Edge Pro Slide Guide

Ocelot85

Ocelot85

Joined
Feb 1, 2012
Messages
424
D Diemaker What's the status on this? I talked to Cody at Edge Pro and he said he wasn't sure that it'd probably be a few months and I believe he said they where anodized aluminum and you where machining them.

Any pictures you can share with us? ETA? Much appreciated!
 
I thought that was top secret still. Let me call Cody and find out how much I can say/show.

Talked to Cody and all I can say at the moment is this is a new accessory guide plate for both the Apex and Pro, which will be separate versions as they are diffent widths. The two main components will be fully machined hard anodized 6061 aluminum with an unfinished 3 spoke aluminum knob. A look at the polishing tape holders or Matrix stone backs will show you what to expect for the quality of the machining. This is the guide plate I wanted for my Apex after stuffing some real strong magnets under the table. I can't do photos yet but will post them here once I get the ok.

I am working on them when I am not doing production so there have been a lot of interuptions, I got the order last August so don't hold your breath. I have about 3 weeks of work left to have parts ready for the anodizer but I don't know how long it will take to get it done. I will be back on this project starting this Saturday and am hoping to at least get the fixtures done before I have to make more stones. The parts are kind of difficult to hold onto without distorting them when machining which is making this an extra fun job.
 
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Ben had mentioned them somewhat on a old interview, on a YouTube channel called "2 guys and a cooler". It was from last year, so last time I called and bought the full set of Diamond Matrix stones I asked Cody about it.
 
I made a set of 7 or 8 hard anodized assemlies last May so they have been around and in use for awhile. I first thought we would have them for sale by last November but that didn't work out too well. Orders for another product I make got real busy for October and November so I didn't get to work on the new product. Happily :(:poop: that has slowed right back down.
 
Thanks for the response D Diemaker , sorry for putting you on the spot. ;)

I'm a career CNC programmer / machinist myself so I understand the difficulties of production and prototyping new designs. I did check the dimensional qualities of the Diamond Matrix stones and polishing tapes with my Starrett 0-1 micrometer and Brown & Sharpe Bestest. Most of the diamond stones where +/-.003-.005 within the nominal .25 thickness two where right on nominal. The polishing tapes where around -.005 / -.010 under nominal I imagine there was some compensation for the thickness of the tapes themselves, since with the tapes added they where +/- .001-.003 of nominal.

Which is why I wanted to see if I could get some more details on the slide guide, really looking forward to it considering the quality of the source.
 
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No spot whatsoever, Ben spilled the first beans and Cody has been responding to questions to that video. I am happy to talk about it and since it is just an accessory then it shouldn't hold up sales of people wanting to wait for the new product. The thickness of the stones is hard to control because of the resin and diamond. The 80 grit stones really vary, but they only get thicker than .250". The current run of polishing tape holders is .239" to .241" thick. I reworked the fixtures and the parts are a bit more consistent.
 
I was glad to see you compensated for the thickness of the polishing tapes, the Jende lapping films are slightly thicker than the EP tapes so it worked out great. I see them as a vast improvement over the original extruded polishing tape blanks.

The slide guide sounds like it'll be a significant improvement over the old guide for folders and tactical knives with large sweeps or radii on the spine of the knife. I just hope Ben and Cody will let you share some pictures soon!
 
This is good news, I thought a clamping system was the solution but an adjustable guide plate would really help with sharpening folders.
 
Ocelot85- I have to agree with you on the new polish tape holders being a big improvement. Aluminum extrusion is rarely flat or straight and even taking .01" off all sides get a few that don't completely clean up, and that is with custom extrusion using our own die.

brando555- I like to sharpen using magnets to hold the knife in place for the best precision, real important to minimize sharpening time. Sometime I will show off all the mods I have made to my Apex.
 
Did a little more work on the fixtures but am now doing production for a week so this project is on hold again. Here is a video of machining the ends of the fixtures, just a little eye candy while you wait. I will keep doing small videos of the steps involved in getting this assembly into production so stay tuned.


