Edge Pro

[kershawguy13]

I have both the Sharpmaker and the Lansky. I have a Delica with uneven angles and I am tryong to reprofile it. The SM is too fine and the Lansky leaves a rough looking edge. I have messed around woth sandpaper on the SM but don't know how to use it. Alternating strokes or work up a burr? Should I just break down and buy the Edge Pro? Is it worth the money?

 

[wvdavidr]

The Edge Pro is a big improvement over those. You can match the existing angle or reprofile (your choice). If you want to stick with the Lansky, you should probably use diamonds to reprofile and spend lots of time with the finer stones. The Sharpmaker can then be used to maintain the edge.

Good sharpening,
Dave

 

[pnsxyr]

Yes.

You can reprofile some steels with a SM and the diamond rods (I have done it), but it's still a pain. After getting an EP, I immediately wished I purchased it sooner. With what you have, you really aren't set up for easy reprofiling and easy repair of damage. With an EP, repairing significant damage, reprofiling, thinning, grinding a relief angle, etc. is easy as can be. Additionally, I think you can get a knife sharper on the EP than you can with most other systems because you are making the process of sharpening extremely scientific (least I can)...and upon getting good at the EP, I began to view almost every factory edge as rather dull and inconsistent. The first thing I do with a new knife is sharpen it now so that it performs to its best. It makes using steels like M390, ZDP-189, S90V, etc. more practical IMO. Without the EP, I would not be EDCing a blade made of M390. Also, the sharpening support Ben provides is spectacular.

Now the downside is of course price. Also, the stones from Ben are good stones but they like to be very wet and they do tend to wear somewhat fast. The lower grits also tend to muck up pretty quickly. Many users replace the stones with something like the Chosera E.P. stones. Additionally, the Choseras eliminate the need for polishing tape, which works well but is kind of a pain, and its 10,000 grit finishing stone is supposedly a spectacular polishing stone to bring a finish that is hard to beat. With that said, the Chosera stones cost a fortune compared to the standard EP stones.

If you do buy it and you are not going to do the Choseras, IMO you should just buy the full kit with grits ranging from 120-1000 on the stones, plus the polishing tapes. You can get by without all of the stones, but my own usage finds this is more expensive in the long run because of accelerated wear on the stones. Especially with steels that have high wear resistance, they can wear the stones quickly over time. I reprofiled a few knives with the 400 stones and they really wore the 400 with the additional time it took over a 220 or 120. I rarely use the 120 or 220 unless the knife is pretty badly damaged, but when their usage is warranted, I find they save time and wear.

 

[Hairlesstwinkie]

KME is a cheaper alternative than EPA or WE. I just picked one up and I'm quite happy with it.

 

[gunsnknives99]

+1 on the kme

 

[Bob6794]

You should be able to get some pretty good edges off the Lansky. Can you describe what you are doing when your sharpening with the lansky and post pictures of the knife, particularly close ups of the edge so we can hopefully get a better idea of whats going on. With any luck we can troubleshoot the problems and get it all sorted out without you having to buy a new sharpening system.

As for the sharpmaker the end goal is a consistent burr free apexed blade, choose a method that works for you as it already sounds like you know what to look for. I don't think alternating or working up a burr would be either right or wrong just different approaches. Think of it this way the Wicked Edge does alternating and free hand/lansky/edge pro/etc you usually work up side for awhile and get a burr, neither approaches are wrong just different.

Just keep the sandpaper clean and it last longer and cut better, if I remember correctly an eraser may help with this but you may want to double check on that. You should also be able to just rinse it with water to help keep it clean. And if your not already you should secure the sandpaper down with rubber bands or tape nice and tight to the rods.

If you want to stick with the Lansky, you should probably use diamonds to reprofile and spend lots of time with the finer stones. The Sharpmaker can then be used to maintain the edge.

Good sharpening,
Dave

Diamonds will help reprofiling by making it quicker which is a good recommendation. But I don't think you need to spend a lot of time with the finer stones as long as you did your job on the coarser stones and got it fully apexed and burr free as possible. Than your work should be cut out for you as you should just be refining it a bit more with each stone. May not the best or most accurate way to describe it but I like to think of it as getting the knife as sharp as possible on your coarse grit and than from than on your just changing the scratch pattern and thus how it cuts each time you move up to a finer stone.

I can tell you from experience with my DMT Aligner that as long as I do my job with the coarsest grit I start with the finer grits I progress to go relatively quickly. But if I don't do my job on the coarsest grit than I am paying for it latter on by trying to remove more steel than I should with higher grit stones and that takes quite awhile to get the same end result. So for me I take my time and make sure the coarsest grit I use is as perfect as I can get it to lay down a good foundation to work on so it makes my life a lot easier while I refine the edge when I move up the grits.