Edge Pro

[Django606]

I've decided that I want to buy an Edge Pro Apex for my birthday. One thing I want to do with it is reprofile my large Sebenza from 20 degrees down to 15. How would you guys reccomend I do this. Do I need the coarse stones to do it?

Also, would you reccomend the polishing tapes, or a good strop?

 

[cbwx34]

Yes, the coarse stone is recommended for reprofiling.

I prefer having the polishing tapes for a few reasons. You can achieve a mirror finish with them, you don't have to set anything else up to finish the edge, you can maintain the same consistency, and you're less likely to roll or round the edge. But a strop will further refine an edge, and can be used to maintain it. (So I guess the short answer could be 'both').

cbw

 

[Django606]

So you would reccomend [this?

I think it comes with the coarse stone, the medium fine, and the extra fine, as well as the two types of polishing tapes. Am I right?

 

[mauiblue]

So you would reccomend [this?

I think it comes with the coarse stone, the medium fine, and the extra fine, as well as the two types of polishing tapes. Am I right?

That looks like the kit with all the options. It is a great system and I'm pretty sure you will like it. I also got a strop block from KnivesPlus.com just to have another option to utilize in my ever expanding knife sharpening system.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

You will wear down the coarse stone quite fast if you use it to regrind edges. This also changes the angles it produces even if you flatten it. In general it is better to do the initial shaping work just on a coarse benchstone and then use the Edge Pro to improve the cosmetics if that is a personal concern and then sharpen the edge.

-Cliff

 

[cbwx34]

You will wear down the coarse stone quite fast if you use it to regrind edges. -Cliff

Taking a knife down 5 degrees, if done correctly, won't wear out the 120 stone. Usually it's worn out by pressing too hard, and not letting the stone do the work. I definitely wouldn't use "quite fast". It holds up well, in relation to the job it does. In fact, here's some quotes from your own website review:

"the coarse hone on the Apex will produce an edge out of even a sloppy and hollowed bevel in just a few minutes."​

"If the angle on the blade is going to be changed significantly, which in general is a good idea as most production knives have far too steep an angle, the coarse hone again does a solid job."​

This also changes the angles it produces even if you flatten it. -Cliff

The angle change from a brand new stone wearing down to nothing, is less than 1 degree.

It has been a few years since I used the Edge Pro,... -Cliff

Hmmmmmmm...

cbw

 

[IUKE12]

I've decided that I want to buy an Edge Pro Apex for my birthday. One thing I want to do with it is reprofile my large Sebenza from 20 degrees down to 15. How would you guys reccomend I do this. Do I need the coarse stones to do it?

Also, would you reccomend the polishing tapes, or a good strop?

Whatever you do, do not start right in on the Sebenza. Go to the kitchen and practice with a few from the drawer. You need to get a good feel for the Edgepro first before moving on to anything you cherish. The Edgepro is an awesome tool with a slight learning curve.

 

[Django606]

Thanks for the warning, I already knew not to start on my favorite knife. Probably going to work on some of the kitchen knives

 

[mauiblue]

I worked on four of my cheaper kitchen knives before moving on to my more expensive knives. I learned to relax a bit when holding the knife handle as I was sharpening. In the beginning I would tense up and that would cause me to tire somewhat while sharpening with the Edge Pro. But as I realized that I just needed to just steady the knife on the sharpening platform, sharpening became easier and and faster.

 

[thombrogan]

I use a 250 grit diamond from EZ-Lap (model 42C w/o the pedestal) fixed to a stone blank with double-sided tape (3M 77 spray works, too) for reprofiling. It's slower than the 120 grit SiC stone EdgePro sells, but it stays flat and cuts at a steady speed (after it's broken in) for nearly forever.

www.toolsforworkingwood.com sells some aluminum oxide sharpening film in 1 micron and 0.3 microns and the sheets make 13 6"x1" polishing tapes.

 

[Django606]

It says it comes with a 220 grit, in addition to 320 and 600. I'm assuming that is the "coarse" that everyone is talking about. Will this do the job?

