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Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker - Field Test Report
April 25, 2005
Thomas Vickers
37 years old
Male
5 ft 11 in tall (1.8 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
redroach@pobox.com
Southeast Texas, Houston Area
Tester Background:
I grew up in
the piney woods of southeast Texas. Camping was a quick trip into the mosquito-infested
woods behind the house. My style has evolved
and over the last 4 or 5 years, I have begun to take a lighter weight approach to hiking
gear (I still use sleeping bags and tents, just lighter versions). While I have flirted with lightweight hiking, I feel that I am
more of a mid-weight hiker now. My philosophy is one of comfort, while carrying the
lightest load possible
Manufacturer Information:
Manufacturer: Spyderco
Website: http:/www.spyderco.com
Total unit weight: 14.25 oz (404 g)
Fine grit stone length: 7 in (178 mm)
Medium grit stone length: 7 in (178 mm)
Safety rod length: 7 in (178 mm)
Widths available: B-4E
MSRP: $ 74.95 US
Information from Tester:
Case Measurements (closed): 2.75 x 1.25 x 7.5 in (70 x 32 x 191 mm)
Fine grit stone length: 7 in (178 mm)
Medium grit stone length: 7 in (178 mm)
Brass rod length: 7 in (178 mm)
Lid wieght: 2.15 oz (61 g)
Base weight: 3.95 oz (111 g)
Fine grit stone weight: 1.85 oz (53 g)
Medium grit stone weight: 1.55 oz (44 g)
Brass rod weight: 0.65 oz (19 g)
Total unit weight: 14.30 oz (405 g)
Test strategy addressed in this report:
1. How user friendly is the documentation of this device? Is it easy to read? Is there an
easy to use index/table of contents? Can I make sense of it?
2. How easy is this sharpener to use on different types of blades? Will it handle serrated
edges? Scissors? Just what all can I sharpen with it? Can I figure out how to
sharpen everything it is supposed to be able to sharpen?
3. How user friendly is this sharpening system overall? Not necessarily with
different blade types, but for people (like me) who don't have experience with a
'fancy" sharpening system? Can I just pull it out and go or are the instructions a
must read? Will I have to continually refer to the instructions or can I get the
hang of using the device?
4. How long does it take to put an edge on a blade? Is this a labor intensive device or is
it fast and easy?
5. Does it sharpen things? This may seem strange, but if it doesn't make things sharp
enough for me, then it might not be that great of a sharpener.
Testing so far:
What can I say about this item? I have sharpened 12 kitchen knives of all sizes, 3
pairs of scissors, 1 pair of pinking shears, and one pair of tin snips. By sharpened
I mean I made them much sharper than they were when I started and they were still in
usable condition. I consider this a success so far, especially now that I have to
confess that I have not watched any of the instructional videos. Instead, I have
relied upon the instruction manual that came with the sharpening system.
The Tri-Angle Sharpmaker instruction manual is 26 pages of pure fun. I mean that.
The instructions are easy to follow and there are lots of pictures. All I have to do
is reread the basic sharpening steps, then turn to the page which tells me how to sharpen
the item I have in my hands.
A better explanation will probably help the faithful reader understand what I mean.
Every sharpening task in broken down into 4 basic steps. Step 1 uses the corner of the
gray (medium grit) stone, Step 2 uses the flat side of the gray (medium grit) stone, Step
3 uses the corner of the white (fine grit) stone, and Step 4 uses the flat side of the
white (fine grit) stone. This is covered on page four as well as the four colored
symbols that represent each step (green, blue, yellow, and red).
To sharpen an item I then turn to the corresponding page in the book. For example,
page 4 deals with plain edge knives. I am instructed to use steps 1-4, with the
stones placed in the 40 degree slots in the system's base. Each step requires twenty
strokes per side of the blade (40 total per step) and there is a diagram to show me the
proper angle of contact between the blade and the stone. It may sound complicated,
but basically I just had to learn steps 1-4, then find out which angle of slots to use in
the base. The angles change based on the type of blade, but this is a simple
switching of which slots the stones are put in. Nothing too complicated in this process so
far. Some blades require all four steps, some require two, and some even require
only one step. I feel that this minimizes the work needed to sharpen an item and
makes the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker much less intimidating to use.
How easy is it really? Considering that I have sharpened at least 16 items so far, it is
pretty easy, and pretty fast. One afternoon my wife needed her favorite scissors
sharpened and I was off to the races. I had the Tri-Angle Sharpmaker out in a minute, the
book open to the scissors page, and within 5 minutes they were better than new.
To me, that is quick and hassle free. I did it on the kitchen table and
didn't have to plug anything in or make a ton of noise, which made my wife happy.
One thing I have noticed is that the recommended twenty strokes per side of the blade (40
total) per step seemed a little bit much in most cases. I had sharpened about 6
kitchen knifes when I decided to try ten strokes per side (20 total per step). This
reduced amount of strokes sharpened my knives just as much as I wanted, which was much
sharper than when I started. A sharpener had not touched these knives in two years and
this was still plenty of strokes to make an edge sharper. The one area where the
recommended number of strokes seemed necessary was on the scissors and pinking shears.
These blades are much heavier and thicker than the kitchen knives and they
definitely needed the work. After I did the 40 strokes per step, even these heavier
blades were the owners of a vastly improved edge.
So far this sharpener has become a favorite piece of gear. It is far easier to use
than I imagined and best of all, it works. It does the basic work I need for a
sharpening system and in the next phase of my report I am going to tackle the tough jobs
around my house, my hiking knives.
My hiking blades tend to be heavier/sturdier blades than my kitchen knives and many of
them have serrated edges. So far I haven't touched them (okay I would rather mess up
the wife's knives before I touch my valuable ones), but that day is fast approaching.
I am also going to watch the instruction videos as well as tackle wire
cutters, paddle bits, screw drivers, nail clippers and potato peelers in the next phase of
the test.
This should allow me to test this system on the widest range of blades possible. If
anything can go wrong, it will probably do so with my more complicated items.
As useful as the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker is, I am almost sad that I can't take it
with me when I go hiking. There just isn't any need to. What it will do though
is travel with me on my trips so that all my blades (and probably those of my friends) can
be sharpened pre-trip and post-trip if needed. I will no longer have to wait two
years between sharpening and best of all, I can do my sharpening myself, knowing that it
is being done correctly.
One last thing to report has to do with cleaning. I have only scrubbed the stones
once so far. I had expected a lot more metal to build up on them after the
sharpening, but it was not that bad in my opinion. The scissors seemed to be the
worst culprits, but I feel that prolonged bouts of sharpening like I have done will
naturally cause the 'dirtying' of the stones. I used a scrubbing pad and warm water
to quickly clean the stones with no ill effects being noticed. The stones sharpened
well before and after cleaning and once again I was amazed that I didn't mess something up
along the ways.
Overall, the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker is a very simple to use system that gets great
results. I can work it and get results with only the instruction manual and so far I
haven't lost any fingers to user error. I am looking forward to more sharpening to
see just how many different things I can sharpen with this system, but that is another
report.
Read more reviews of Spyderco gear
Read more gear reviews by Thomas Vickers
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