Angle guide questions

[oneslowbird]

Ive always used bench stones for all my sharpening and have gotten quite good at it. All my blades will shave. But there is one area that is inconsistant. The belly of a clip blade. Now they always do come out sharp but sometimes they're great and sometimes they're just so-so. I was wondering how the Razors Edge guide worked around the belly where the blade itself is actually lifted away from the stone. Does the guide sill remain in contact with the stone? Does it still hold the angle for you? One other question. When you are polishing the edge and alternating side to side, does the guide hold the angle for both sides of the blade without having to remove it? I have still not decided whether or not to go with a guide yet. I will probably just keep at it until I get it consistant because I really love freehand shapening, but I was just curious how these things work on bellies. TIA, Alex

 

[Crayola]

Hello! Please check out this thread, in which I discuss the Razor's Edge guides:
http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum41/HTML/000259.html

Yes, the guide does stay in contact with the stone at all times. And you don't adjust the guide for each side. You clamp it on and sharpen away. The only time you adjust it is when doing double edging.

It took me a while to figure out how to use the guides, but once I figured them out I got great results. Grinding in good relief (area behind the edge) is very important.

I can get Razor's Edge guides locally in a hunting store, so you may want to check out stores in your area as well.

By the way, their folding steel is probably the best steel out there.

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"Come What May..."

 

[matthew rapaport]

I tried the razor's edge guides and was very disappointed.

Not that they don't work and you can get sharp edges from them but...

1. There is no way to "adjust them" for different angles. You get ONE angle for any given knife width, and yes, that angle changes from knife to knife depending on its width (not thickness).

2. The guide itself starts to get ground down eventually, changing its angle - making it smaller as time goes on. This is ESPECIALLY true of the corners of the guide which are the only thing touching the stone when you do the knife tip (or near the tip up the belly).

3. I was very unhappy with the recent Tac. Knives review of these guides as they didn't mention the down sides. This is one of the big problems with that magazine. They never tell you what's wrong with something. Their interest is patently in selling advertising and little more. This, by the way, is a criticism of the publisher, and not editor (Steven D.). At least not directly...