Edge Pro - First Use Advice Needed

[D1omedes]

Hi guys. I request the shared wisdom of my fellow forumites. :D

I truly do believe in the cliche, "hindsight is 20/20." Add that to the fact that I just gave my Delica SB a good workout (broke down all the cardboard that came with an IKEA sofa) and I realize that I have no excuse not to get started with my Edge Pro.

I know that I should start with a less-valuable knife. Trust me, I plan on doing so. Still, how many knives do you guys think it will take to the point where I can do a good job on my more valuable folders? Any special steps or precautions I should take heed of?

[bh49]

Anthony,
Exact number is unpredictable. I never used EP, but few month ago started to use WE. On the first day I reprofiled my Native and fixed damage on Persian. There are a lot of threads about EP here and on BF. A lot of recommendation on how to avoid scratching the blade. Do not be too agressive with coarse stones or you will remove too much steel and create a heavy burr, which you will fight to remove without breaking. Work slow, light pressure. And good luck. Have fan.
Roman

[SQSAR]

I think you will be surprised how quick the learning curve is on the Edge Pro. I'd say anyone with a thorough knowledge of what sharpening is and how/why it works will easily be able to apply that knowledge to the Edge Pro and see great results very quickly. However, prudence would suggest that taking one's time, reading all that's been said on here and BF, , as well as watching the numerous videos on YouTube will further hasten this learning curve. The 1st knife I sharpened with the Edge Pro came out fine, ,but the next couple were even better.

[.357 mag]

Return it.. Before you spoil yourself. :)

[razorsharp]

I had the hang of it on my first knife, It really isnt hard, especially with magnets in the base (not needed, they are helpful though) just line the heel with a corner of the base and the edge with the other corner if that makes sense. IF you have a knife that thickens at the tip, have the heel placed further away from your pivot point and tilt the tip back giving you a variable angled edge where the tip will be a couple degrees thicker but aesthetically the edge will look consistent.An angle-cube is super handy and better than a stop collar -any day of the week.

My first knife done on the edge pro was a superblue caly3.5 and it came out perfect... SO did the sebenza I did after that, and the techno I did after that

[Evil D]

Without typing you a whole page worth of response, I think the biggest mistake I made was sharpening my 20CP Para 2 on the flats of the blade. This worked just fine for the chef's knife that I sharpened the first time I used the EP, but not so with the Para because the sides aren't technically flat...they taper inward towards the tip (distal taper) and so the blade doesn't actually lay flat on the sides, it will rock back and forth and really screw you up while sharpening. My advice (and how I sharpen) is to lay the knife flat on the table by the flat portion of blade that isn't ground at the tang of the blade just in front of the handle. This will keep the blade flat and parallel with the table. Unfortunately, this can cause problems on longer blades like the Military, because the further the blade/tip is from the center of the table, the lower the degree gets when hitting the edge (this is true with ALL guide/jig/etc type sharpening systems) so you may see a slightly wider bevel at the tip of longer blades when using this method. It didn't really make much difference with my Military.

Apart from that, tape the blade AND table with blue painters tape. Even if you tape the table up (it will/should have come taped already) your blade will still get scratched if you don't tape the blade too. Of course I always recommend buying the stone changing spring, the table magnets, and an angle cube.