Edge Pro Apex (another thread :) ) - kits, stones, polish tape?

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KC8QVO

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Apr 7, 2011
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I am looking at the Edge Pro Apex series. I don't want to spend much $$ for a sharpening system, but I also think going with a quality system first is the best route.

Do any of you have suggestions on piecing together my own custom kit? Or is going with the stock kit options best?

My idea was to start with the Apex-2 kit and add a couple other pieces. I guess the more I think about it the more I'd probably run right up to the cost of the Apex-4 though... Any thoughts?

I have blades that need reprofiling and I'd also like to kill the micro serrations on some blades.
 
There is a forum member here who gets perfect edges and uses just the normal Apex 4 kit plus the 6K tapes. Reading his posts and watching his videos plus the cost factor involved convinced me to go the same route. you wouldnt be disappointed with just the stock Apex 4 kit IMHO. I got it and got to use it once so far (shoulder surgery) and am in love. I threw my para2 on it as the first test and was very pleased. In a few weeks once I have some mobility back I'll be going to town with it.
 
Well, I got the apex 4 because I wanted the mirror polished bevels that I saw some people show here. Now a few people who used to high polish are using coarser edges. I do think that coarser edges are more aggressive slicers than very highly polished ones that excel at push cutting and hair whittling. Of course, sharp, coarse edges can whittle hair as well.

Another issue is edge retention. Some people say a polished edge is more durable and some say the opposite.

Whether you get a basic kit or the apex 4 would depend upon how you want to finish your bevels. If you want to mirror polish your bevels, you will wind up getting the whole kit and might as well get the apex4. But if you just want a sharp edge albeit finished coarse, then the stock kit will be more than sufficient.
 
Any thoughts as to polish tape vs. a leather strop and compound? The polish tape on the Apex would hold the same angle, other than that is there any real benefit? Are there any benefits to a leather strop over the polish tape?
 
KC8QVO said:
Any thoughts as to polish tape vs. a leather strop and compound? The polish tape on the Apex would hold the same angle, other than that is there any real benefit? Are there any benefits to a leather strop over the polish tape?
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Unless you're using diamond paste or sprays on a strop, I would say that the polish tapes are a bit better for the mirror polish especially on the newer, more wear resistant steels. If you are using the green compound(chrome oxide), IMO it takes a lot more effort to get a mirror polish on your bevels going from the 1000 grit edge pro stone.
 
Well I ordered an Apex-4 kit and I bought a pack of 1 micron tapes and a third mount. Hopefully that will do me for all my sharpening tasks :)

On another topic, I see they have a kit for leveling the stones. Has anyone had to level their stones to get them to last? Or does it take a LOT of use to wear them to that point?

I don't have a lot of knives in my collection - 4 as of this writing (that I care about), in addition to my kitchen knives. I am not sure how much I'll be sharpening my knives. My two swiss army knives need some work (one needs both blades reprofiled really bad - my attempt to sharpen it when I was younger left it serrated, the other just needs some touch up work). My edc fixed blade is the ESEE Izula II and that will need to be constantly touched up, as will one of my swiss army knives that I carry (has a steel hone with it for quick touch-ups on the run). My larger knives won't need much continuous work as I wont be using them like I will the smaller ones.
 
KC8QVO said:
Well I ordered an Apex-4 kit and I bought a pack of 1 micron tapes and a third mount. Hopefully that will do me for all my sharpening tasks :)

On another topic, I see they have a kit for leveling the stones. Has anyone had to level their stones to get them to last? Or does it take a LOT of use to wear them to that point?

I don't have a lot of knives in my collection - 4 as of this writing (that I care about), in addition to my kitchen knives. I am not sure how much I'll be sharpening my knives. My two swiss army knives need some work (one needs both blades reprofiled really bad - my attempt to sharpen it when I was younger left it serrated, the other just needs some touch up work). My edc fixed blade is the ESEE Izula II and that will need to be constantly touched up, as will one of my swiss army knives that I carry (has a steel hone with it for quick touch-ups on the run). My larger knives won't need much continuous work as I wont be using them like I will the smaller ones.
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You don't really have to get the leveling kit. Just get a pane of glass about 1/4 inch thick and maybe 14X14 inches and get the bag is silicon carbide for 4 bucks or something like that. I find that the leveling kit is most useful to lap glazed stones with. When the edge pro stones get glazed(which happens regularly), you need to lap them to expose new material to make them cut optimally again.

So I do think that a lapping system(not necessarily the leveling kit) is a necessary part of the edge pro.
 
Gotcha. I have a buddy of mine that makes telescopes so I might be able to scrounge up some glass and whatever the grinding compound is they use, might be the same stuff. I know they use a lot of different grades of it as they're working through the mirror profiling. I watched the videos on the Edge Pro site - great tips and tricks. It does look like the stones will wear.
 