 

[thombrogan]

The coarse is a 120 grit SiC stone. The 220 is the medium/fine stone (it replaces the earlier 180 medium and 220 fine stones by cutting as fast as the 180 and leaving as fine of a finish as the 220).

 

[Django606]

Oh, I didn't see that further above on the page it also says that 120 is included. Thanks for the info.

So if I went about reprofiling my Sebenza, I would set the thing to 15 degrees, start with the 120 and work my way up to the higher grits?

 

[db]

Yup and don't move up to the next grit until you have ground the edge in all the way on both sides. Most of your time will be spent on the coarsest stone.

 

[Django606]

So I'm assuming just use the 120 on one side until I get a burr, then do the same to other other side until I get a burr again? Then just continue with the rest of the grits, right?

 

[db]

Yup, I'd deburr with the 120 also. Then move on to the next grit.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Taking a knife down 5 degrees, if done correctly, won't wear out the 120 stone.

Yes, that is why I said edges, not edge. As for my review, read the rest of it :

"If the angle on the blade is going to be changed significantly, which in general is a good idea as most production knives have far too steep an angle, the coarse hone again does a solid job. However the time will now be significantly longer. How much time depends on the length of the blade, the nature of the steel and how much of an angle change is required. For example fifteen minutes of honing would make a major angle change on a small folder, even if it had a hard and wear resistant steel blade. Life can be made easier here if blade aesthetics can be abandoned. Use of a very large bench stone and some lapping compound will allow much faster reshaping of an edge, extreme care in angle consistency isn't required here as this isn't actually sharpening, just shaping. The goal is to hog off enough metal to get a rough shape. The Edge Pro will then very quickly refine the shape. Very coarse sandpaper can also be used instead of the bench stones."

Which is the same thing I noted in the above. This review is also quite old, 1998. I would write a different one now. Which would be obvious as otherwise nothing would have been learned about sharpening in eight years. I'll be updating it shortly. Yes, I sold my Edge Pro a few years back for several reasons. Mainly I didn't use it any more as it because it became obvious that all it did was improve cosmetics which I have no interest in. I even stopped using a Sharpmaker months ago and I had only been using it mainly for constrained trials.

-Cliff

 

[Chad Ward]

I've decided that I want to buy an Edge Pro Apex for my birthday. One thing I want to do with it is reprofile my large Sebenza from 20 degrees down to 15. How would you guys reccomend I do this. Do I need the coarse stones to do it?

Also, would you reccomend the polishing tapes, or a good strop?

One aspect of reprofiling your Sebenza that hasn't been mentioned yet is the problem of the thumbstud. You can lay the blade flat on the off side and sharpen or reprofile all the way to the ricasso/plunge line. You can't do that on the stud side. This is not as big a problem on a benchstone or belt sander, but on systems where the blade is intended to lie flat, the thumbstud gets in the way.

As much as I like my Edgepro, I don't use it on knives with studs.

If I'm missing some brilliant (and probably obvious) trick or tip, I'm sure somebody will chime in quickly.

Take care,
Chad

 

[cbwx34]

Cliff,

Once again, you have attempted to change the path on something when you're caught. Where, a few posts ago, you recommended not using the EP stone because it would wear out too fast, and change the angle, now you completely ignore that and post a section that it will take too long.... obviously because your first post didn't hold water.

I can hardly wait to read a review of a product that you now haven't used in several years. That should be very educational... must be a branch of science I'm not aware of. Does work on Infomercials though. Interesting that you state all it does is "improve cosmetics"... considering an Edge Pro sharpening ranked top in 6 out of 8 categories in your "World's Greatest Sharpener" contest. Suggests that it does a little more than "improve cosmetics"... or will you be changing the results of that too... now that it no longer fits in with your current view on sharpening?

Let's see in the last couple of weeks, you've redefined the definition of a convex edge, stropping, and now an Edge Pro and Sharpmaker don't work. What's next???

cbw

 

[cbwx34]

Chad,

On some knives, I use a padded pair of pliers and remove the stud. If that's not an option, I set the blade table up so that I can tilt the knife in, and sharpen the area near the bolster (similar to how you would angle the knife so that the stud doesn't hit a belt or stone), then reset it and sharpen the rest of the knife.

cbw