So I just got my edge pro, and I have been doing a lot of research prior to getting it so I could get some basic knowledge about how to best utilize it. Well I tried my first knife today and I felt like I literally had no idea what I was doing and I just ended up messing the edge up even though I felt like I had a pretty good grasp of what to do. I dont know how far up the knife should be, and how far the edge should overhang the edge of the machine. The main problem I am having is that the edge is not straight, its got a slight re-curve. This is completely screwing me up. I didnt want to bother with the sharpie, so I just wanted to set it at 20 per side. The problem is, I have NO idea when a side of the edge is done because I cant feel the bur and I cant see it under magnification. I am totally frustrated and kinda pissed off at myself for not being able to do this when I see people that are like "I just had my first go with the edge pro and look at this amazing edge!". It does not feel like its simple at all, there has to be something I am doing wrong. I sat here all day thinking that with a couple hours of practice it would get better, but I dont know what I am doing wrong so I cant fix it. I could really use some help here as I am just so demoralized right now and have no motivation to go sharpen.
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Having serious trouble with edgepro
- Thread starter cFine
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Don't worry, not EVERYONE gets a superb result first shot! A lot of it depends on the knife as well, some are tougher than others. 
Some suggestions, though.
1: Don't worry about the recurve, unless it is particularly severe, the stock stones can deal with it just fine.
2: Don't obsess too much about the extension of the blade over the edge of the table. The point is that it is CONSISTENT, not that it's some magical, specific place.
3: Don't hold the grip of the knife too hard. All you're trying to do is keep it on the blade table, if you grip it too hard all you'll do is rock the blade off the table and tire your hand out.
4: Light pressure, more strokes!
5: Use that sharpie! It'll tell you if you actually ARE down to the edge. Once you get above about the 220, I find it very hard to spot a burr anyway.
6: Try a different knife. If that one is giving you fits, then pull something a tad easier. A pairing knife is a great one to work on to begin with, given the nice straight edge and small size that doesn't require a lot of re-positioning on the table.
Good luck! It might take a bit of practice, but trust me, you too can get awesome edges!
Some suggestions, though.
1: Don't worry about the recurve, unless it is particularly severe, the stock stones can deal with it just fine.
2: Don't obsess too much about the extension of the blade over the edge of the table. The point is that it is CONSISTENT, not that it's some magical, specific place.
3: Don't hold the grip of the knife too hard. All you're trying to do is keep it on the blade table, if you grip it too hard all you'll do is rock the blade off the table and tire your hand out.
4: Light pressure, more strokes!
5: Use that sharpie! It'll tell you if you actually ARE down to the edge. Once you get above about the 220, I find it very hard to spot a burr anyway.
6: Try a different knife. If that one is giving you fits, then pull something a tad easier. A pairing knife is a great one to work on to begin with, given the nice straight edge and small size that doesn't require a lot of re-positioning on the table.
Good luck! It might take a bit of practice, but trust me, you too can get awesome edges!
I am using Chosera stones, starting @ 400. Is 400 ok to set a bevel? I am using super light strokes not even pressing down at all, letting the stone do all the work. So if I set the arm with the sharpie close to the handle, it will still be ok at the tip? I tried a little sharpie and it was ok near the handle, but it was removing less sharpie towards the tip.
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Ah, that could be a bit of your issue right there, actually. 400-grit is very fine for setting a bevel, it will take a long time. I'd bet you're not down to the edge yet.
Something worth your time would be to invest in something a touch coarser, a diamond plate would be a good start. You CAN do it with the 400, it'll just take quite a while. Good choice on the stones, though!
Something worth your time would be to invest in something a touch coarser, a diamond plate would be a good start. You CAN do it with the 400, it'll just take quite a while. Good choice on the stones, though!
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Set the stop to where the edge is just a very short distance from the edge of the blade table.
Use the Sharpie.
And above all, don't move to a finer grit until you have the blade as sharp as you can get it with the coarse grit.
And practice. You won't "get the feel" of any system until you've used it a bit.
Use the Sharpie.
And above all, don't move to a finer grit until you have the blade as sharp as you can get it with the coarse grit.
And practice. You won't "get the feel" of any system until you've used it a bit.
Yeah I wanted to put the blade as close to the edge of the table as I could, but then because of the recurve, the front was sitting too low for the stones to be able to hit it, so when i move it up so that the tip is higher aswell I feel like its going to mess everything up.
