might recommend is the set of diamond hones, but at the price (forty bucks or so) they're only worth it if you work with a lot of blades that need to be re-beveled - and there are cheaper diamond stones out there if you can hold the angle true. In general though, the diamond hones are kind of a once-per-blade investment - again, once the bevel is correct, the stones that come with this sharpener are all you need.
The hones require some care in handling - they're ceramic, so if you drop them on tile or concrete, you'll find that ceramic can be brittle.
This is a well-made product that should last a long time for the average home user, and compared to having the nice lady with her van full of sharpening tools come around, it's paid for itself already.
Customer Review: Sharpens the way you think a 'knife sharpener' should
Summary: 5 Stars
First off, let me say that I was a little skeptical of the performance of this set. Every review I read was near perfect, if not perfect. My mother has a $150 electric sharpener, and I didn't feel that a $45 sharpener could be that good...
I got it today. My coveted Wusthof blades were losing their edge, and suddenly they seemed less attractive. I am not a pro, nor have I spent a significant amount of time sharpening anything substancial. My knives are now sharper than when I purchased them. No kidding! I'm running around the house looking for things to sharpen.
From what I can tell, this is almost a perfect system (for what it does). It sharpens just about everything that doesn't have a blunt end or major nick/gouge. The thing I loved most was the control of the system (which you just don't get from electric sharpeners). You can put as sharp or as 'dull' an edge you'd like on your blade, depending on the task, and depending on what type of cutting tool it is. You can tell it works (as in any other sharpening activity) because there is less frictional noise and resistance as you increase the amount of sharpening strokes.
The dvd and manual make learning the whole process really easy if you aren't already in the know... My mother's $150 electric sharpener never put an edge on my knives or her knives like the one I have now. In fact, I'm confident that if you were to give me a blind test (a pepsi challenge, if you will) between two knives with my mom's sharpener and the spyderco, I would bet anyone that I could pick the spyderco every single time.
The stones appear to be very high quality, and seem to be extremely hard. I don't foresee needing new stones for quite a while, but even if I did, I can buy them separately. I'm cutting my vegetables, and almost forgot how dull most people, including myself allow their allow their knives to get before sharpening them, having them sharpened, or throwing them away. I wish knives really never did lose their edge (like in those cheesy knife cutting can infomercials)... but the reality is, unless you like throwing away money, you're gonna have to sharpen them sooner or later. Buy this sharpener. Buy this sharpener... do yourself a favor.... buy this sharpener.
Customer Review: New version vs original version
Summary: 5 Stars
OK first let me say I currently now own both, the original spyderco tri- sharpener from over 22 years ago. "And it still works great"!
And now I own the updated version. The reason I bought the new version was because I needed a new "fine" ceramic rod for my older version.
And after researching and happily finding replacement rods on amazon. I noticed the newer version, and just had to have it!
So I purchased a new "fine" rod for my early version, and the new complete model at the same time. The reason I am writing this review, is because I noticed
someone wrote a review indicating that the quality is no longer there. First let me address the new "fine" rod replacement. This is a easy comparison since I still own
(1) original rod. I do not see, feel, or notice any discernible difference between them. I sharpened a very high quality "Benchmade" pocket knife with the blade made of S30V
steel. Both rods seemed to be equal in there material removal. So it appears the ceramic is of the same quality. Second, the new tri-Angle Sharpmaker. Since the rods appear to
be of the same quality, the function is no different than older model. But the one advantage I did notice is the 2 options of either a 30 or a 40 degree angle sharpening options.
This can be very useful if you sharpen many different types of blades. Next, the material the new holder is made of seems to be of a very good quality plastic. The older versions
base was made of a strong fiber resin material that looks and feels even stronger, and of a higher quality than the new. But the design of the new case/base is very well thought out,
and not only functions very well. It also holds all the contents in a very secure, and snug fashion. This is a good thing since the ceramic rods can be very brittle.
I am not going to write a review on how well the sharpener works. Because, anybody who has ever learned to use it, knows it is one of the easiest and best performing sharpener on
the market today. Conclusion; The new model is even better than the older version because of the storage, two sharpening angle options, and it also comes with (2) additional
"medium" ceramic rods! "You had to buy those separate with the older version."
Dennis
Customer Review: Works excellent with patience, practice, and technique
Summary: 5 Stars
Dear prospective buyers,
I've read all of the negative reviews on this product, as well as many positive, and have come to the conclusion (with the additional experience of my own use) that if this isn't working for you the error is the your own.
I've been able to get shave sharp edges on every blade I've passed on this sharpener and have had no similar results from any other sharpening device. Please be aware, however, that I have spent innumerable passes on some knives that do not have an edge close to 40 degrees, have thick blades, and are composed of hard steel (Chris Reeve Mark VI in particular, A2 tool steel at 55-57 rockwell hardness). Your results will definitely differ based on these factors, your technique, and tenacity. If you have a friend with a grinder and a steady hand, you can have him/her back bevel the blade to around 30 degrees, which will make the initial 40 degree edge setting process much easier. Basically, as long as the back bevel is less than 40, honing in the edge will be a snap.
If you keep the stones cleansed of steel it will help immensely. This may require frequent Ajax scrub downs, but it's worth the extra effort in the end. I must admit that the coarse stones are beginning to wear on the triangle points of my sharpener, but I've had the thing for at least 3 years and use it all the time. My guess with unsuccsessful users is that they don't stick with the coarse stone long enough to get the edge to 40 degrees.
Some additional advice: do not go past the tip of the blade when using the triangle point of the stones. It rounds the point and (because I made this mistake I know) makes reshaping the point very time consuming and difficult. Do all of your tip work with the flat sides of the stones and do not let the knife slide off - keep the point of the blade on the flat part of the stone all the way through your stroke. This may take a little more time than the rest of the edge because the flat side does not remove as much metal, but much less than bringing a point back if you neglect the technique.
I do not believe you will find a better sharpener. Get it!
Cheers,
JK
Customer Review: Simply Amazing!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Before we start, I have to say that I'm a fairly mechanically inclined person and I can figure out how a lot of things work without instructions. I'm a finish construction worker. That said, I've never been able to properly sharpen a knife to save my life!!
I've had this sharpener for about 6 months now. I've read at least 100 reviews about it, even before I bought it. I'm sure they're all accurate, but what you need to observe is the amount of positive over negative. Certainly, since this is a manual sharpener, there will be a few people who are not able to make this work. The overwhelming majority, however, will.
After reading so many reviews, I decided to purchase the diamond and extra fine stones initially. I will say that in all honesty, this system is not complete without them. If you truly want the whole gamut, you must purchase these as well.
When I bought this sharpener I had knives that spanned from butter knife dull to pretty sharp. One of those knives was my first knife ever, a Buck knife my Dad gave me when I was 12 and that was 24 years ago. Just so you know, I've always been the person who could sharpen a semi sharp knife into butter knife quality. That buck knife is now twice as sharp as the day I received it! Really. I can now do a one pass shave with it.
If you own kitchen knives like Henckles or Wusthof then you are fool for not keeping them scary sharp. This sharpener costs less than one chef knife and it will keep it scary sharp forever. I do about 50 (25 per side) strokes on the corner and flat side of the fine and extra fine about once a month (Henckles) and it slices onions with no sting. For the un-initiated, the reason onions sting your eyes is because the dullness of the blade crushes instead of cutting. A truly sharp knife reduces the tears.
The best advice I can give is to just buy from a reputable seller and return it if you think it sucks. Spyderco has an awesome reputation and if it really sucks for you, they do have excellent customer service.
Trust in the many who have tried and declared true!