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Reviews > Knives > Sharpeners > Spyderco Triangle Sharpmaker > Coy Starnes > Field ReportSpyderco
Triangle Sharpmaker (set204MF)
Field Report April 28, 2005  BuckLite, Gerber Gator, OT Mustang and Buck Personal
Tester Bio I live outside a small town in northeast Alabama. I enjoy hunting, fishing, canoeing and most other outdoor activities. Backpacking is my favorite pastime. I enjoy hiking with my friends and family or solo. I hike throughout the year and actually hike the least in the hot humid months of summer. My style is slow and steady and my gear is light. However, I will sacrifice weight for comfort and durability. A typical 3 season load for me is around 20 lb (9 kg) not counting food or water. I usually sleep in a hammock and cook with an alcohol stove. My backpacking trips are usually 2, 3 or 4 days in length. Product Information
Product Description Most sharpeners are basically tools that use a material harder than the steel in the blade being sharpened. Generally, sharpness is achieved by removing any steel that does not smoothly end at the blade edge in a sharp manner. The Spyderco Triangle Sharpmaker consists of two sets of high alumina ceramic rods and a plastic base which is also the storage container when the top is put on. The two brown rods are a medium grit while the two white stones are a fine grit. The base is made of high impact ABS plastic and has holes in it to accept the sharpening rods and the provided safety rods (brass rods to keep the blade away from the hand holding the base steady). As the name of the product suggest, the rods are triangular in shape. Two of these surfaces are completely flat but one side, while flat, has a grove in the center for sharpening pointy objects like fishhooks or darts. However, each rod utilizes six sharpening surfaces, the three flat surfaces and the three corners. The sharpening rods are placed in the base in either the 40 degree side or the 30 degree side. By keeping the knife blade in a vertical position as I pull the knife down and toward me, the sharpener does its job. I must first choose which surface (flat sides or corners) I will use depending on how far into the sharpening process I have gone or in the case of a serrated blade, use the corners which will sharpen them. This is called a stage. The directions give the recommended blade angle to choose, depending on the desired sharpness and/or the abuse the blade may encounter and how many strokes are needed in each stage of sharpening. Most plain (none serrated) blades will be sharpened using the corners of the brown rods first for approximately 20 strokes (40 actually as I must do this on each side of the blade). Each stage uses approximately the same number of strokes, so next the flat sides of the brown stones will be used in the same manner. According to the video, this produces an edge similar to a factory sharpened edge. The white stones are used to produce an even sharper edge and again, the corners are used first, followed by the flat sides. The 20 strokes per stage are only intended as a general guide and more or less may be needed. The 40 degree side will produce a blade angle generally referred to as a 20 degree edge and the 30 degree side will produce an even finer edge usually referred to as a 15 degree edge. The instructions suggest that for most blades intended for outdoor use, a 20 degree angle will result in an edge plenty sharp enough and will usually last much longer than the sharper 15 degree edge. This makes perfect sense to me. Testing Locations and Conditions I fought bitter cold and sweltering heat testing the Triangle Sharpmaker. Sometimes the air-conditioning system would let my home get slightly above or below 70 F (21 C). However, both the Sharpmaker and I survived unscathed. The kitchen table I worked on was flat but cluttered, usually with about a weeks worth of junk mail, kid’s school projects or non-perishable groceries needing put away. Field Test Results I have so far used the Triangle Sharpmaker to sharpen 4 knives and a pair of scissors. The results were excellent. Following the provided instructions (both the written and video) was easy and I had no problems, though a slight learning curve is involved. It was easy to pull the Sharpmaker off the shelf, remove the lid, set it up, and be in business in minutes. There was no hunting up sharpening oil or paper towels for the mess. Below is a picture showing the first knife I sharpened with the Triangle Sharpmaker. It doesn’t really show how dull the knife was at the beginning or how sharp it was at the end but since I went to the trouble of taking them so you get to see them.  