Mini Griptilian + Sharpmaker help

hey guys, I have a spydie sharpmaker and I need some advice on how to sharpen my mini grip. I've been using the 20º angle to touch of the blade but ater some reading around I've read that 15º might have been a better idea, then I learned that some people are using BOTH angles.



whats the best method for this knife? it's my favorite edc and i really don't want to ruin it!

Im not an expert in sharpening but i think i can help you:

Grippys iirc use a 15º+15º angle (in the sharpmaker you should use the 30º slots like it recommends)

if you use the 40º slots you will be REPROFILING the blade, but with the stones the std sharpmaker provides it will take you a couple hundred thousand strokes.

the sharpmaker is very good for blades that need a little maintenance, but not if you are going to change the angle of your edge, if you want to confirm, paint the edge (just the edge, not the entire blade) with a permanent marker and then sharpen.

what you mention about using both angles is a microbevel, and its advantage is only that its easier to maintain (next time you sharpen should take you a little less time), but that will take an extremely long to make with the sharpmaker.

However, i have a Benchmade Rant that is supposed to come at 30º inclusive, but the blade suited the 40º slots in the sharpmaker better...

my advice: use permanent marker method and see if you are only removing the shoulders or if you are sharpening the whole edge, according to that take the angle that sharpens the whole edge, and then sharpen the recommended way, dont put much force, just use the weight of the knife; but the most important part: be consistent on the angle, try to keep the knife steady and dont roll the tip.

hope this helps.

* the difference in a 30º angle and a 40º one is the strenght of the edge, a 40º inclusive edge will be stronger but a 30º inclusive one will slice better, if you have been using a 30º all this time and the knife has held up great then there is no need to change that, in fact if you change to a more obtuse angle and will use more force to slice, you will have less edge retention and will need to sharpen more often.

**edit: added info on how the blades sometimes come out the factory with a different edge angle.

Benchmades typically have a fairly obtuse edge (usually done for strength), so you were right to sharpen it at the 20-degree side. Ignore the 15-degree side for this knife and just sharpen at 20-degree. I sharpen some of my favorite knives on the 20-degree side and they get sharp!!!

Don't worry about ruining the knife by sharpening it by hand (or with Sharpmaker). Benchmade's LifeSharp service will bring the edge back to factory condition, regardless of how good or poor of a sharpening job you do.

manoloco's advice with the permanent marker is an excellent tip, and a good one to remember for future reference.

Carrot thanks for the info on the BMs, i only have one BM (Rant 515) and it came with a 20° on one side and 15° on the other, thing is the BM rep i contacted told me the blade should be 15°+15°, in the end i did 40° inclusive, because it was going to be an easier job (i only have a sharpmaker).

You confirm what i have found on the net, BM is not consistant on their edge angles (they always recommend by mail 15°-17° each side for their blades, but they come closer to 20° like you said)

Like you said, 40° is still a very sharp edge, i can shave with relative ease with the Rant, slices paper easy

i even use 40° on my folders (Delica 4, CLB Trance) and the Trance slices easier than the Rant because of the thinner blade, and even splits hair.

I strongly suggest you get the diamond coated rods. They will make reprofiling much faster. I reprofile all my blades at 15 + 15 using the permanent marker trick, moving through the medium and fine rods, and finishing with a few strokes per side on the 20 + 20 angle setting. I would also strongly suggest that you never use the edges of the rods, only the flats, even though Spyderco recommends it. It has a tendency to round off the point of the blade.