edgepro

This is why people should start sharpening by hand.... when they lern to do it well, any system they use later, will give excelent results with 1/10th of the difficulty.

I started by stones, later moved to a sharpmaker and only recentlly bought an apex.
In the apex by my 2nd knife, I was able to put a great sharpened polished edge in 15-20 minutes. (To do that by hand, I almost had to spent an entire afternoon) So I was pretty impressed how fast and easy that system was.

clamping a knife on the edge pro, would certainlly give less trouble, but would have downsides as stated, it would scratch the blade, and for big knifes would require to clamp and to reclamp constantly. Some knifes have some strange configuration or the back bevel is very long, that may not hold well, and then as ben does, you just lay the knife where it is more confortable - most of the times in the second bevel angle - adjust the angle and sharpen that way.
 
FWIW I've sharpened my knives by hand for 35 years, I've always been able to get an edge that shaves hair. I have sharpened aout 20 knives so far with my Apex, and the results have been acceptable, just not that "professional" edge I expected. Perhaps I do need more practice.

Thanks for the advice.

Rob
 
Same reason I got rid of my Apex, Rob. I didn't see the merit in setting up a system just so I would still have to hold the knife steady while moving the stone. Your hands still ultimately control the angle, same with the Sharpmaker, so I just went back to freehand.
 
Start with your largest kitchen knives--long chef's knives, cleavers, anything big. Once you train your arms and get the muscle memory, it's easy and fast to hog off a lot of steel rebeveling, or get a razor-sharp mirror edge with the finer stones. It just takes a little practice with larger knives. As was said, don't overhold the knife or the stone. Also, if I'm really getting fussy, I re-ink the edge every time I flip the knife. Really helps me see exactly what is going on.
 
I prefer sharpening by hand with stones or a belt-sander, but the EdgePro makes precision very easy.

On those knives that won't lie still, get some of that putty used to hold posters to walls without marring the paint or wallpaper and use that on the blade table. Voila! No more wobbling.
 
TO ANYONE who has given up on his Apex. Send it to me. I'll take it off your hands so you have room for newer/better toys. This sacrafice is my way of saying thanks for your help in this forum:):):)
 
to hold it in place easily without clamping use a denture adhesive. i have used it many times for different things and it works great!
 
Recoil Rob said:
FWIW I've sharpened my knives by hand for 35 years, I've always been able to get an edge that shaves hair. I have sharpened aout 20 knives so far with my Apex, and the results have been acceptable, just not that "professional" edge I expected. Perhaps I do need more practice.

Thanks for the advice.

Rob
Click to expand...

Rob, how do you hold the knife?
I use my hand in a supinated position (with the palm upward), and hold the
knife that way, it helps me to get a steadier hand than in a pronated hold.
If the knife is still moving too much, lay it on it's second bevel and change the angle a bit to match and check with the pen marking.

Probably, you could also expected too much from this system, but IMO is one of the best around.
 
ChuckBuck said:
My question is, can you use the EdgePro Apex or Pro model, to get an edge fine enough to shave arm hairs with ease?
Click to expand...

It will get knives a LOT sharper than just shaving arm hair. Shoot me a PM with your address, and I'll send you one of my knives that I sharpened on the EdgePro. Just admit publicly on this forum that you won't sue me when you cut yourself! :D

I've often discovered, 5 or 10 minutes later, that I was bleeding, and didn't know that I had cut myself. You can do it too.
 
You know the guy I talked about (John) he taught us to sharpen freehand before he was deployed, he also said if we want a good edge w/out the learning curve to get an edge guide (RazorEdge). I can't do knives 1/100 as good as him freehand, but he will concede that at the very least I match him if I use that guide. ;););)
I knowyou sold 1 called the Honemaster, maybe you should start making them again (& send a few to me):D.
 
I usually get to sharpen all of my friends knives as nobody else has this skill. If they are knife abusers I do not give them a knife with a supreme hair popping edge. With a hair scraping edge with a thicker profile they give it back to me less often. Most people are not knife/sharp snobs like us so any edge I put on exceeds their expectations. If they are abusers the pristine edge is gone in seconds so why should I put tons of extra effort into sharpening. If I sharpen a knife lovers knife then it gets a great slicing edge. Often I will discuss what kind of edge they are looking for before starting (and often get a blank stare as a response). Kind of a return on investments thing- perhaps this is why your knife wasn't sharpened to a high level.
 
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