Eze Sharp Impressions

[sputnick]

I have been sharpening my knives by hand since i was first given a knife by my father many years ago. It was a black camillus boy scout knife. At the time i was using a carborundum stone my grandfather had used to sharpen his knives. It was badly dished bit i still managed to get that knife plenty sharp. I picked up better flat stones as i got a bit older (still couldnt drive). Ive had A norton 4000/8000 for 5 years or so that is my primary sharpening tool and using it i can easily get any of my knives shaving sharp.

Eventually i hit a wall where i wasnt able to get a knife any sharper simply because i could not hold the blade with less than 1 degree variance like i can with the eze sharp. Sharpening knives by hand has always been fun for me but i sought the next level in sharpness. A professional chef can certainly slice a tomato but when absolute precision is required a mandoline will beat out even the best on consistency.

Maybe its just me but im never satisfied. I can make a cappucino better than starbucks with a $100 dollar machine but with my $1000 setup and beans 3 days post roast i can make cappucinos and espressos that rival those made by national competition level baristas. I overclock my computer using liquid cooling, vapor phase refrigeration and thermoelectric junctions all in a hermetically sealed case to stave of condensation. And my corvette is dyno tuned for optimal air/fuel.

Once i get the bugs sorted out i will submit to Cliff stamps directory a sample of blades sharpened by hand and by the ezesharp and invite you all to do the same. It would be interesting to see just how sharp "sharp" really can be.


Just picked up the aluminum plates:

 

[Ben Dover]

Looks exciting. Please keep us advised.

 

[sog]

It is about steel and how to sharpen it. You mention maker and design not steel. Leeks come in different steel, e.g.: 440A, 440C, S30V, etc.

 

[sputnick]

sog: I thought all the black leeks were made in 440a. Mine is anyway. I dont know what the akonua is made out of and the socom is an older 154cm version. The chefs knife is laminated vg 10 i think. Im not brand loyal, just like what works for me on that note Im grinding a knife out of an old anealed file.

"Its about steel and how to sharpen it."

 

[sputnick]

Havent received a response from my last few emails to the Eze-Sharp guy. I'll wait another day or two and send another email off to Wolf Industries to see what he can do for me.

On a positive note I received my hand american stuff this morning. 2 sheets each of grits between 220 and 60,000. The "new" product he sent me for free to attach the abrasive sheets to the aluminum plates works great and i'm surprised no one here has thought of it. Glue sticks! Just plane old glue sticks. It keeps the abrasive from sliding around on the metal even with heavy pressure, there is almost no wait time after application, the abrasive peels right off when you want it to and remains reusable, and the glue is easy to remove from the metal.

For the initial test i chose a cheap chinese paring knife from the kitchen junk drawer because i dont care if the angles on either side of the edge arent the same. I cut a piece of 400grit paper and stuck it on the Al bar. 3 minutes later i had a perfectly flat and even edge and could see the wire burr the full length of the edge shear off and fall to the floor. There is no way i could have obtained that kind of precision by hand. The knife at 400grit easily shaves hair cleanly at skin level. I didnt bother to bring the edge up to any higher polish as it would be a waste of paper.

Initial impressions of the "Scary Eze-Sharp" approach are very positive. In the time it takes my waterstone to soak in water (15 minutes) I could have the Eze-sharp out of the closet, set up, and a knife already stupid sharp. Equiped with 2 double sided (lapped) Al blanks I can have 4 different grits set up at one time and changing grits takes no time at all. There is plenty of experimenting still to be done but it will have to wait until I've finished with my programming homework.

 

[alexmin]

How do you attach aluminum plate to the handle?
Can you make a picture of the back side of it?

Thanks

 

[sputnick]

The aluminum plate is 9"x1"x0.5". On either end (1"x0.5") there is a threaded hole that the guide rod and handle thread into in the same manner the stone frames attach to the rod and handle. The abrasive is cut to size (1"x9") and attached using a glue stick to either side of the Al blank. The metal was ordered from mcmaster carr and machined by a local shop.

 

[Ben Dover]

Before you guys get these contraptions set up, I can have a knife just as sharp with files/stones. I really don't understand why people won't learn to sharpen a knife by hand!
Bill

Bill, some people ar vey good at certain skills, and others aren't.

I sharpen my knives because I like sharp knives, just as I clean my guns because I like clean guns, NOT because I enjoy doing it.

Most of my knives will push cut newsprint. And most have been sharpened on the EzeSharp, Spyderco Sharpmaker, or old Crock Sticks.

I would like to always have knives that will push cut, but I doubt that I'll ever have any interest in freee hand sharpening.

Sometimes I think that there's more than a little "snobbery" among some of the "freehanders" here.

And BTW, I have a LOT of knives.

 

[sputnick]

Alright, well i never did get any info from the manufacturer but the guys and girls over at wolff industries were very helpful and sent me out a new flipover.

If you take a look at the photos it becomes pretty obvious what was causing the angles not to match when flipped. It was easy to overlook when i was trying to figure out what was up with it because the bad plates look to be matched up just as well as the good plates when on the unit. The flat plates on both flipovers were identical.

If you want to fix yours it looks like all it would take is to bend the bottom plate so it sits flat.

I just got it and only took a few quick measurements and ran a chinese kitchen knife in it. Seems to be checking out perfectly so far but i will do some further verification on the new unit as well as modifying the old plate to see if i can get the angles correct on that one too. Of course i will snap some more photos as well.


Top picture: Left is the good plate
Bottom picture: Right is the good plate