Making The Jump to the Edge Pro. I Have So Many Questions...

[Rwb1500]

After sharpening successfully with the Sharpmaker for a year now I've decided to widen my horizons. A friend is giving me his Edge Pro Apex, but he's keeping his collection of stones.

I have lots of questions hopefully some of you experienced users can answer.

I'm looking at the basic Edge Pro branded stones, about $16 a pop mounted to a blank. Do I need all the grits to start? 120, 220, 400, 600, and 1000? Should I skip the 120 to start seeing as I don't do much reprofiling? Should I even skip the 220 in the beginning? Any body have any idea how the Sharpmaker rods relate to the EP grits?

I'd love to jump to some of the higher end stones I've heard you all mention, but I think simple willl be a good place to start.

What about leveling stones? How often does this need done? Does it depend on the stone?

How are the stones mounted to the blanks?

What about the EP tapes in 1k and 2k? A compliment to the full set of grits or necessary?

Again, I'm not trying to emulate Travis, not yet at least. I just want accurate, repeatable, sharp edges. The rest will come in time.

Thanks everyone for reading that. It was kinda like my thoughts over the last 48 hours spilling out in no particular order.

Lol, another question; How does one determine the angle of an edge on a knife using the EP? From what I've read you basically Sharpie the Edge and guess until you start taking Sharpie off. Is that an accurate description or am I missing something?

[chuck_roxas45]

I'm looking at the basic Edge Pro branded stones, about $16 a pop mounted to a blank. Do I need all the grits to start? 120, 220, 400, 600, and 1000? Should I skip the 120 to start seeing as I don't do much reprofiling? Should I even skip the 220 in the beginning? Any body have any idea how the Sharpmaker rods relate to the EP grits?

If you are going to upgrade your stones anyway, you can get the basic package, Apex 1, I think.

I'd love to jump to some of the higher end stones I've heard you all mention, but I think simple willl be a good place to start.

What about leveling stones? How often does this need done? Does it depend on the stone?

Yes, it depends on the stone and how much it's used, but IMHO, I think that EP's SiC powder on a pane of glass is one of the easiest ways to flatten. Looks like it's cost effective too. I find that wet/dry doesn't really work as well.

How are the stones mounted to the blanks?

Some kind of 3M spray. I just use contact cement.

What about the EP tapes in 1k and 2k? A compliment to the full set of grits or necessary?

The tapes would be a good complement to the full set of stones. It won't do anything otherwise.

Again, I'm not trying to emulate Travis, not yet at least. I just want accurate, repeatable, sharp edges. The rest will come in time.

Thanks everyone for reading that. It was kinda like my thoughts over the last 48 hours spilling out in no particular order.

Lol, another question; How does one determine the angle of an edge on a knife using the EP? From what I've read you basically Sharpie the Edge and guess until you start taking Sharpie off. Is that an accurate description or am I missing something?

My replies are in red, if it's not immediately obvious. :D

[SQSAR]

You may not plan on reprofiling now, , , but I'd say that is perhaps the chief benefit of an EdgePro. The 120 will need to be leveled more than the others, but like Chuck said, it's way easy to do. Personally, I use Choserra and really love them. Before these I had some from Congress and they did ok, but nothing really compares to Sharpton or Choserra. Either way, I still think the stock EdgePro stones are pretty good in their own right so don't write them off. One thing I would HIGHLY suggest is get the drill-stop that serves to adjust the angle to account for difference in stone thicknesses. Cheap and well worth it. Chef Knives to Go is the best place I've found for aftermarket stones and accessories. I'm sure others will chime in as well since there are so many of us who use the Edgepro. I suspect you will be a pro yourself in no time at all.

[D1omedes]

Where can you pick up a drill-stop collar, exactly?

[Rwb1500]

Where can you pick up a drill-stop collar, exactly?

I think I saw them on Chef Knives to Go. I'm glad to hear someone else mention that site. I had given it a look earlier but it didn't look too professional and I was a little wary.


Thanks for all the help and suggestions Chuck and SQSAR.

I'm thinking I'll just go ahead and pickup the full compliment of EP stones to start.

[KNaB]

I think I saw them on Chef Knives to Go. I'm glad to hear someone else mention that site. I had given it a look earlier but it didn't look too professional and I was a little wary.


Thanks for all the help and suggestions Chuck and SQSAR.

I'm thinking I'll just go ahead and pickup the full compliment of EP stones to start.

What he said. Chefknivesto go will have everything you need (and even more that you don't but will buy anyway) for the edge pro. Do not be worried. They are great people and ship pretty fast.

