Hapstone RS - First Look and Updates

bengold said:
Then when I put the knob back in I overtightened it and it deformed the tube so it wouldn’t slide on the rod anymore. I was able to fix it with my dremel, but I wish that piece was designed better.
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I completely agree with you regarding the design of the stone clamp and handle onto the tube. It's very easy to over-tighten the set screws and push them into the thin tube which will deform the tube. I have a suspicion that this will happen to a lot of people. In post #39 of this thread, I made a recommendation for Hapstone Official Hapstone Official about what I think they should do to improve those two parts. If they upgrade those two parts to something along the lines of my recommendation, then the RS will be a near flawless system. Here is a link to the post and my recommendation to Hapstone Official Hapstone Official .

Post in thread 'Hapstone RS - First Look' https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/hapstone-rs-first-look.1929200/post-21963956
 
bengold said:
I’m really curious how this compares to the TSProf Pioneer. I think a big selling point for the RS though is that magnetic ball system makes it much more compact than the longer rod on the tsprof and other systems
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I have both the RS and the Pioneer, and I prefer the RS overall. The Pioneer has some really nice knife clamps, but the Hapstone RS (I would say) is the better all-round system of those two.
 
777 Edge said:
I completely agree with you regarding the design of the stone clamp and handle onto the tube. It's very easy to over-tighten the set screws and push them into the thin tube which will deform the tube. I have a suspicion that this will happen to a lot of people. In post #39 of this thread, I made a recommendation for Hapstone Official Hapstone Official about what I think they should do to improve those two parts. If they upgrade those two parts to something along the lines of my recommendation, then the RS will be a near flawless system. Here is a link to the post and my recommendation to Hapstone Official Hapstone Official .

Post in thread 'Hapstone RS - First Look' https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/hapstone-rs-first-look.1929200/post-21963956
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Yeah I agree with this, that would be perfect. I would pay for a replacement part with that change.
 
777 Edge said:
I have both the RS and the Pioneer, and I prefer the RS overall. The Pioneer has some really nice knife clamps, but the Hapstone RS (I would say) is the better all-round system of those two.
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How does the RS compare to the R2? Zanvak.com.au is selling the Standard R2 for about the same price as an RS with 4 clamps. Am confused as to which one to get. The 230mm max blade length on the RS is making me lean towards the R2 which I think does up to 300mm blade lengths.
 
Gior said:
How does the RS compare to the R2? Zanvak.com.au is selling the Standard R2 for about the same price as an RS with 4 clamps. Am confused as to which one to get. The 230mm max blade length on the RS is making me lean towards the R2 which I think does up to 300mm blade lengths.
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If they are about the same price, and you are not severely space limited on your countertop then I would suggest going for the bigger R2 model. Preferably the R2 with the "standard" type clamps, not the "opti" type clamps.
 
777 Edge said:
If they are about the same price, and you are not severely space limited on your countertop then I would suggest going for the bigger R2 model. Preferably the R2 with the "standard" type clamps, not the "opti" type clamps.
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Thanks for this! Just what I needed to hear :).
 
777 Edge said:
I completely agree with you regarding the design of the stone clamp and handle onto the tube. It's very easy to over-tighten the set screws and push them into the thin tube which will deform the tube. I have a suspicion that this will happen to a lot of people. In post #39 of this thread, I made a recommendation for Hapstone Official Hapstone Official about what I think they should do to improve those two parts. If they upgrade those two parts to something along the lines of my recommendation, then the RS will be a near flawless system. Here is a link to the post and my recommendation to Hapstone Official Hapstone Official .

Post in thread 'Hapstone RS - First Look' https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/hapstone-rs-first-look.1929200/post-21963956
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Good morning, 777 Edge.

Any word from Hapstone on whether they will follow your suggestion for improvements to those two parts?

Thanks,

Andrew
 
777 Edge said:
If they are about the same price, and you are not severely space limited on your countertop then I would suggest going for the bigger R2 model. Preferably the R2 with the "standard" type clamps, not the "opti" type clamps.
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I second this. I purchased the R2 and really like it.
 
