I am a new knifemaker trying to produce quality blades. One area that I want to emphasize is the cleanliness and sharpness of my secondary bevels. I've decided that the Edgepro system makes sense for me but I'm not sure which one to go with. It appears the Apex models are made of plastic whereas the Pro line are aluminum. My knives tend to be 58-59hrc and I grind most edges to 15-20 thousandths. More that three knives in a week is unlikely. I will probably pick up a extra coarse diamond stone to do initial rough-in on the edges. Can the Apex hold up to this kind of use or should I spent the extra $200 for the Pro?
Bob
Get the base model Pro Kit , and upgrade to some high quality aftermarket stones. They are much faster and actually more cost effective long term. Saving you money short term by saving time , and saving money long term by replacing stones less often. Some high quality aftermarket stones to look at are Shapton , Chosera and Nubatama.
If you deal with high hardness ,high vanadium ,abrasion resistant steels than you are going to want a full set of Atoma Plates. From there it becomes a question of how refined you want to take your edges. For a knifemaker who wants to do high quality work I would probably send out something in the 5k-15k range. But you could stop at the 1200 and send out respectable edges with some practice.
Some combos to consider based on your low RC numbers mentioned..
Atoma 140 , Nubatama Bamboo 150 , Choseras 400 , 600 , 1k , 2k , 5k and 10k
Atoma 140 , Nubatama Bamboo 150 , Shapton 220 , 1k , 1500 , 2k , 5k , 8k , 15k
Atoma 140 , Nubatama Bamboo 150 , 1k Speckled UME , 2k Speckled Ume , 5k Bamboo , 10k Bamboo
Notice the two stones in each lineup? They should be a part of every serious sharpeners lineup.