Hmm, would the stock EP 320 or 220 be ok for setting the bevel until I can get a better plate? Maybe I will just leave it where it is. Althought on the knife I am practicing on now, the edge seems totally misaligned, like one edge is much bigger than the other one and the edge looks like its favoring one side of the bevel if you know what I mean.
What would be a good choice for to set a bevel? I would be following up with the chosera 400. Budget is not a problem.
Hmm, would the stock EP 320 or 220 be ok for setting the bevel until I can get a better plate? Maybe I will just leave it where it is. Althought on the knife I am practicing on now, the edge seems totally misaligned, like one edge is much bigger than the other one and the edge looks like its favoring one side of the bevel if you know what I mean.
What would be a good choice for to set a bevel? I would be following up with the chosera 400. Budget is not a problem.
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220 is a good stone to start with unless the edge is severely dull then I would use the stock 120 stone.
Hi,
Had the same problem at first myself. I strongly suggest starting with a large old kitchen knife. Definitely use the sharpie. Practice on old knives first to gain confidence! Revisit the DVD or YouTube instructional videos. You will get better...soon we will hear of your positive results.
Cheers...
Had the same problem at first myself. I strongly suggest starting with a large old kitchen knife. Definitely use the sharpie. Practice on old knives first to gain confidence! Revisit the DVD or YouTube instructional videos. You will get better...soon we will hear of your positive results.
Cheers...
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If budget is not an issue, the Atoma 140 is by far the best bevel-cutting plate I've ever seen, it's absolutely wicked, cuts like an angle grinder. It'd probably be worth inserting one other stone between that and the 400, the stock 220 would probably do an acceptable job, or a finer Atoma plate. The scratches from the 140 are impressive!
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BAM!!! thats your problem right there!!! I usually set a bevel with 220, and even at 220 I "hammer down", pressure wise ..after that it's all fair game.
I would defintely heed that advice from the comments already stated. I have the chosera stones, but I also have a 125 micron diamond plate from CKTG. The diamond plate for cutting a new bevel was key on 2 of my knives. The first one was a well beaten buck that need some repair, the 2nd was my mule in m390. Let me tell you steel plays a huge factor in time when sharpening. I recut a bevel, and went all the way to the 10k chosera. On the old buck, maybe 50 strokes per side to recut the bevel with the diamond plate, then ~30 strokes per side with the 400, and 15 strokes per side with the rest of the stones. Total work time maybe 1hr total. The m390....well lets just say I had to take a lunch break and barely finished before dinner.
I intend to invest in more diamond plates, the coarsest atoma, and a few more inbetween the 125micron and the 400 chosera, will make life much easier.
I intend to invest in more diamond plates, the coarsest atoma, and a few more inbetween the 125micron and the 400 chosera, will make life much easier.
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A pretty girl, or a knife sharpener can never have too many diamonds!
I have a full set of all four ATOMAs for the EP Pro, and while a bit expensive initially, they are well worth the money.
The same can be said of Shapton stones for the EP.:thumbup:
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It took me about 24 work hours to get a decent edge on the edge pro, most of it was getting the muscle memory down for the strokes.
I'd say get a FFG knife or a knife that's half flat ground so you have a good base, then work on strokes and evening out the bevels, once you have even bevels change to the next finer stone, reapply the sharpie and get your angle to match and continue to make a burr, flip the knife and repeat.
I think around several days of working with it and I got to the point where my 1k edges would pass the hanging hair test, I also found that for my folders I would lower the bevel by several degrees per side and for touch ups I'd take the bevel up to about 30 degrees, made for much faster sharpening later.
I'm actually waiting for the 140 Atoma to be back in stock, I've always been less than impressed with the 120 from EP, feels like it skates more than it sharpens, at least for steels over 58 HRC.
I'd say get a FFG knife or a knife that's half flat ground so you have a good base, then work on strokes and evening out the bevels, once you have even bevels change to the next finer stone, reapply the sharpie and get your angle to match and continue to make a burr, flip the knife and repeat.
I think around several days of working with it and I got to the point where my 1k edges would pass the hanging hair test, I also found that for my folders I would lower the bevel by several degrees per side and for touch ups I'd take the bevel up to about 30 degrees, made for much faster sharpening later.
I'm actually waiting for the 140 Atoma to be back in stock, I've always been less than impressed with the 120 from EP, feels like it skates more than it sharpens, at least for steels over 58 HRC.
