Spyderco has a famous line that goes something like “before we made sharp things, we made things sharp.” Unknown to many knife knuts, Spyderco originally made sharpeners. Their current and most modern sharpening device is the Sharpmaker. It uses the Louis Graves invention of the stick-shaped sharpening hone and a molded base. The sticks are set in the base in one of two angles, 30 or 40 degrees. This gives the user a constant angle to work with. The knife is helf straight up and down and dragged along both sticks (one at a time). Holding the knife straight up and down is easier than holding it at a 30 degree angle to a flat sharpening stone.

The “sticks” are actually triangles. This gives you three sides and three corners. You can load up each side with steel before having to clean it (meaning you can go three times longer without having to clean). The corners can be used to remove steel faster (since there is more PSI applied to a smaller surface).

The Spyderco Sharpmaker is easy to use, but does take a little practice. However, even someone that cannot get the hang of hand sharpening with a bench stone can have success with the Sharpmaker. The was Spyderco’s goal in the first place. The Spyderco Sharpmaker does not allow you to set any angle you want and does limit you to 30 and 40 degrees, but you can use the triangle sticks free hand for any angle. There is even a notch to set two sticks down on the base and use them like a bench stone.

The two colors of triangle hones represent two different grits. One is more course, and one is more fine. You can also buy a diamond triangle hone if you want to remove more steel. The supplied hones are both ceramic.

Some sharpening devices offer more features, but also a much higher price. The Sharpmaker does pack a ton of features and options into a very inexpensive device.