EdgePro Question

[Toys4Boys]

Well I recently received an EdgePro fron BronksKnifeWorks w/ the 180, 320 & 600 grit stones. First of all I have to say that I am sharpening challenged and even w/ this setup I am better at taking an edge off of a knife than getting it really sharp let alone scary sharp ! Oh well I'll keep practising.

Of the three stones the 320 & 600 grit are the same thickness while the 180 grit is quite a bit thicker. I assume this is because this stone might get the hardest use if you are reprofiling an edge but doesn't that change the angle relative to the other stones?

Thanks

 

[brownshoe]

I believe it's thicker becase it works by loosing its surface so it always presents a coarse grain to your blade. In other words, this stone will wear the quickest, thus its thicker to work well and last long.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

... doesn't that change the angle relative to the other stones?

Yes, and it should be at a lower angle for more efficient sharpening.

-Cliff

 

[DGG]

Toys,

Welcome to the knife party.

I'll give you a secret about sharpening knife that you must swear not to share with anyone not on bladeforums.

You should take a magic marker (a Sharpie) and run it along the edge of the blade so the edge is nice and dark. Then start your sharpening process. You should not see any black when finished. Do this with each grit/stone as you sharpen.

Just be sure to completely sharpen the edge with each stone (so it feels pretty sharp) before moving onto the next one. Each stone should make the knife feel sharp. You should get a "burr" with each stone before moving to the next one. This burr is a very little thin layer of metal along the entire blade that is bent over to the other side from the one your are sharpening. If not, keep sharpening. You can feel it with your thumb.

I have had knives that take twenty strokes to sharpen and other that took two hundred. Lots of folks think you can just use so many strokes of one stone and then move onto the next higher stone/grit. This is what the sharpener instructions imply. Sometime it doesn't work very well. You have to be sharp from the get-got at each stage.


If the knife is very dull then you may have to reprofile it at about a 30 degree angle and then sharpen at 40 degrees. The reprofiling can be done with just the course stone. It reduces the blade width and has to be done to get a good edge otherwise the edge is too chubby and acts more like an axe than a knife, do you understand?

When I first got serious about sharpening I practiced with my wife's kitchen knives at the beginning. She didn't seem to mind that I was doing knife stuff! Some were a real challenge.

When you get the hang of what a sharp knife is like and can get a decent edge then you can try free hand sharpening with a whet-stone.

It is a interesting skill. Cutting with a nicely sharpened knive makes life much easier.

 

[Toys4Boys]

Thanks all.

Cliff, perhaps I didn't pay close enough attention when I read the instructions regarding establishing the angle or perhaps it doesn't address the issue of different thicknesses, real men don't read instructions , either way I will adjust my technique.

DGG, thanks for taking the time to detail your experiences I think it will be very helpful.

I am also wondering about a couple of other issues. When you lay the knife on the bed do you lay it flat or do you try to lay only the flat part of the blade flat. After trying to lay just the flat part of the blade on the bed I am thinking that it probably is a lot easier and probably more consistent from 1 end of the blade to the other to just lay the blade flat. The other thing that I am struggling w/ is the tip of the blade, I find it particularlly difficult to get a good point.

Thanks again.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

When you lay the knife on the bed do you lay it flat or do you try to lay only the flat part of the blade flat.

Which is ever easier to keep stable.

The other thing that I am struggling w/ is the tip of the blade, I find it particularlly difficult to get a good point.

If you want to keep the angle the same as on the rest of the blade you have to sweep the blade down to keep the stone perpendicular, this takes some skill. The easiest way is to not move the blade which will result it the tip having a slightly finer angle.

-Cliff