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

Test Item	Triangle Sharpmaker (set204MF)
Manufacturer	Spyderco Inc.
Year of Manufacture	2005
URL	http://www.spyderco.com
Listed weight	N/A
Actual weight in case	14.3 oz (405 g)
Stored Size	(LWH) 7 5/8" x 3" x 1 1/8" (19.4 x 7.6 x 2.9 cm)
Also Included	Instructional Booklet and Instructional VHS/DVD,
Date Item Received	March 2, 2005
MSRP	$74.95 US

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.

Long Term Test Results
I have used the Triangle Sharpmaker sharpener to sharpen several more knives and my throwing hatchet since my Field Report. As before, I had excellent results, with a couple of exceptions which I will explain later. For much greater details on the system and how it works I recommend you read my Initial and Field reports.

When I used the Sharpmaker on more traditional blades it seemed much better suited to the task. For instance, I finally sharpened my 6 month old Leatherman Charge. The blade was still shaving sharp but not to my satisfaction. It only took a few minutes to make this blade wicked sharp. I also touched up a few other knives which I had already sharpened with the Sharpmaker and they only took a few strokes on the white rods to bring them back to a very sharp edge.

The Sharpmaker did not seem like the ideal tool to sharpen a couple of items. First there was my Kabar Kukri which has a 12 in (30 cm) blade. The problem I ran into was not the inability of the sharpener to perform but rather, the blade length made it difficult to do the job as the sharpener is designed to work. I would start pulling the blade across and down the sharpener and before I got to the tip of the blade I ran out of real-estate. I had to really concentrate on pulling the blade more horizontally while letting it slowly work its way down to the base of the rod.

I had a different situation sharpening my hatchet. This blade has a very coarse angle, closer to a true 45 than the thinner 18 to 22 degree angle on most knives. As a result I never got the hatchet shaving sharp. I did get it a lot sharper than it ever was, even when new. I did not try to reduce the shoulder of the blade because it would weaken the blade.   My point is not that the Sharpmaker did not do a good job, but more that the angle of the blade made getting it really sharp a lengthy process and after a few hundred strokes with the brown rods I decided I had gained about as much sharpness as I was going to without thinning the blade profile, something I had no intention in doing.

While the Sharpmaker did not seem like the ideal tool to sharpen these 2 items, I was still able to make them much sharper than when they came from the factory.

Summary
The Sharpmaker has certainly won a place in my favorite gear. Its ability to sharpen all types of edges including serrated blades is a real plus. While I can sharpen a blade by keeping a constant angle free handed with a flat sharpener, the angled rods made it even easier. The 2 stage process is also very handy. I can take a real dull knife and work it fairly fast with the brown rods. I stopped here on several knives because they were sharp enough to shave with. I did put a finale edge on a few other knives with the white rods. Mostly just to see how sharp I could get them. Let's just say that after using the white rods my knives were extremely sharp.

Lastly, maintenance was easy. I washed the stones several times to get rid of any metal buildup on the rods. There is no messy oil to deal with. All I had to do was push my blades straight down while pulling them towards me.

I would not hesitate to recommend the Triangle Sharpmaker for anyone looking for an easy to use, yet excellent knife sharpening system.   The Sharpmaker will sharpen not only straight edged knives but serrated blades as well as just about any type of object I might want to sharpen. I like simple solutions.

Read more reviews of Spyderco gear
Read more gear reviews by Coy Ray Starnes

Long Term Report

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