KC8QVO said:
Gotcha. I have a buddy of mine that makes telescopes so I might be able to scrounge up some glass and whatever the grinding compound is they use, might be the same stuff. I know they use a lot of different grades of it as they're working through the mirror profiling. I watched the videos on the Edge Pro site - great tips and tricks. It does look like the stones will wear.
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A baggie of 80 grit SiC is pretty cheap and should last a long time. The stones do wear but not that fast. So good luck on your quest for sharpness and welcome to the dark side. :D
 
The EP stones and tapes on glass blanks worked quite well indeed for me for a considerable time. My blades were sharp and well polished. :thumbup:

I have since invested in Shapton and Naniwa stones for refinement and polishing and they perform superbly. But they are quite expensive. :(

The Basic EP setup with glass blanks and tapes will serve you well for a much more modest cost, and allow you to perfect your technique. Should you decide to upgrade to more advanced stones at a later date, you will already own the machine and know how to use it, so changng stones will present no challenges. :)

Good luck!
 
I recommend just getting the EP4 to start. You can buy 6000k tapes and the leveling kit later.

I am a novice knife sharpener at best, and I was able to produce edges like this on my first attempt. I used only and EP4 to obtain the edges below. Those are taken to 3000k tape.
The Leek below was my first try.

apex1.JPG


apex3.jpg
 
5.56 said:
I recommend just getting the EP4 to start. You can buy 6000k tapes and the leveling kit later.

I am a novice knife sharpener at best, and I was able to produce edges like this on my first attempt. I used only and EP4 to obtain the edges below. Those are taken to 3000k tape.
The Leek below was my first try.

apex1.JPG


apex3.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks for the pictures and info. That Izula is the same blade I carry every day now, I've got the II model but the same blade just a different handle. I hope mine looks like that soon. Though, I am curious as to how well that polished edge would suit for every day use compared to a micro serrated edge. I will experiment, hows that? :)
 
KC8QVO said:
Thanks for the pictures and info. That Izula is the same blade I carry every day now, I've got the II model but the same blade just a different handle. I hope mine looks like that soon. Though, I am curious as to how well that polished edge would suit for every day use compared to a micro serrated edge. I will experiment, hows that? :)
Click to expand...

In my uses, I find a coarse finish to be a more aggressive slicer but loses out to the polished edge in retention(assuming the same bevel angles on a specific knife). I do like my EDC's to be highly polished and at least hair whittling sharp. These kinds of edges give me a big grin whenever I use them for the usual EDC chores like package opening, on the run food prep, and even taking off a few facial hairs that I missed in shaving.
 
Do get some silicon carbide. I bought my Apex 4 slightly used but the stones were glazed over. I'm in a sling a the moment and unable to sharpen but am taking the time to level out my stones and get the glaze off them. Doing it with sand on a pavestone sucks, no other way to put it. I've almost got the 220 clean and I started with it. Will be an all day project to finish using sand and concrete:)
 
ssblood said:
Do get some silicon carbide. I bought my Apex 4 slightly used but the stones were glazed over. I'm in a sling a the moment and unable to sharpen but am taking the time to level out my stones and get the glaze off them. Doing it with sand on a pavestone sucks, no other way to put it. I've almost got the 220 clean and I started with it. Will be an all day project to finish using sand and concrete:)
Click to expand...

I tried that too, still doesn't work as well as the SiC. This from Ben Dale himself. 80 grit wet/dry only makes it worse.
 
Love my apex 4.. I was able to get polished edges within a week.. They aren't quite hair whittling, but they are getting there.. Go with the 4 upfront, you wont be disappointed..
 
I got my Edge Pro Apex today. I tested it out on my old swiss army knife. It was a full re-profiling job so I started from scratch basically. I went up through the 1000 grit stone. That went OK. I had to make a spacer for the thin blade. The spacer I made was out of black plastic and I ran the stones across it a few times. It loaded up the stones a bit. I rubbed most of it out but its still there. It looks like I'll have to grind it out at some point.

After I did the swiss army knife I went on to my ESEE Izula II. It still had a decent factory edge on it but based on the scratch marks on the blade I figured I'd give it a good run down up to the 1000 grit on the Apex. I started with the sharpie method on the edge of the blade to get my angle right. I ran in to some issues with this, though. The curve and tip had the same angle as the rest of the blade, but because of the taper of the blade I was not able to keep the blade on the table while holding the same angle. So I sharpened the angle a couple degrees and started over. When I got to the curve and tip I carried the same angle through and reprofiled it so I can hit the same angle again when I come back to it. Any thoughts on what I did?
 
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