I first tackled an older folding knife that was extremely dull. The knife, an Old Timer Mustang folding lockback (126OT), has a blade of Schrade+ which is a stainless steel very similar to 440C. The knife was my woods knife for several years until I found out it was too heavy. It has been resting in a drawer for several years. I actually think it was glad I was paying it some attention once more. I checked the knife for sharpness and it would not even pull a hair. It just slid over my arm much like a butter knife would and was definitely a great candidate to see how good the Triangle Sharpmaker works. I used the 40 degree angle slots and used the corners of the brown rods for the initial sharpening. It only took a few minutes to give both sides of the blade the recommended 20 strokes. I proceeded to the flat stage using the same brown rods for another 20 stokes per blade side. At this point I stopped to see if the knife would shave. It did but it hurt, pulling hairs as it shaved. After taking a picture of the blade I moved on to the white rods. I again used the corners first then the flat side, giving each side of the blade 20 strokes per stage. This time the blade was much sharper and would shave my arm hair like no bodies business. The only interesting thing I learned at this point was that the white rods became discolored, apparently from the steel removed during the sharpening of the Old Timer knife. I was able to remove most of the discoloring by hand washing the white rods with dish soap and a Teflon safe scouring pad (that was what was handy). I reasoned that the brown rods probably had more metal on them even if not showing so I gave them the same treatment.  I next decided to sharpen my BuckLite, the knife that basically took the Mustangs place as my woods knife. This knife has a blade of 440C. It was dull as well but not near as dull as the Old Timer. However, I had to sharpen it with as many strokes as with the Old Timer. Perhaps the steel is a little harder on the Rockwell scale? A couple of days later I decided to tackle a knife I have never liked sharpening, my fixed blade Buck Personal (model 118). This knife is made of 440C stainless steel. The knife was very dull at the beginning of the sharpening process. The Triangle Sharpmaker did a good job with this knife but it took a while to get it where I liked it. I gave up counting strokes but estimate it took about a 200 or 100 per sides of the blade (corner/flat/ for both brown and white rods). I also noticed that while sharpening the knife the blade was not remaining flat as I pulled it across the flat side. I even pulled out my BuckLite to see if I was just doing it with the longer fixed blade. I did it with both. After that I decided that I was just going a little faster than I needed to. By slowing down and concentrating I managed to keep the blade fairly flat at all times but I still saw daylight under the blade a few times as I continued sharpening. A few weeks later I ran across my Gerber Gator which I also like to carry occasionally. I love the handle on this knife but not the serration. Over the past few years I have aggressively filled on this knife. It is now to the point that the serrations are nearly gone. To bad I didn't have the Triangle Sharpmaker before I did this. Anyways, the steel on this knife is said to be 400 Series Stainless Steel. This knife was fairly sharp, almost shaving to begin with. I only gave it a few licks on the brown rods and only a few more with the white rods. I skipped the flat stage, instead relying on the corners of each colored rod. This knife seemed easier to sharpen than the first three, especially the Buck Personal. It felt a little weird as the knife blade got down to the serrated section. I could feel each bump, much like hitting a rippled section of highway when driving. I also sharpened one pair of scissors with the Triangle Sharpmaker. It was simple to place the brown rod in the end of the holder and took about 60 strokes (30 per scissor blade) to make a noticeable difference. I couldn't detect a wire edge but I finished off by giving the back side of each scissor blade a few light stokes on the rod. I did not use the white rod because the brown rod gave me the desired sharpness. So what is the verdict? Well, the Triangle Sharpmaker does exactly what it promised. It puts a nice edge on a knife fast. Even the Buck Personal only took about 10 minutes of work. The other knives were sharpened in just a few minutes. I was satisfied with the edge produced with the brown rods but pride in a very sharp blade led me to use the white rods for a really sharp edge. Keeping the blade vertical is much easier than trying to keep a set angle when using a flat bench stone.  I say flat but here is what happened to my man made
combination bench stone after about 20 years of use. What can I
say, I like to sharpen knives and my friends are always happy to oblige
me by letting me sharpen their knives. Future Testing I still have a few pocket knives as well as a much bigger knife (my Kabar Kukri) and my throwing hatchet I need to sharpen. I hope I have the same good results I have experienced so far with the Triangle Sharpmaker. Stay Tuned! Read more reviews of Spyderco gear Read more gear reviews by Coy Ray Starnes Reviews > Knives > Sharpeners > Spyderco Triangle Sharpmaker > Coy Starnes > Field Report | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||