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Agreed, the stock 120 is AWFUL. The 220 is only marginally better, it feels like you're grinding with playground sand. The 320 and 600 are the best of the lot, I think. The 1K isn't bad, but it loads so darn fast!
Many people have offered you the best advice so far.. practice on an old kitchen knife, or any knife that has a moderately straight edge. Sharpening blades is what I consider an art. Some people just will never get the hang of it because they do not gift themselves with the patience and burning desire that others have. It takes time. Use the sharpie. Listen to what the stones are doing. Is the sound very scratchy?? does the sound ever get "smoother"? It will take practice. Once you get the hang of it, you will be sharpening in no time. And about recurved blades, the type of stone needed to sharpen a recurved blade depends on how acute the curve is. There are curved stones made for recurve/khukri style blades if you need them. Good luck
The knife you're starting with may have -- and it sounds like it does have -- uneven edges, edges either lopsided or ground more steeply on one side than the other. In such cases, one side is going to take a lot longer to get sharp. If the bevel is narrower on one side of your edge, you have an uneven grind or a lopsided grind.
I tend to use more pressure than you do on the coarser stones and lighten up on the finer grits.
The three critical tools are the Sharpie, a good loupe and your fingertips. The Sharpie will tell you if your grinds are even and set at the proper angle. You want the edge angle to match the stone angle. Your fingertips will tell you if you've raised a burr. Until you raise a burr, you won't have a sharp edge. Then you have to carefully and properly remove the burr, otherwise you'll have a wire edge -- an edge with the burr still attached. It will break off quickly during use, leaving you with a dull edge.
You want three things:
1) A bevel that is the same width on both sides of the edge.
2) Both bevels that your pre-set stone angle strips clean of Sharpie in one pass.
3) A burr that you can feel along the entire length of the edge on both sides, followed by careful removal so that you can no longer feel a burr anywhere on the edge.
The EdgePro is a great system, but like any system you still have to understand sharpening theory or it won't work, unless you're lucky.
I tend to use more pressure than you do on the coarser stones and lighten up on the finer grits.
The three critical tools are the Sharpie, a good loupe and your fingertips. The Sharpie will tell you if your grinds are even and set at the proper angle. You want the edge angle to match the stone angle. Your fingertips will tell you if you've raised a burr. Until you raise a burr, you won't have a sharp edge. Then you have to carefully and properly remove the burr, otherwise you'll have a wire edge -- an edge with the burr still attached. It will break off quickly during use, leaving you with a dull edge.
You want three things:
1) A bevel that is the same width on both sides of the edge.
2) Both bevels that your pre-set stone angle strips clean of Sharpie in one pass.
3) A burr that you can feel along the entire length of the edge on both sides, followed by careful removal so that you can no longer feel a burr anywhere on the edge.
The EdgePro is a great system, but like any system you still have to understand sharpening theory or it won't work, unless you're lucky.
Thank you very much for all the advice everyone, much appreciated.
I have moved on to something with less of a recurve. My problem seems to still be that the stone will take all the sharpie off in the middle, but not at the tip or the hand side of the blade. This is obviously because the tip is sitting a lower on the table, so I end up tilting the knife so the tip is higher up, but then my knife is at like a 45 degree angle with the end of the table. I cant keep the knife in one place on the table and have the stones take sharpie off the whole edge, I am having to seriously tilt the knife up and down, and its REALLY screwing with the edge, its making different grinds all over the place. I will not give up! Back at it tomorrow to see what I can do.
Oh also. Just so I have this right; have the chosera's sitting in watter for 10 mins before, then wet them with water bottle every now and then while sharpening to take swarf off stones etc...?
Thanks again for all the advice, I definitely think I am getting better though and improving every time, which is good.
I have moved on to something with less of a recurve. My problem seems to still be that the stone will take all the sharpie off in the middle, but not at the tip or the hand side of the blade. This is obviously because the tip is sitting a lower on the table, so I end up tilting the knife so the tip is higher up, but then my knife is at like a 45 degree angle with the end of the table. I cant keep the knife in one place on the table and have the stones take sharpie off the whole edge, I am having to seriously tilt the knife up and down, and its REALLY screwing with the edge, its making different grinds all over the place. I will not give up! Back at it tomorrow to see what I can do.
Oh also. Just so I have this right; have the chosera's sitting in watter for 10 mins before, then wet them with water bottle every now and then while sharpening to take swarf off stones etc...?
Thanks again for all the advice, I definitely think I am getting better though and improving every time, which is good.