EZE Sharpmaker

Hi all, haven't been on the forum for a while. I got my kit and here's some observations: It comes with 1 frame that accomodates 8x2 stone. The other frame that it comes with will fit 8x2 or 9x3 stone. I'm setting both for 8x2. Now, I went over to online metals.com and ordered 2 Al flat bar 8x2x1. This is extruded Al so it's very flat. When they come I will put PSA lapping film on the surfaces. If you think about it you only use the surface of the stone. At about 20cents an application, it's affordable. So, I've been messing with the machine. It's VERY sturdy. You need at least 3" overhang on your bench for the clamp to work. The "100mm flipover" has an angle adjustment. Since it has 72 teeth it increments in 5 degree only. This is nice if you want to increase the bevel on your edge. For me the "T-Bar" is what I am going to use for my angle. It's 225mm from the knife edge to the T-bar roller. You can raise/lower the T-bar in 1mm increments. You don't need to be a trig expert to see that you can adjust for fractions of a degree. They suggest you put the t-bar at 40mm and the angle at 15 or 20. I plan to put the angle at 0 and the t-bar at about 50mm. This should make the edge 16 degrees total. I'll know alot more when my Al comes. I will keep you informed as long as there is interest in the subject.
 
Sorry...I forgot to address the 10 degree angle issue. The clamp itself does not get in the way. There is however a 4" semi circular piece that uses 2 allen bolts to really cause the clamp to be super tight on the knife. I would suggest not tightening these bolts too tight because your knife is not going anywhere even if theyre kinda loose . Anyway, it looks like a total knife edge angle of less than 10 degrees will but your stone onto this piece. If you need to go 10 or less then you would need to file the flat surface of the semi circular piece down about 1/32" to get extra clearance. Once again, I will know alot more about the device when my 8x2x1 aluminum pieces arrive. That will probably be early next week.
 
Hi David,

Thanks very much for the info on the EZESharp. Did you buy the set with the stone for $97, also did you have to pay extra for the 2nd frame? or did the $97 set comes with 2 frames?
 
I just bought the basic kit (no stone), it cost $87.50. I believe all the kits come with the 2 stone frames. 1 is 8x2 and the other has 2 sets of holes and can hold 8x2 or 9x3. I don't really like stones...I'm more of a "Scary Sharp" method guy. Also, the frame ends are 1/2" and I don't see why they wouldn't work ok with a 3/4" thick stone. However, I am going to use 1" thick Al "stones" just because they talk about using 1" stuff in the instructions. For an extra couple of bucks I don't feel like screwing around.
 
Hi David,

Can I use stones not exactly 8 X 2 X 1 e.g.

7 7/8 X 2 7/8 X 1/2

or must I use stones exactly spot on.

There are not that many stones exactly matching 8 X 2 X 1. Where do you get your stones from?

Thanks
 
Bill, yeah you can accommodate that stone: You would have to use the 3" frame with the side rods from the 8x2" frame to match the length and width. For the 1/2" thickness: the ends are 1/2" thick so you would have to center the stone with it sticking up 1/16" on one side and then you would not be able to use the other side without loosening the clamps and moving the stone so that it sticks out 1/16" on the other side. As I said earlier, I am not going to use a stone. I am going to put 3M lap film on a 8x2x1 piece of extruded Al in place of a stone. My supplies haven't arrived yet, but I will be glad to share my experience with you once I have had a chance to try it out.
I wanted to say something about the 10 degree question: I have a knife that is 0.7" wide from the top to the beginning of the cutting edge and it is 0.12" thick at the top. It tapers evenly to the cutting edge on both sides with a constant slope. If you do the math you will find that the knife has a 10 degree total angle by virtue of it's construction. If I wanted to put a 10 degree cutting edge on this knife, the stone would be touching the entire side of the knife! Is this something you really want to do? If you wanted to apply a 16 degree total cutting edge angle the math shows that the stone would be 0.037" above the top of the knife. This seems more reasonable to me.
 
Hi David,

I just ordered one this morning, the set with the stone and also an extra frame.
 
Metallicat,
Sorry I just now saw your question about trigger weight. I usually get 3.5 to 4 pounds, but they break very clean with no creep. I won't cut coils off the mainspring although I do use a slightly reduced power one. Have only series 70 style so no firing pin block so use extra power spring. Also won't bend the sear spring left 2 leafs too much either. I'd rather go with a heavier trigger and not have to worry about follow-thru or beating up my sear on the hammer's containment notch... as long as it has a clean crisp feel. I am hoping that some of my gun knowledge will carry over into the sharpening arena.
 
I use a reduced power mainspring, but do not bend the sear spring. I use Clark's with 4 fingers. "clean crisp feel" is the way to go. :thumbup: some of the smiths I know bend the sear spring and the feel is smooth with no creep but not crisp...different strokes. I think some of the file work bleeds over to knives.
 
More info: minimum total edge would be 15 degrees and the knife would have to be at least an inch wide otherwise 17.5 degrees. This device just loves big knives. The bigger the better. I will have to do a minor mod so that I can sharpen my 2-3 inch blades. It's like land of the freaking giants with this thing. Also I was wrong about the knife holder angle adjuster: 5 degrees increases the TOTAL edge angle 5 degrees. Also, this system is sort of a trig rise over run type system, so it's important to note hard far out the knife sticks in the holder. I don't want to have to remember that and match it every time, so: For repeatability, what I am going to do is adjust the T bar so that the stone holder is parallel to the knife holder (17.5 degrees) then I am going to use 17.5, 22.5, 27.5, 32.5 etc degree angles only it makes it easier. Anyway, I have been working at flattening my aluminum "stones". It's surprisingly slow and I've only done one side so far. When I get done I am going to sharpen something probably the biggest knife I can find.
 
Hi David,

I just got my EZESharp today with a carborundum stone made in USA and a bottle of oil. Any tips for me to assemble it? Do you need to put vaseline on the metal rod to reduce friction? Also let me know about the sandpaper on your aluminium stones and how it's working out. I bought an extra pack of Allen screws.

Thanks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top