SpydercoTri-Angle Diamond Sharpening Stones for Professional-Grade Finishing and Polishing - 2-Pack - 204D

These arrived quickly and well-packaged, with each rod wrapped and placed in its own plastic tube. As mentioned in my review of the Sharpmaker system, these diamond rods are the missing link that bring it all together: the difference maker between a honing station and a true sharpening station to bring dull blades back to life. The key with these is to go nice and slow, applying very little pressure. Some other reviews mentioned a poor fit of these rods into the base of the station, but I did not have that problem. These rods were very clearly designed to fit onto the triangular holes on the base of the system and fit and function the same as the stock medium and fine rods.

These diamond sharpeners are a really improvement for your existing Syperdco Sharpmaker kit.I have been a faithful user of this kit since 1992. This kit is worth the money: no oil, straightforward and simple to use.If your knife hasn’t been sharpened in a while, or you have the newer, super hard steels, this makes short work of putting an edge on your knife.What would take hours on the medium stones takes minutes on the diamonds.The simple caveat is don’t bear down while using them. A smooth, steady, even, light pressure is all it takes. No muscling is needed.The diamond rods won’t get your knife sharp alone: they will make it very easy to use the medium and fine stones to get a razor edge.Worth the money. They take all the work out of getting a great edge.

These diamond sharpening rods work great to get the blade back to norml before using the finer sharpening rods….RBC

This is the missing part of a Sharpmaker. The brown stones don't cut aggressively enough to remove nicks or change the profile angle of an edge. What would take an hour with the brown stones is a few minutes with these. I use the large DMT diamond plates for sharpening woodworking tools, so I'm used to not using heavy pressure. Some reviewers have said the diamonds fall off. Not for me with light pressure. Once you have used diamonds, you will quickly grow impatient with anything else for coarse sharpening. I use the diamonds, then side of brown stones, then side of white stones. I don't use the edges for anything except serrations if they fit, or the occasional hooked blade.It is true you can buy a nice diamond plate and a 4000 grit Shapton glass stone for about the same money as this plus the sharpmaker, but for ease of use I would recommend this for knives (not chisels or other woodworking tools of course). It's much easier to hold the knife vertically than to try to maintain an angle on a horizontal plate. Some people have built stands to hold their stones or plate at a similar 15 or 20 degree from vertical angle, if that appeals to you.If you are only going to sharpen short pocket knives, an alternative is to buy the lansky-style DMT aligner sharpening kit and get the optional ceramic stone for it if you want a polished edge.In addition to learning to feel for the burr and maintaining a constant angle, it's helpful to have a 10x triplet magnifier and look at the edge after each sharpening step. I see plenty of you tube videos where people will go through six waterstones in a ritual to get an edge, when a few more strokes on half that would remove any scratches with much less time. Look at videos from knife makers, not users - they don't waste time.

These rods do a good job at getting out chips and reprofiling knife blades. The only reason I gave them 4 stars is that they are quite expensive, about the same cost at the Sharpmaker kit (on sale). There is an insert cautioning users to use gentle strokes so that they don't tear the diamonds off the surface.

Stones worked as expected and arrived in a timely manner.

The only reason I did not deduct a star is because I am not sure my only "gripe" has any validity.Anyone who has used the Spiderco Sharpmaker knows that the rods that come with the kit are able to be swapped end for end to insert in the holder. This allows for even wear of the rods over time, as you sharpen blades.These diamond coated rods are not swappable, end for end. They will always have to be inserted the same direction into the holder. It may not be an issue, seeing as the diamonds are so much harder than the other rods, so wear might not he a thing.The diamond rods really do a beautiful and FAST job of removing material on those badly worn or damaged blades. I am highly pleased with these rods and the Sharpmaker system as a whole.

Great sharpening stones by Spyderco. Quick shipping. Excellent communication.