[DJFrostbyte]

I love my edge pro apex. I generally start at the 600 grit stone though if a knife is just "kinda dull". The only time I used lower grits is if the bevel has dings or chips in it. The edge pro is a great system just make sure you buy the REAL edge pro stones. I made the mistake of buying replica stones off of that freakin' auction site and found that the claimed 2000 grit and 3000 grit were more like 600 and 800. But it is a great sharpening system and is well worth the money I think. I use it on all my FFG blades but I found that the sharpmaker works better on hollow grinds. Your mileage may vary though. Congrats on the new toy. Take some time getting used to it. What I did is I used the 1000 grit stone on a knife I didn't care too much about but was already super sharp and just got the feel of using it with both hands. Also it may take some experimentation to get right down to the heel of the blade by the ricaso (spelling??). All in all I think you'll love it!

[chuck_roxas45]

I think I saw them on Chef Knives to Go. I'm glad to hear someone else mention that site. I had given it a look earlier but it didn't look too professional and I was a little wary.


Thanks for all the help and suggestions Chuck and SQSAR.

I'm thinking I'll just go ahead and pickup the full compliment of EP stones to start.

Welcome to the dark side. :D

[Rwb1500]

Welcome to the dark side. :D

I'm excited, parts and pieces are slated to start arriving tomorrow.

[KNaB]

I'm excited, parts and pieces are slated to start arriving tomorrow.

When I bought my EP, I bought the professional model and didn't realize that a few things that I bought from CKTG were either redundant or useless on the professional model. If you are interested, I have the little magnet for the apex. It's yours if you want it. Excellent example of the dark side. I just started buying everything I could that was EP related. :)

[rodloos]

I'm still not sure of what the differences are between the professional model vs. the Apex (maybe because the name is Edge Pro Apex? :) )

I bought mine from CKTG a month or so ago, and also purchased some of the recommended do-dads (technical term :D ) such as the spring, collar, magnet, and angle cube, but didn't understand how the add-ons were supposed to be used. Finally I realized they have some videos on their site explaining how to use them (I couldn't watch the videos from work though ).

So I still use my SharpMaker, but I'm learning more about the Edge Pro. I understand those mirror-polished edges might not actually cut any better, but they sure looks nice :) . I won't take the time to put a mirror polish on *all* my hundreds of knives, but maybe a few for pictures' sake.

[kennethsime]

I'm still not sure of what the differences are between the professional model vs. the Apex (maybe because the name is Edge Pro Apex? :) )

My take-away from watching the inventor's videos is that the Apex model gets the job done (the individual model), the Pro model gets the job done faster/with less strain on your body, allowing you to sharpen for 8 hours a day if you happen to make a living sharpening. It's also built a little sturdier, I believe.

[D1omedes]

So I still use my SharpMaker, but I'm learning more about the Edge Pro. I understand those mirror-polished edges might not actually cut any better, but they sure looks nice :) . I won't take the time to put a mirror polish on *all* my hundreds of knives, but maybe a few for pictures' sake.

I can definitely sympathize. My main purpose for getting an Edge Pro is to reprofile knives - especially kitchen ones. I still plan on maintaining edges with the Sharpmaker and a strop. Just another tool in the arsenal against dullness. :cool:

[Rwb1500]

I can definitely sympathize. My main purpose for getting an Edge Pro is to reprofile knives - especially kitchen ones. I still plan on maintaining edges with the Sharpmaker and a strop. Just another tool in the arsenal against dullness. :cool:

Yeah, I don't envision myself using the EP for everyday sharpening and upkeep, but it will be very nice for when I have serious work to do, like a badly damaged edge. I don't have diamond rods for my SM and removing larger amounts of material is time consuming. This will be a nice change.

[Evil D]

Sorry I didn't read all those posts, but I'll throw my 2 cents in.

Looking back, I really should have listened to everyone about not buying the more expensive kits with all the extra Edge Pro stones, because once you start to see what the EP is capable of, your next purchase will no doubt be the better stones. Also, I'm starting to believe that for my EDC needs, I could probably live just fine with a full set of Atoma diamond plates and then the 2k/4k/8k/16k Shapton glass stones and probably never need to buy another stone again. The Shapton stones are really just for polishing the bevel and for different knives that I actually want a highly polished edge on, otherwise for EDC use I think the 1200 Atoma will make just about anyone happy, and you never have to worry about stone thickness differences because they won't wear and will always be flat, which you will find is a BIG deal on the EP.

A few things that in my opinion are absolutely essential if you're going to own an Edge Pro:

1. You need a decent quality diamond lapping stone to maintain your stones and keep them flat. I lap after every single sharpening job no matter how small...just to make absolutely sure my stones stay flat.

2. Buy the drill stop collar. It will make your life so much easier when going from stone to stone when thickness differs. The only down side to the collar is that you can only drop down to something around 13 degrees per side when using it, which isn't a big deal unless you want your edges razor thin. If you do, it's not that big of a chore to use a sharpie to adjust the angle so you're hitting the bevel evenly, it's just more tedious.

