Sharpening a new Benchmade with a Spyderco Sharpmaker

[huaco]

I gave myself a Benchmade 943SBK Osborne last Christmas, my first really nice knife and I'm very happy with it. Naturally it was very sharp out of the box. A bit of research told me that the Spyderco Sharpmaker is a topnotch sharpening tool so I decided to buy one but was in no hurry. Did not see any at the last gunshow or the local Gander Mountain, Basspro, Academy, etc and the only place that said they carried them was a knife store in a mall. They were out of stock and said they get list price, about $75 for them. I knew I could get one for $40-$50 from internet stores but did not get around to ordering. To my surprise I stumbled on one at Carter's Country gun store for $49 so I brought it home.

I haven't watched the video that came with it yet but I have read the pamplet thoroughly. It says I should go through the whole process with the medium, then the fine stones at 40 degrees and if it's not right do it at 30 degrees and then then 40 degrees again. I've read that Benchmade sharpens their knives at slightly different angles from what the Sharpmaker offers.

I've only used this knife to open a few of those horrible plastic packages that things come in these days and it did not seem to have dulled at all so all I've done with the Sharpmaker so far is a few swipes with the fine stone at 40 degrees and a bit of stropping with an old leather belt. It seems a bit sharper.

Should I go ahead and do the whole routine suggested by Spyderco and reshape to the new angles or wait until it really needs sharpening? What's a good way to test for sharpness besides running my thumb across the blade?

 

[Zeke/PA]

A few years back a friend who mated on a favorite fishing boat, introduced me to the Spyderco system and personally I think that it is second to none.
I read the instructions and was so impressed with the results that I sharpened every knife within reach with the tool.
Once the Spyderco angles are achieved. one does not always have to go thru the entire process to maintain an edge.
I generally feel for the wire edge or rollover by running my thumb on the flat of the blade from the back of the blade to the cutting edge.
This rollover will of course go from one side of the blade to the other as sharpening progresses but often a few light honing style strokes will remove it.
Glue About a 12" section of an old leather belt to a block af wood to make a leather strop for a really sharp edge.
Respectfully, Zeke