Here is another video where I am making one of the end plates for the fixture in the first video. It will be a few weeks before I do any more machining to the fixtures, I have to make the steel clamps and stops first.

 
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Can't say much more than I did in the 3rd post until it is closer to being available.
 
Ocelot85 said:
Any updates on the slide guide D Diemaker ?
Click to expand...

I happened to be chatting with D Diemaker on Tuesday and he mentioned that he hoped to begin working on them this coming Monday. (He had a bunch of prep work to be done beforehand.)

I'm sure he'll be around to fill folks in when he's had an opportunity to come up for air.
 
Yeah, I have had my head down focusing on working since the first of March, but I have got a bit done. The steel clamp items came back from the heat treaters on Monday and thankfully all was well so once I get this run of stone switchplates done I can get back to working on the slide guides. I am just coming back out to my shop for a few hours to model up the knob fixtures so I know how long the screws are that I need to order to hold the parts in the fixture for the second op, details, details. All of the aluminum bars needed to make the parts are on hand so it is down to spending the time finishing the fixtures, programming to make the parts and then making them.

Since you are a programmer and machinist you may be interested in the clamps and stops I am making to hold the parts. They are hopefully a new product I will be making to sell but if that doesn't work out I still need several hundred in the next few months for the fixtures I need to make for a bunch of new parts I have in mind, such as Blues idea of a Sharpmaker that uses EP mounted stones and the aluminum backs for my upcoming bench stones. Here is a photo, part on the right is an aluminum shell for the second op parts. This is my take on the wedge clamps that Miteebite sells as Uniforce. Over the last 20 years, I have always wanted to make some changes so a few years ago I started to, here is kinda the culmination with a few rough edges left.

4-30-19.jpg
 
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Diemaker said:
Yeah I have had my head down focusing on working since the first of March, but I have got a bit done. The steel clamp items came back from the heat treaters on Monday and thankfully all was well so once I get this run of stone switchplates done I can get back to working on the slide guides. I am just coming back out to my shop for a few hours to model up the knob fixtures so I know how long the screws are that I need to order to hold the parts in the fixture for the second op, details, details. All of the aluminum bars needed to make the parts is on hand so it is down to spending the time finishing the fixtures, programming to make the parts and then making them.

Since you are a programmer and machinist you may be interested in the clamps and stops I am making to hold the parts. They are hopefuly a new product I will be making to sell but if that doesn't work out I still need several hundered in the next few months for the fixtures I need to make for a bunch of new parts I have in mind, such as Blues idea of a Sharpmaker that uses EP mounted stones and the aluminum backs for my upcoming bench stones. Here is a photo, part on the right is an aluminum shell for the second op parts. This is my take on the wedge clamps that Miteebite sells as Uniforce. Over the last 20 years I have always wanted to make some changes so a few years ago I started to, here is kinda the culmination with a few rough edges left.

4-30-19.jpg
Click to expand...

Nice clamps, I've used ones with a similar design in the past when running production. Used to make a lot of fixtures before I went into just programming. What kind of mill do you have?

Are the bench stones going to be full size variants of the diamond matrix stones?
 
A Kitamura with a BT30 taper. I will be making bench stones in 1x4, 2x6, 2x8 and 3x8 sizes. The 1x4 stones will have 1/4" thick aluminum backs and the others will be 1/2" plus the diamond.
 
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Diemaker said:
A Kitamura with a BT30 taper. I will be making bench stones in 1x4, 2x6, 2x8 and 3x8 sizes. The 1x4 stones will have a 1/4" thick aluminum backs and the others will be 1/2" plus the diamond.
Click to expand...

Very cool, do you have a website set up for your bench stones are they totally separate from Edge Pro?

Never ran a Kitamura before, only BT30 Taper machine I've ever ran where FANUC ROBODRILL's. Great for aluminum parts, 15k spindles and 1500+ IPM rapids. I imagine your Kitamura is probably in the same category.
 
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