3. Buy SEVERAL of the little square magnets for the table. They attach (I used double sided tape and superglue) under the table and hold your blade in place while sharpening. This can make things incredibly easier especially for the first time user because the magnets are really powerful and really hold the blade in place. I've actually put as many magnets as I can fit on the underside of mine, I even went out and found some smaller round magnets that I could fit in the corners, so I practically don't have to use my off hand for sharpening. As an added bonus, it helps to collect the metal dust after reprofiling and makes clean up easier.

4. Buy an angle cube. Some people don't think it's absolutely essential, because the EP angle notches are pretty dang close, but I've found that blade thickness and on some blades the amount of belly and how you end up having to position them on the table means your angle can be thrown off, so the cube is essential for me.

5. Buy the little spring that replaces the brass tube for quick changing the stones. Again, this is a small detail, but really it's something that should come standard on the EP.

6. Buy a roll of blue painters tape. I've found that no matter how much I tape things, scratches on the blade are almost unavoidable. I've come to just accept it since my blades will see scratches from use anyway. Some of my knives show a good amount of scratches though just from sharpening, which is kind of a downer but it is what it is. The tape will definitely cut down on how many scratches you get though.

7. Buy a 20x loupe. If you don't already have one, and you really want to learn what's going on when you sharpen, you need a loupe. Simple as that. Sal will even tell you the same.

Now....all that aside, you don't HAVE to have any of that. The EP will put a screaming sharp edge on nearly any blade just fine. All of that is really only necessary if you wanna be an internet show off and polish bevels to a mirror finish and look like a bad *** lol. For what it's worth, the stock low grit stone (don't recall exactly what grit it is) will cut steel like CRAZY and is excellent for reprofiling steel. It ate through my 20CP so fast I couldn't believe it...WAY faster than my old Lansky diamond stones. The down side is that it doesn't last long at all. The good news is new stock EP stones are only like $8 each or something like that.

Oh and one last thing, I hear a lot of people complain that the EP is too clunky to drag out for daily edge maintenance. I just can't agree with this. I have a glass top on my computer desk that it suctions down to, and it's usually set right where I left it the last time I sharpened the knife I'm carrying...so I just lay it on the table and make a few passes and I'm back to sharp literally in seconds. In fact I would wager a bet that I can touch up an edge on my EP faster than anyone can pull out their Sharpmaker and set the rods in the holes and make passes on it...it's that easy.

[Rwb1500]

Thanks for the insight David. I'm sure a full compliment of new stones will be in my near future, but for now I'm going to have to feel out the EP stones. ( Mostly because I just bought a Lion Steel SR1 and my wife doesn't know... Shhhhhhh!)

I'll have to get for the system and go from there.

[charlesmc2]

I really enjoy the Edge Pro. I also bought the Chosera stones from Chefs Knives to Go. Somewhere there is a chart for equivalences that at least approximate equivalent grit sizes between the EP stones and the Choseras.

The stones work a bit differently. The Choseras are water stones and they self renew. They wear as you use them--that is by design--and that keeps the abrasives sharp. I find it very satisfying to put a mirror edge on my blades. I first read ab out such on woodworking forums and the like. One good definition of a sharp edge is the intersection of two planes. The mirror surfaces are the two planes. I always thought I wanted to leave some teeth for, say, slicing a tomato. Get it sharp, and you don't need the "teeth." Yhe mirror surfaces supposedly resist wear. Makes sense if you try to picture it.

Charles

[Evil D]

I really enjoy the Edge Pro. I also bought the Chosera stones from Chefs Knives to Go. Somewhere there is a chart for equivalences that at least approximate equivalent grit sizes between the EP stones and the Choseras.

The stones work a bit differently. The Choseras are water stones and they self renew. They wear as you use them--that is by design--and that keeps the abrasives sharp. I find it very satisfying to put a mirror edge on my blades. I first read ab out such on woodworking forums and the like. One good definition of a sharp edge is the intersection of two planes. The mirror surfaces are the two planes. I always thought I wanted to leave some teeth for, say, slicing a tomato. Get it sharp, and you don't need the "teeth." Yhe mirror surfaces supposedly resist wear. Makes sense if you try to picture it.

Charles

I had been under that assumption, but it really depends on the steel. Many steels will hold a toothy edge much longer than they'll hold a highly polished mirror edge. Some materials (like your tomato) and cardboard and such respond much better to a toothy edge than a polished edge.

[Rwb1500]

Well, guess what I got in the mail today?




I'll give you a hint, I'm walking around with patches of hair missing all over my arms.






I had a D'Fly I really, really beat on at work and the edge was all beat up, chips everywhere. It's not a polished edge, it's not a mirror edge, but it's stupid sharp, and that's what I need.

[chuck_roxas45]

Congratulations!

Well, guess what I got in the mail today?




I'll give you a hint, I'm walking around with patches of hair missing all over my arms.






I had a D'Fly I really, really beat on at work and the edge was all beat up, chips everywhere. It's not a polished edge, it's not a mirror edge, but it's stupid sharp, and that's what I need.