EdgePro Apex Question

T

thombrogan

Joined
Nov 16, 2002
Messages
9,948
For owners of the EdgePro Apex:

How many of you bought yours online on an auction site or a place like BestKnives and were you able to get the base kit & upgrade for less than the suggested retail price?

For owners and other users of the EdgePro Apex:

What's the learning curve on that machine? I'm coming from a Sharpmaker environment and want to be able to keep most of my knives looking pretty. I also want to finally put a really sharp edge on my Boker Applegate Carebear and wasn't able to do so with the Sharpmaker (clearly pilot error as the Sharpmaker is outstanding in its own right).

Thanks in advance!
 
I got mine direct from Edge Pro.

It's absolutely brilliant, just got back from sharpening another 4 knives with it.
I'm finding the best thing about it is that it let's you go back and easilly repair old sharpening mistakes (especially those freehand sharpening mistakes ;) ), including the dreaded rounded tip.

I'm one of those people that takes a while to learn new tricks (but once I've got it, I've got it good), but I would say for me the learning curve was about two knives, after that it was all plain sailing.

Two bits of advice. Spend the extra couple of $'s and get the video to go with the set, and go slow and don't press too hard when starting off.

For more info here's a review I did of the Apex the day after I used it for the first time.
 
Got mine from Dale at EdgePro it took about a week to sharpen enough different knives to get the hang of it, best advice I can give you is to keep the stones soaking in a bowl or jar when using them, this will keep them from loading up, and if you think your not pushing hard enough, your probably pushing to hard.
 
Please order direct from Dale. Great guy, let me mix and match the stones I wanted. I use only the 180 and 320. Most of my big using knives I use the 180 and finish up with a Sharpmaker just to knock off the wire edge. I like a toothy edge on real using knives. I did a Randall #15 in about 6 minutes from a very worn out edge to shaving sharp. It was amazing, I got his number off the internet and dialed it into my cell phone just so I would have it the next day (it was after 8:00 pm Texas time). Within a few minutes, he called me back and we chatted for 15 minutes, caller ID is amazing. Super guy. A few bucks saved elsewhere is trivial compared to that kind of service.
 
Thanks, guys! That's the type of inof I was looking for. I have a bid on an Apex w/upgrade kit, but I'll order direct if it doesn't go through and will definitely order the video.

Thanks again!
 
Got mine from Ben about a year and a half ago. I suggest starting out on cheap knives. Questions will pop up and Ben will answer them in less than 5 seconds. After a few exchanges you'll probably know everything that you need to know. If another question pops up Ben will immediately answer it by phone or email and you'll be off and running.
I'd say that I was an "expert" after about 8 knives. It's a tremendous instrument where you can achieve perfection. I like to stop at the 600 grit and not go to the 3000 grit finishing tape because I prefer some micro-serrations (or whatever you'd call them).
Recurves are just as easy as straight blades. You'll be doing the work with the corners rather than the flat part, but the process is the same.
Some blades don't have enough flat area to lay securely on the table. There are some tricks for that as well, but Ben can explain better than I.
That's about it. Most sharpeners are great once mastered. The Edge Pro Apex is one of them and my personal favorite. I'm probably going to give just regular stones a try and see what happens.
 
Just ordered the Apex, upgrade kit, and video from Ben. So maybe in a week or so, I'll have stories of my success and failure. It'll be cool to put hair-popping edges on butter knives.
 
I have a question about the edgepro.....I read on the website that it will sharpen any knife up to 3.5" wide on the Apex and 5.25" on the pro model. So if I decided to purchase this item I would not be able to sharpen my 6" or 7" knives is this correct or am I misunderstanding the specs on the item.

Thanks
jd
 
Wide is meaning from the spine to the cutting edge. If you have a blade that is 7" wide, it had better be a cleaver!
 
In answer to your question, I found the Edgepro pretty simple to master. It took about 15 minutes or so. Now it's quite fast and I use it in place of powered sharpeners for all my personal knives. I even do some professional sharpening with it for local chefs with Japanese knives. I think it is the best manual sharpener in the business.
 
Sgt 127 is right order direct. They let me get the two stones that fit my needs and talked me out of things I didn't need.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top