:grumpy: edgepro

my peoblem is i cant keep the blade from moving and i have been messing around with for the last 4 days. im not blaming the machine i know its all me thats y i like clamping systems cuz the blace cant move. i cant do freehand either i just cant keep a consistent angle
 
bigasswiteboy said:
do yall know any triks on how to get the blade not to move
Click to expand...

Yes, hold the knife handle, using your off hand, to hold the blade against the guide/machine and using your dominant hand, use light pressure on the sharpening arm. If the knife moves, you are either not holding it very well or you are using too much pressure on the sharpening arm.

Regards,

Rich
 
bigasswiteboy said:
my peoblem is i cant keep the blade from moving and i have been messing around with for the last 4 days. im not blaming the machine i know its all me thats y i like clamping systems cuz the blace cant move. i cant do freehand either i just cant keep a consistent angle
Click to expand...

Stick with it, keep practicing. It will eventually just "click" one day and you'll be producing screaming sharp edges over and over.

I had a hard time with it for the first week. I out in a LOT of hours practicing. I was so frustrated with it I was ready to sell it off, then one day it just clicked and it became very easy to use. Now it's almost a therapeutic thing to stand there and use the edge pro.

Stick with it and you'll be happy you did. If you get frustrated then walk away and come back to it in an hour or so with fresh eyes and try it again. You'll get the hang of it before you know it.
 
make sure to keep the elbow of the hand you're holding the handle with on the table. that helps me.

i believe an accurate way to explain the EP's benefits is: it helps to minimize the human element in sharpening.
 
I think it's one of those 'curb your initial enthusiasm' things, take a step back and
give it another go. I've had MANY MANY sharpening systems over the years, including
the Lansky, didn't care for it since you have to clamp and move the clamp and it
can get off centered, so back I went to hand sharpening, which I thought I was pretty
good at :) little did I know how quickly the EdgePro would snuff my vanity ;)

BUT, I'm kinda like you, at first try I was like MAN I'M NOT GETTING THIS, so I made myself
S L O W down and take it in smaller steps and now, WOW, I'm selling ALL of my other
stones, just keeping some smaller stones for pocket carry trips.

As for making the blade not move so much, you need to, as others above stated, rest
the blade on the device, need to make it so the blade's as flat as you can, you probably
need to make sure it's NOT resting on the area before the blade, before the grind starts
as that can made the whole blade tipsy.

Then, while it's resting on the base, have the back stop brought up so you just have the
edge out past the edge of the plastic base.

You'll have two points of contact, the spine of the knife against that back stop and the
face/side of the blade laying on the base, your role in this is to just keep the knife level
the stone may try to push the tip area backwards, you need to just keep an eye on that
and don't let it push it backwards, LIGHT pressure is the ticket, it doesn't take a lot but
you get a lot back for your efforts!

I'm not up to using all the polishing tapes yet, I get a very high polished sharp blade by going
up to the 1000 grit and then stropping on a leather strop.

It's worth the effort, just start again, but slower and use a knife you're not so worried
about. And as they say in the videos, I use a black magic marker to try and start with
what the manufacture's initial bevels were at, as a starting point, you can later on go a
little less angle if you need that.

Good luck and hang in there!
G2
 
kevtan said:
Make sure you are standing and NOT sitting down while sharpening.
Click to expand...

I don't know about that one, I've only used it while sitting?
seems to work ok for me that way, table and chair puts my
elbows just a little below table top for reference...I know the
guy/creator of the system does the videos standing, I'll have
to give that a try myself.

and thanks Dennis, hope it helps the OP
G2
 
Its easier to get the hang of it if you are standing. Not saying you cannot sit but the angles of the elbows go all kilter and plays havoc with the hand holding the knife down and the other hand holding the ball of the sharpening stone. Standing, the EP would be at waist height and your elbows will have total movement freedom but sitting will move the EP higher to near chest level which limits the hands.

Once you get the hang of it, you can sit and see if you prefer to do it standing or sitting.
 
I moved from an old Arkansas stone to the Sharpmaker and both my confidence and knives went up a notch.

Then a friend lent me his Apex 4 system for a couple of weeks, and yeah I worked on a bunch of old stuff in the kitchen and a couple of old folders I wasn't afraid of messing up.