I'm a total newbie to knife sharpening and just recently purchased the RS based on the excellent reviews. I'm seeing now that it doesn't include a stone thickness compensator, which is something I imagine a newbie like myself would find useful. Gritomatic has this 8mm one (which isn't in stock) and I don't know if this will fit the RS. thickness-compensator.jpg

Any ideas or thoughts as to what I could use instead ?
 
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aikiman56 said:
I'm a total newbie to knife sharpening and just recently purchased the RS based on the excellent reviews. I'm seeing now that it doesn't include a stone thickness compensator, which is something I imagine a newbie like myself would find useful. Gritomatic has this 8mm one (which isn't in stock) and I don't know if this will fit the RS. View attachment 2332346

Any ideas or thoughts as to what I could use instead ?
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Get the diameter of the rod, and get a matching drill stop, it should do the job.
 
cudgee said:
Get the diameter of the rod, and get a matching drill stop, it should do the job.
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I agree, that's your best and simplest way. But a drill stop collar from your local hardware store.

Hapstone Official Hapstone Official said they were going to add stone thickness compensators like the one I designed for my RS, I wonder if they have started making them yet... Hapstone Official Hapstone Official , care to comment?
 
I inquired about the _Special LE thickness compensator and Gritomatic support informed me that they indeed have it in stock. It's also now on their website...cats not included. 😸
 

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This week I finally received my RS system with premium diamond stones from the kickstarter launch. Took longer than expected but the situation in Ukraine isn’t exactly ideal so I understand the delay. The RS is a beautiful system and worked great on the first two knives I sharpened.

That said, halfway into sharpening my third knife the rod started binding significantly inside the sleeve. I wiped it down with a soft cloth and blew the tube out with compressed air. Tried again and unfortunately now the rod binds inside the sleeve to the point it’s unusable. Again, I wiped the rod down with a clean cloth between uses and was careful about not over-tightening the set screw on tube. Maybe some of some of the diamond dust found its way into the sleeve although if that’s the case it seems unavoidable... I messaged Hapstone and hope to hear back from them soon. I’m hoping they will take care of me as the unit is less than a week old and was used 2.5 times. I will say, the first two knives sharpened on the RS turned out really well so I’m hopeful this one and done kind of thing.

Edit: Hapstone is taking care of me by shipping me a new rod holder. Very impressed with their customer service and quick response time!
 
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igere said:
This week I finally received my RS system with premium diamond stones from the kickstarter launch. Took longer than expected but the situation in Ukraine isn’t exactly ideal so I understand the delay. The RS is a beautiful system and worked great on the first two knives I sharpened.

That said, halfway into sharpening my third knife the rod started binding significantly inside the sleeve. I wiped it down with a soft cloth and blew the tube out with compressed air. Tried again and unfortunately now the rod binds inside the sleeve to the point it’s unusable. Highly frustrating. Again, I wiped the rod down with a clean cloth between uses and was careful about not over-tightening the set screw on tube. Maybe some of some of the diamond dust found its way into the sleeve although if that’s the case it seems unavoidable... I messaged Hapstone and hope to hear back from them soon. I’m hoping they will take care of me as the unit is less than a week old and was used 2.5 times. I will say, the first two knives sharpened on the RS turned out really well so I’m hopeful this one and done kind of thing.
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I am so sorry to hear your problems. I hope it gets sorted out quickly and Hapstone look after you properly. Please let us know what happens.
 
Hapstone Official said:
Yes, the compensator is ready, within a couple days it will be available on the website. https://ibb.co/hWFkNfb
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How about a modification on the clamping of the stone holders and handle on the tube? It's quite a big problem and many people are bending their tubes when they tighten the stone clamp or handle. When the tube is bent, the stone holder can become unusable in some cases.

I made a suggestion in post #39 that will solve the problem completely.

 
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