Apex Edge Pro and FSH help

Joined
Jan 19, 2007
Messages
165
I tried to touch up my FSH last night on my Edge Pro and unfortunately did not do a good job. I could not get the curved area from the belly forward to the tip of the blade. I created a second bevel in that area. What is even more frustrating is that it is not my first time using the Edge Pro, however I have not sharpened a knife as big as the FSH. Has any one here used their Edge pro on a larger blade and what angle did you reprofile the knife at ? I used the 120 grit stone to start and did not go any further than 220.
 
I did a used fbmle as my first knife and it worked perfectly.

not sure of angle cause I did it with marker on edge til it was right, so I didint look at the angle.

Its been a year and still no need to do again.
 
I understand your frustrations,I did the same thing to my HHFSH and sent it to Tom Krein to reprofile. It has to do with the angle you are setting the EP at and how thick the knife is, nothing to do with size. If the knife is thick, then you need to set it higher than blue, find out what angle by using a sharpie. I sharpened the FBMLE and decided to not sharpen from the curve up to the tip, until it gets dull. Email Edge Pro, and Ben will help ya out.
 
I reprofiled a HOGFSH and HHFSH on the edgepro with little to no problems.

Below are the pics of the result of the HHFSH.

I agree that the rounded tip is a little more tricky. That's why, before I grind with the stones, I give it a little thought how I can maintain a steady angle while moving the knife on the edgpro's platform. I try to remember where the tip of the knife is compared to the edgepro's platform while grinding one side so I know how to hold the knife (mirrored) when I do the other side. A little feeling for symmetry helps here.

edge3.jpg


edge4.jpg
 
I tried to touch up my FSH last night on my Edge Pro and unfortunately did not do a good job. I could not get the curved area from the belly forward to the tip of the blade. I created a second bevel in that area. What is even more frustrating is that it is not my first time using the Edge Pro, however I have not sharpened a knife as big as the FSH. Has any one here used their Edge pro on a larger blade and what angle did you reprofile the knife at ? I used the 120 grit stone to start and did not go any further than 220.


Forget about the Edge Pro and get a cheap Harbor Freight belt-sander. You can get the 1''x30'' model for under 50 bucks. The results are so impressive that you'd want to throw your expensive Apex jig out.

Check it out:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=2485
 
Basically just a restatement of what Crafft said, but the distance between the support point of the rod attached to the stone and the contact point between the stone and the knife, has to stay reasonably uniform. As that distance changes, so does the angle at which the stone encounters the blade.

There is a very slight change as you advance the stone along the straight portion of the blade without moving the knife. The change tends to be greater near the tip though, because it becomes increasingly difficult to support the knife while moving its handle away from the stone. You could easily calculate this with basic trig functions to get an idea of the rate of change as a function of the secondary bevel’s total angle.

Another factor is that the primary grinds near the tip of a knife are sometimes at a different angle than those at the straight portion of the knife.

So, you have to keep a close eye on the relationship between the primary bevel and your new secondary bevel - assuming you want that relationship to remain constant. If the primary bevel's angle is changing, then you have to change along with it. If the primary's angle is not changing, but the geometry of your set-up is, then you have to compensate. It also may be that both are changing.

The Edge Pro is a highly effective tool, but it is not fool-proof. It does not eliminate the need for some degree of manual skill and visual reference... just gives you fixed reference points at the blade and stone supports to work with.

As you move away from sharpening a knife with a simple, constant cross-section on the Edge Pro, the quality of your results will depend on how seamlessly you can follow the geometric change. Relative to free-hand sharpening, the Edge Pro makes it a lot easier to follow a consistent angle, so it can be a little more difficult to keep up with any transitions that are needed.
 
I never usemy edgpro either. The HF sander and various belts really do a great job.
 
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