It took a half-dozen tries before I had the feel of the thing, and now there's no going back. Go light on the water, easy on the pressure, use the famous "Sharpie" trick to get that edge right.

While I tried the polishing tapes, I've found the two most used stones are the 320 and 600, and lately I've only been using the 320...I like the edge with a little tooth.

In the end, nuttin's perfect for everyone, but the EP's saved me a lot of shipping money up to my favorite knife maker and is worth it to me.
 
A lot also depends on the knife you are sharpening with the Edge Pro. I have a Buck Skinning Knife that has a curved spine. It is very very difficult to sharpen on the Edge Pro because the blade wants to "rock" against the blade guide. It is very difficult to reprofile a blade like that on the Edge Pro. Almost impossible to hold it the same every time and keep it flat on the table.

Other knives that have a straighter spine are no problem at all.

I also have problems with small blades on the Edge Pro.

It is wise to have more than one system to use. I love my Edge Pro, but I also use the Wicked Edge, Lansky, Sharpmaker, as well as Japenese Waterstones freehand.
 
Tried it standing up, I can see how that could help, will give that a try more often.

Rick, I wonder if you could make a halfmoon shaped back stop that the curved blade could more
easily rest against? Maybe just get some plastic and cut to shape to fit the spine
and then tape it down to the regular back stop so you can still slide it up and down??

That way you could move the blade in it's natural arc and make it easier to control?
G2
 
alot of good advise in this thread. is this system well suited to reprofiling?

i've really been considering this system as im getting tired of spending hours reprofiling with a lansky. thats pretty much all i need since i can freehand a good final edge and i use a sharpmaker for maintenance. i just have a hard time being consistent for longer periods of time reprofiling freehand, and i really like a precise consistent edge.

most of my blades are vg-10 and harder steels, so im a little concerned with the speed of metal removal from the waterstones it uses, i usually prefer diamond for the speed and consistent flatness. any advise would be great, thanks.
 
For reprofiling, removing a lot of steel, I got a DMT Aligner x-coarse stone and super glued it to an EP blank. It is an order of magnitude more aggressive than the 120 stone from EP.

That said, it is an order of magnitude more agressive....if you are sloppy with it, you can scratch the heck out of a blade or take a nasty bite out of the edge if you aren't careful.

It's shorter than the EP blank so you need to pay attention to your stroke length. Also it sticks up on the blank so the angle needs to be reset for sure when you move on to the EP stones. The added thickness changes the angle.
 
kingsqueak said:
For reprofiling, removing a lot of steel, I got a DMT Aligner x-coarse stone and super glued it to an EP blank. It is an order of magnitude more aggressive than the 120 stone from EP.

That said, it is an order of magnitude more agressive....if you are sloppy with it, you can scratch the heck out of a blade or take a nasty bite out of the edge if you aren't careful.

It's shorter than the EP blank so you need to pay attention to your stroke length. Also it sticks up on the blank so the angle needs to be reset for sure when you move on to the EP stones. The added thickness changes the angle.
Click to expand...

great idea! im pretty familiar with coarse diamond stones and like them alot for the amount of work they do for you. thanks for the tip, and the precautions, i'll definitely keep that in mind if i do get one.
 
there are 2 things I don't like the EP (and it's my own deficiency):

- scratches the blades (taping doesn't really help, especially when wet and carbon steel)

- I cannot seem to sharpen the tips properly (either too acute, so doesn't really get to the apex of the edge, and end up with a huge bevel. or the stone slides off the tip and I round the tip)

I'm going back to freehanding. And for the nice knives, maybe waiting for a belt sander system.

When I bought mine years ago, there was no youtube and no videos or DVD either. I had the yellow piece of paper with my set-up.
 
spyken said:
there are 2 things I don't like the EP (and it's my own deficiency):

- scratches the blades (taping doesn't really help, especially when wet and carbon steel)

- I cannot seem to sharpen the tips properly (either too acute, so doesn't really get to the apex of the edge, and end up with a huge bevel. or the stone slides off the tip and I round the tip)

I'm going back to freehanding. And for the nice knives, maybe waiting for a belt sander system.

When I bought mine years ago, there was no youtube and no videos or DVD either. I had the yellow piece of paper with my set-up.
Click to expand...

I too, had many of the same problems, bought a Wicked Edge , end of problems.
 
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