EdgePro....opinions?

allyourblood said:
my pal from work just bought and received the apex "deluxe" system, and put it to use. he brought in two knives today, a Buck 119 and his AFCK...

i'm floored. period. i've never seen such a beautiful edge. i don't know how he (or any of you with the E-Pro) did it! simply amazing. symmetrical, continously even bevels, mirror-polished to perfection. better than factory by leagues. the most amazing part was that he never practiced; he just "started".

so, that's not a review, just a reaction to someone who's seen the work of the E-Pro up close and in person, with no previous knowledge. i'm gettin' one, i just don't know when. how in the heck am i gonna justify this one to the wife?!

abe m.
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If she cooks....Just sharpen her kitchen knives with the thing...That will convert her. And if she has a roast beef blade be sure and read how he says to sharpen it. At the angle he specs for a roast beef blade, I would almost be afraid to try to do the shave test with it!
 
jamesraykenney said:
If she cooks....Just sharpen her kitchen knives with the thing...That will convert her. And if she has a roast beef blade be sure and read how he says to sharpen it. At the angle he specs for a roast beef blade, I would almost be afraid to try to do the shave test with it!
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i already screwed this for myself. she knows i can get her knives scary sharp on the 204 already. and she knows i already have a strop... bleh. i'll just do what i always do, which is to hem and haw over the thing for a week or two, and then just buy it. then i tell the wife after it's already here. i'm such a bastard. :D

btw, my buddy did say i could borrow it from him for a week or so and test it out, so that's pretty cool.

abe m.
 
has anyone ever asked ben to loan or donate an apex for a permanent pass around ? I bet this site sells a lot of them for him?
 
Shadow213 said:
I've been thinking about getting an EdgePro system, is it as good people say it is?
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Yes.

2004_1125RSK_cut_test0013.jpg


See my post on the British Blades website describing how I sharpened my Ritter Grip, and the results I got.

Buy the Edge Pro Apex. Don't debate it any longer; just give nice Mr. Dale the money!

maximus otter
 
Jay_Wyatt said:
has anyone ever asked ben to loan or donate an apex for a permanent pass around ? I bet this site sells a lot of them for him?
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There was an Apex passaround/raffle maybe a year ago. As I recall it was very popular. If you'd like to do a new one, start a new thread, I bet you'll find ten takers very quickly. Just be warned that organizing one isn't as easy as it might seem. It can be done, but you have to be organized.
 
I love my Edgepro Pro model. I figured if I have a drawer full of $80-300 knives I might as well invest in a good sharpening system. What good is a bunch of expensive knives if they aren't sharp? It's like buying a Ferrari and never taking it to the garage. I remember the first time I went through the steps and finished up with the polishing tape and looked at my mirror polished edge.

These days I don't usually finish my edge with the Edgepro, I reprofile my edges to 15 degrees per side with the Edgepro and then take them to the Sharpmaker which is set at 20 degrees per side. A few swipes on the white rods, followed buy a few swipes on the ultra-fine white rods and I have a hair popping edge which is easy to touch up anytime I want. I usually just touch up on the ultra-fine rods as it removes less metal and just straightens the edge and polishes it back up.
 
Wade, how did you reprofile your BM 710 recurve with the Edge Pro? (My 710 needs reprofiling badly, and my local shop has ordered an Edge Pro for me that should arrive in a couple of weeks.) I've read some recurve/Edge Pro stories in older threads, but some of them sounded more like theory than things people had successfully done.

:confused:
 
Keith Mayton said:
Wade, how did you reprofile your BM 710 recurve with the Edge Pro? (My 710 needs reprofiling badly, and my local shop has ordered an Edge Pro for me that should arrive in a couple of weeks.) I've read some recurve/Edge Pro stories in older threads, but some of them sounded more like theory than things people had successfully done.

:confused:
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I actually have a BM710HSSR. :) If I did it again I'd get the plain edge, but because I got mine with the combo edge there is no recurve to worry about. I just touch up the serrations with the Sharpmaker. I find the blade is large enough that I have enough plain edge for most things and the serrations come in handy at times.

I'm not sure how it would be to sharpen the recurve on the Edgepro. You might want to email Ben Dale to see what he recommends. Maybe he makes a triangular stone for serrations that you could use? Or you could reprofile most of it with the EdgePro, from the tip to the start of the recurve, and then do the recurve with the Sharpmaker. Then finish with a 20 degree edge along the whole blade's edge.
 
WadeF said:
Or you could reprofile most of it with the EdgePro, from the tip to the start of the recurve, and then do the recurve with the Sharpmaker. Then finish with a 20 degree edge along the whole blade's edge.
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i believe this is what i've read in the past. seems like a good solution.

abe m.
 
