EdgePro vs. Sharpmaker

BBQ BOY

BBQ BOY

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Feb 24, 2009
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I have an EdgePro now and have difficulty getting my knives sharp. I am a rookie at sharpening knives and have a lot of expensive knives. I do not wan to mess those up but I just do not see where the Sharpmaker is superior or easier to operate as some have told me.
What do y'all use for your CRK's?
 
I have an Edgepro, a Sharpmaker and a DMT Aligner. They are all excellent tools and work well in different situations.

If you can't get a knife shaving sharp with an Edgepro you are definitely doing something wrong. I would suggest you look at your technique prior to simply changing tools.

Stick with the Edgepro, go buy yourself 2 or 3 really cheap knives and practice on them until you get the knack of it.
 
I have both. I only use the Edgepro to reprofile my knives. I've reprofiled 2 Small Sebenza and have widen the bevels SIGNIFICANTLY. Although they aren't pretty anymore, they definitely slice a lot better. My Edgepro hasn't even come close to my Insingo. As others have said, you should pick up a few cheapies to learn how to properly do the belly/tip of the knife. I went to my Sebenza less then 30minutes doing my first knife. :eek:

I use the SM religously as it is so simple to use. It takes a mere minute to take it out and setup. Once your initial bevels match the SM, touch up is a breeze. 10-15 strokes on fine => Ultra fine and you are back to hair whittling sharp.:thumbup:
 
use a sharpie to mark the bevel. if you are removing ink from the tip of the bevel only, the stone is too high. if you are removing ink from the back of the bevel, it's too low. this will help you get your angles matched up.
 
the Sharpmaker is really good at keeping an edge extremely sharp. However, it is definitely not the best tool for re-profiling/back beveling an edge. That's the Edgepro's strong point, i think.

The sharpmaker is just extremely easy to use to maintain an edge, compared to traditional freehand.
 
I have a sharpmaker and I love it, BUT there are a few knives that I have trouble with. It could be the knife you are trying to sharpen. I have made knives from the dollar store shave the hair right off my are while my Benchmade laughs at me every time I try to sharpen it. I use the 40 degree side all the time. To back bevel a knife you better have the diamond rods or a lot of time. Stick with the 40 degree and only use the corners on both rods not the flat sides. I have found that I mess the knife edge up sometimes when I go to the flat side. Let the knife do the rods do the work. Harder is not always better. The rods you have are harder than the steel you have just let them do the work. I suck at other stones but when it comes to the Sharpmaker I can get knives sharp. I picked up a Spyderco Manix 2 the other day and used the sharpmaker to make it razor sharp. So sharp that I could shave the hair off my face. Hope this helps....
 
Use the Edge Pro to reprofile and the Sharpmaker to maintain. I dont have either but IMO is the best combo in the world. Currently I reprofile with a Lansky kit (17* inclusive) and maintain with a Lansky Turn Box kit (20* inclusive for a micro bevel) (no cash for something more expensive at the moment).

Get a kitchen knife and practice on that with the edge pro till you are satisfied. Practice makes perfect.
 
I rather use a leather strop charged with bark river compounds. this leaves the knife very sharp, and take no metal of the blade. the only thing is that you must develope the skill.
 
sjhong said:
Is there any special technique to address the belly?
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Consistency. I use an imaginary radius that keeps the edge at a right angle to the sharpening media. For example, on the sharpmaker, raise the butt of the knife as you proceed along the belly. But holding the knife flat through the stroke will work also, as long as you do it the same every time.

cofade2black said:
this leaves the knife very sharp, and take no metal of the blade.
Click to expand...

You funneh. :D
 
I agree with never too sharp's method.

I have only a couple of sharpening tools, the Sharpmaker and a small diamond rod sharpener. I mostly just use the Sharpmaker; it isn't the best system for reprofiling, but it can work at that, if you're hesitant to remove too much metal too quickly. I used my SM to reprofile/thin out the edges of a Sebenza, a BM Stryker, a Buck Odyssey, and a very old Emerson CQC7-A, and it worked very well, but took a long time, esp. on the Seb. To reprofile, I used the 30 deg. setting (15 deg. per side), then finished with the 40 (20 per side) setting. Also, if you use the flats of the rods, do not slide the tip all the way past/off the surface, or you could possibly round the tip. I always stop the stroke on the flats with the tip in the middle of the flat, then gently move the knife away from the rod.

To simply maintain a sharp edge, the SM is easy as pie.
Jim
 
sjhong said:
Is there any special technique to address the belly?
Click to expand...

Watch the video on the EP site to understand how to properly do it. You can also write them an email to have them explain it to you.
 
You should list out the steps your taking to sharpen with your EP, and what you expect when you say "sharp". Shaving sharp shouldn't be a problem.
 
Goldistheanswer said:
Using the compound, stropping absolutely takes metal off of the blade.
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what I meant to say is it takes very little metal off. I have found this is the best way to sharpen a sebenza, works for me. the edge is a slight convex edge so it needs to be sharpened in more that manner. it takes skill sharpen on a strop and would recogmend sharpening on a cheap knife till you gain the skill. most of all I think you should find what works for you, I have been through the edge pro, sharpmaker,dmt sharpener, smiths sharpener, even japan water stones, and I have had better luck with a strop. you do not always have to sharpen a knife, just keep the burr off. it is true that your knife will last longer if you maintain the edge.
 
I have both and use both. I think I remember having to use it a few times before I got the knack of it.

" use a sharpie to mark the bevel. if you are removing ink from the tip of the bevel only, the stone is too high. if you are removing ink from the back of the bevel, it's too low. this will help you get your angles matched up"

Good advise! I use a set of head magnifiers so I can really get a good look at how the primary stone is taking off the metal. I purposely align my angle at less than 40 degrees, so I can use my sharpmaker in the 40 degrees slots to keep my edge razor sharp.

Make sure you are using plenty of water on the stone when you are lapping the edge. I use a spray bottle and squirt the stone every few strokes or so.

Keep your eye on that sharpied edge: When you've hit the entire bevel of the blade, work the opposite side until it's blackened edge is shiny.

When you get to the wire edge, depending on how toothy you want the final edge, switch to the next stone and gently stroke each bevel until the wire edge comes off. You'll know it when it happens.

Then you can switch over to the white stones on your sharpmaker and hit each bevel (light, even touch goes a long way) several times. Drag each bevel across your thumbnail to see if the entire wire edge has been removed.

Once you've mastered this, you will be carrying a pocket razor:D
 
Use a strop, IMO. The knife comes with a convex edge afterall.

For me, stropping is much easier than using stones freehand, and there is essentially *zero* danger that you will scratch the blade like with stones. I use one of these:
http://www.jreindustries.com/strops.htm

i start with 2000 grit sandpaper laid over the strop and then go black, green, white and no compound. Very light pressure (just the blade weight) and a fairly narrow angle is the key. You can find the angle by running the blade the opposite direction along the strop (i.e., with the edge facing the same direction you are moving the knife), starting with the blade flat and then slowly raising the angle. When the blade "catches" the leather, that's your angle.
 
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