Full sharpmaker setup vs. edgepro cost

Anderdale · Dec 1, 2015

So if I buy a sharpmaker, ultra fine rods, and diamond rods I am looking at about $130 or so invested.

A ep apex is $225-255 on Amazon at the moment.

Is it worth the extra $100 or so to go ahead and get the apex? I have never sharpened a knife.

wvdavidr · Dec 1, 2015

I am going to vote 'yes' for the Edge Pro. The Sharpmaker is limited to 15 and 20 degrees per side. I have encountered many knives that were over 20 and present a problem. The EP has no trouble. You might want to get the EP now and add the basic Sharpmaker later as a maintenance tool.

Anderdale · Dec 1, 2015

Thanks for the reply. Do you think I would be getting ahead of myself with the apex as a beginner?

uxo2 · Dec 1, 2015

Sharpmaker

Mine is going on 20yrs.
Stupid simple..

Unless your one of those.. It must have a 15-20degree type of guys.

Realistically. You can get away with a regular SharpMaker
and use the rest to buy another knife !!!

Anderdale · Dec 1, 2015

Considering just getting the sharpmaker to start. I have just heard the diamond rods aren't the best and if I were to have to reprofile it would still take a long time. I do prefer a standard 20 degree though which the sp does. Is the sharpmaker sufficient for steels such as s35v and m390?

uxo2 said:
Sharpmaker

Mine is going on 20yrs.
Stupid simple..

Unless your one of those.. It must have a 15-20degree type of guys.

Realistically. You can get away with a regular SharpMaker
and use the rest to buy another knife !!!

flphotog · Dec 1, 2015

I'd go with the CBN rods rather than the diamond, rumor has it that they will at some point replace the Diamond anyway. All of my carry knives I keep at 40 degrees and my kitchen knives at 30 degrees so I don't have a problem with that. Re-profiling can be a pain but it's not all that bad. I don't have all that many knives and rarely do any major work so the extra cash for the Apex just isn't worth it.
You have to ask yourself if you really have enough knives to make the extra money.

bflying · Dec 1, 2015

Not comparable, apples to oranges. You really should have both to be effective. I say that very subjectively however. If the goal is to sharpen or touch up a knife here and there, no problem, start with an SM. If you have a collection with over 50+ knives (possibly with turnover), and/or are a heavy knife user and need work done often...you need both. Or if you are the type of person that buys a new knife, then immediately want to change, fix, or even out the edge....you will want both.

Not that you can't re-profile on a SharpMaker, but to me it's not fun. And if you examine edge geometry or bevel evenness, it's difficult to make perfectly even without guided system. Possible, sure. But requires a ton of practice, as any freehand technique does.

blanex1 · Dec 1, 2015

edge pro copy/clone,and use real EP.stones-about $75.and latter on get a sharpmaker!total about $123.

bucketstove · Dec 1, 2015

LeftyMatt said:
So if I buy a sharpmaker, ultra fine rods, and diamond rods I am looking at about $130 or so invested.

A ep apex is $225-255 on Amazon at the moment.

Is it worth the extra $100 or so to go ahead and get the apex? I have never sharpened a knife.

What kind of sharpness are you hoping for, just cutting stuff or face shaving?
Are you worried about cosmetics/even bevels?

Do you have a paring knife in the kitchen and a coffee cup?

Take a few minutes , grab a coffee cup and paring knife, turn cup upside down, and get some experience sharpening ...
it doesn't take a lot of equipment or high grits (like coffee cup)
or skill to cut some paper or shave arm hair,
just don't wobble the blade too much as you rub it on the unglazed portion of cup ...
keeping thumb on spine helps with wobble/keeping angle ...

see an old boyscout (jackknife) do it its Instinctive Knife Sharpening

For advanced version with a sharpening stone, rub however long it takes to raise a tiny bur, cut it off at elevated angle , shave how to sharpen a knife - Joe Calton

Anderdale · Dec 1, 2015

Thanks this make a lot of sense. I currently have a small collection but the knives I have use s35v and m390 on the higher end. So I was worried the sharpmaker wouldn't be able to handle them.

I am sure over time I will grow my collection but I see where to start a sharpmaker is probably enough. Later down the road I might upgrade to the apex.

bflying said:
Not comparable, apples to oranges. You really should have both to be effective. I say that very subjectively however. If the goal is to sharpen or touch up a knife here and there, no problem, start with an SM. If you have a collection with over 50+ knives (possibly with turnover), and/or are a heavy knife user and need work done often...you need both. Or if you are the type of person that buys a new knife, then immediately want to change, fix, or even out the edge....you will want both.

Not that you can't re-profile on a SharpMaker, but to me it's not fun. And if you examine edge geometry or bevel evenness, it's difficult to make perfectly even without guided system. Possible, sure. But requires a ton of practice, as any freehand technique does.

TravisH · Dec 1, 2015

Of course, you could buy one of those Edge Pro clones for $30, buy clone diamond 200, 500, 800 grits stones at $5 each, maybe even a 6-stone clone set for $10, all for $55.

For me, the Spyderco Sharpmaker does just about everything I need. I have all the SM rods and just ordered a pair of Eze-Lap Diamond Files in 250 grit.

But then, for serious repair/reprofile work, I preder to use my DMT Deluxe Aligner.