EdgePro offer a 1/2 inch hone for sharpening re curve blades.
I have not ordered one as I have not had any difficulty re sharpening the one re curve blade in my collection. It is a Kershaw 'Scallion' and it came up beautifully.
I used the edges of the hones. They rounded over a bit but this is of no consequence. It takes a little longer to do but the results are great.
 
I use the EdgePro for reprofiling, making a mirror polished back bevel, and a final edge at an angle that's easy for touching up with the Sharpmaker. It doesn't get used as much as the Sharpmaker, but it makes grinding a new edge relatively quick and easy. Works fine on recurves-I've used it on several from 3" ArcLites to a 14" Becker Patrol Machete with good results. You just have to keep the edge perpendicular to the stone as much as possible. On a deeper recurve, the standard stones can't quite handle the small curve and you get one little section at the start of the recurve that loses its curve and takes on more of a wide inverted "v" shape that actually forces the material being cut into a sharper angled front recurve which makes it cut even more aggressively, so I have no complaints. The only problem I have is holding the blade just so to get the tip right. If you go too fast, and don't pay attention, the tip gets rounded off. Works great, just don't expect it to do ALL the work for you!
 
I really appreciate the advice -- now I have at least three options to experiment with. When I get it, I'll start with a recurved Kershaw vapor to try them out.

My idea is basically the same as several of you have mentioned: create a 30 degree inclusive edge bevel with the Edge Pro, and then use the flats of the Sharpmaker fine and extra fine rods at 40 degrees to maintain the edge. I've been able to use this method on the factory edges of several Spydercos and even other Benchmades that came with edge bevels set somewhere between 30 and 40 degrees.

But my 710 came with one side set at more than 20 degrees. I really don't want to use the Sharpmaker to reprofile it, even though I know it would be possible (buy time-consuming). Besides, I want those sharp bevels on my better knives.

Thanks again! :)
 
The Edge Pro Apex is brilliant. The only problem I have now is stopping myself putting a mirror polished edge on all my knives, even the ones that would benefit from a coarser edge :D

The thing that decided me to get the Apex was the time that I had a BG-42 blade that needed severe reprofiling. Dog knows what it was hardened to, but it was certainly a lot harder than other BG-42 blades I have.
My first port of call was the Sharpmaker with the optional diamond hones. These things cut very slowly on this particular blade, and near the end I found that through tiredness the edge I was producing was distintly convex. After a couple hours I gave up, still not having got the bevels to meet. Then I thought of sending the knife to Ben Dale to see what he could do. The knife came back with perfect mirror polished bevels and a note to say that this knife took him all of 15 minutes for a full reprofile (to correct my mistakes, although he was too polite to say so ;) ) because the steel was harder than he normally experienced.

The truth be told, I hadn't really intended to buy an Edge Pro, I just wanted to see what it was capable of. But on seeing the results I was hooked, and have never regretted the purchase.
 
Are you guys having any problems with the system scratching your blades? I've been considering ordering the pro model, but this is my main concern. From what I have read, it appears that some people have been using too much water.
 
ElectricZombie said:
Are you guys having any problems with the system scratching your blades? I've been considering ordering the pro model, but this is my main concern. From what I have read, it appears that some people have been using too much water.
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I did initially, but I have a system to get around this.
I now sharpen next to a source of running water (tap), and each time I go to change sides I briefly dip the blade under running water to wash the slurry off (MUST be done tip DOWN, to wash the slurry away from the pivot), and have a paper towel close by to mop the Edge Pro's bed if it gets wet.

This is mainly only an issue with reprofiling with the coarsest stones, as they tend to hold a lot more water than the other stones, which they also drain faster, and because of their softness produce a lot more slurry than the other stones.

It sounds a bit of a chore, but really I hardly notice I'm doing it.

Of course, on my harder working knives I don't bother with any of this ;)
 
I only experienced scratching on my first blade. Once bitten, I used blue masking tape on the table and occasionally on the blade.

It seems that scratching takes place mainly on re profiling jobs when allot of steel has to be removed and you are using coarse hones.

Remember these are water stones and are quite friable.
 
I tape the blade every time I use the coarse or medium stones. Not just the table, but the blade. yog's solutions sounds like a good one as well. I still recommend taping the blade since it's failsafe.
 
I have the EP too, and when I first got it, I wanted to put an edge on every POS knife I could get my hands on. I'm even tempted to clean up edges on my new knives.
 
I sharpen almost every new knife I get. So far Kershaw and Spyderco were the only ones I've gotten with great edges.
 
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