Anderdale · Dec 1, 2015

Do you lay the diamond files on the sharpmaker or do they require free hand?

TravisH said:
Of course, you could buy one of those Edge Pro clones for $30, buy clone diamond 200, 500, 800 grits stones at $5 each, maybe even a 6-stone clone set for $10, all for $55.

For me, the Spyderco Sharpmaker does just about everything I need. I have all the SM rods and just ordered a pair of Eze-Lap Diamond Files in 250 grit.

But then, for serious repair/reprofile work, I preder to use my DMT Deluxe Aligner.

bflying · Dec 1, 2015

LeftyMatt said:
Do you lay the diamond files on the sharpmaker or do they require free hand?

The sharpmaker is totally free hand. You can lay the stones in the top grooves and use it similar to a bench stone. But it is designed to somewhat assist in the angles with preset 15&20 deg angles. So instead of the stone flat and the blade angled, the stones are angled and you freehand stroke the blade vertical. Like all freehand skills, the precision of the edge is directly related to how perfect you can keep the blade exactly vertical during the stroke, and not waver or twist your arm, wrist, or hand even a hair.

WuGod · Dec 2, 2015

bucketstove said:
What kind of sharpness are you hoping for, just cutting stuff or face shaving?
Are you worried about cosmetics/even bevels?

Do you have a paring knife in the kitchen and a coffee cup?

Take a few minutes , grab a coffee cup and paring knife, turn cup upside down, and get some experience sharpening ...
it doesn't take a lot of equipment or high grits (like coffee cup)
or skill to cut some paper or shave arm hair,
just don't wobble the blade too much as you rub it on the unglazed portion of cup ...
keeping thumb on spine helps with wobble/keeping angle ...

see an old boyscout (jackknife) do it its Instinctive Knife Sharpening

For advanced version with a sharpening stone, rub however long it takes to raise a tiny bur, cut it off at elevated angle , shave how to sharpen a knife - Joe Calton

That jackknife video was awesome. I actually started with the circle method, still use it time to time when I am grinding a lot of metal.

WolfSpring · Dec 2, 2015

Sharpmaker has my vote and if you really need reprofileing a lansky/gatco for 40 bucks save the rest.

Anderdale · Dec 2, 2015

WolfSpring said:
Sharpmaker has my vote and if you really need reprofileing a lansky/gatco for 40 bucks save the rest.

Would I really ever need more than a sharpmaker ? I have a left handed sebenza(s35) and a Ritter grip (m390) both with their factory edges. Anything that is super dull are cheaper Kershaws etc..

Over time I will be adding to my collection, but it would generally be new knives.

WolfSpring · Dec 2, 2015

I use my gatco for fixing broken tips and completely reprofiling messed up edges other than that my sharpmaker does everything I need I've got the diamond and the ultra fine and I rarely use the diamond but I buy a lot of used knives, fix them up and sell them at the flea market and sometimes I get one that someone grinded a horrible edge and I pull out the ultra course stone from the gatco,I could just use the diamond stone, or a coarse whetstone or even sandpaper block to do it but I like my gatco for that purpose, and I don't even use the guide when I do it, just by hand. I also use a carbide sharpener sometimes to set the angle on the messed up ones, if they have absolutely no edge.

So yes the sharpmaker will meet all your requirements.

TravisH · Dec 2, 2015

LeftyMatt said:
Do you lay the diamond files on the sharpmaker or do they require free hand?

The Eze-Lap files are .25"x.25"x6" and will be rubber-banded to SM rods mounted in the SM base.

Here's how matt321 uses his DMT Diafold on a SM...

and aquaman67's setup...

Here's jdavis882's vid on using the SM. I use his method. Note his opening comments about the Edge Pro, SM, and free handing ...
[video=youtube;-MHe_8wTHmg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MHe_8wTHmg[/video]

Echo63 · Dec 2, 2015

I have both
I have had the sharpmaker nearly 10 years, the EP Apex maybe 6 months.

The sharpmaker will allow you to get very sharp edges - but it can take a lot of time (i dont have diamond rods)
There is little tricks like the above mentioned rubber band and bulldog clip attached diamond stones.

The edgepro is excellent - i love sitting down for an hour or so and slowly putting a perfect mirror bevel edge on a knife - its easy to get scary sharp knives too.

Really they are two different tools - the edgepro is great for sharpening knives, bringing them back from the dead, recutting bevels, thinning, polishing etc
The sharpmaker is a maintenance tool - for keeping your knives sharp.

My ktichen knives get a quick sharpen on the edgepro (coarse diamond to cut bevel/remove chips, fine diamond then strop with balsa/BRKT green compound - 15 mins max per knife) then maintained with regular (every few uses) swipes on the sharpmaker UF stones.

loonybin · Dec 2, 2015

LeftyMatt said:
Considering just getting the sharpmaker to start. I have just heard the diamond rods aren't the best and if I were to have to reprofile it would still take a long time. I do prefer a standard 20 degree though which the sp does. Is the sharpmaker sufficient for steels such as s35v and m390?

For s35vn, it will take a while to reprofile. Don't bother trying to reprofile M390 on it. I had one, and even with the diamond rods, s30v was a bear to reprofile, and that was on Gerber's softer heat treat! For maintaining an edge, it is excellent as long as your bevel is at 15º or 20º per side.