help with my edgepro

Great advice. I love my Edge Pro.

It helped to have a changing objective throughout the process. I think of the coarser stones as forming the edge or angle and doing the sharpening. I try to use the finest stone it takes to raise a burr the whole length of the blade. Once I have raised a burr I consider the profiling done. With each subsequent finer stone I think of their purpose being just to remove the scratch patterns from the previous courser grit, realizing that the geometry change or profiling is done and we are not taking off any more material then is required to remove the last scratch pattern. As a result I still raise a smaller and smaller burr with each stone but that is not my objective.

Anyway, that seemed to be a break through or threshold for my edge pro use. I think it got me to decrease the pressure more with each finer stone, as mentioned above, instead of trying to honk down on it and remove some more metal with each stone. I hope that helps.

Gary
 
Reading my previous post, I realize that my instructions may be a bit confusing. When I said "Only takes one time for each edge." I meant that you only slide the blade down the steel one time for each side of the edge. In any case, licensed to chill, you purchased a fine sharpening system and you will find that, in time, sharpening most any blade will become second nature to you. Enjoy.

-Dan
 
Gajinoz,

I had to register for this forum and post because of this post....the wire edge.

The scenario u described is exactly what happens to me and I never knew why until now. I can freehand "decent"....and I'll get an edge that I'm happy with. I'll use it a couple times and it's dull again....I mean REALLY dull.

Thank you for that info Gajinoz....I'm gonna get a jewelers loop and monitor it.
 
sasafrass said:
Reading my previous post, I realize that my instructions may be a bit confusing. When I said "Only takes one time for each edge." I meant that you only slide the blade down the steel one time for each side of the edge. In any case, licensed to chill, you purchased a fine sharpening system and you will find that, in time, sharpening most any blade will become second nature to you. Enjoy.

-Dan
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The smooth steel really does work well. I threw out all my grooved steels when I learned about the smooth ones and actually got one for myself. They are tops! Mine often needs to be touched up with a piece of super fine polishing tape to remove surface rust though. It would be great if I could get some stainless...

In the same class as smooth steel I'd put smooth borosilicate glass rods. (They don't rust, but you can't use them to club baby seals.) This is just the fancy schmancy name for Pyrex, so if you can sneak into the kitchen when your significant other isn't around and steal a small Pyrex meatloaf pan you'll have yourself a great touch-up device! I had a small chemical supply house near me that made up a 12" long 1/2" diameter borosilicate rod for me for small money... maybe the price of a BigMac. I don't find it any better or worse than the smooth steel rod, but it looks prettier in the kitchen and my wife doesn't run around looking for the meatloaf pan any more. :p

Stitchawl
 
EdgePro now includes a 1200 grit ceramic rod in there kits rather than the smooth steel. :thumbup:
 
stitchawl said:
The smooth steel really does work well. I threw out all my grooved steels when I learned about the smooth ones and actually got one for myself. They are tops! Mine often needs to be touched up with a piece of super fine polishing tape to remove surface rust though. It would be great if I could get some stainless...


Stitchawl
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Hey Stitchawl, I got mine from HandAmerica and hit it with a Sentry Tuf-Cloth when I first got it. Since then, I've never had a problem with rust.

CarpScot said:
EdgePro now includes a 1200 grit ceramic rod in there kits rather than the smooth steel.:thumbup:
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My EP came with a ceramic stick too. Only problem is, unless you're bang on with your angle when you use it, you can ruin that beautiful new edge you just worked so hard to get. Not a problem with a smooth steel. :)

-Dan
 
The ceramic works better then the smooth steel ones IMO. It seems like the edge last longer when maintained with them on my kitchen knives (soft or hard knives). I haven't seen a problem with slight variations in angle from what I did on the EP but 1200 is a lot courser then a 7000 grit polishing tape so it could be taking you back a few steps if you went that far. Still it works well for maintaining an edge in the kitchen and elsewhere. As long as you don't get more then a few degrees steeper then you did on the machine I don't see a problem with freehand angles changing things much. It creates such a small micro edge that I can hardly see it except with a microscope. It seems to do about the same thing as a smooth steel on my softer knives just rolling back and straightening the edge. IMO if you need that then 1200 grit won't hurt you and even helps. Like Ben Dale says coming from a 320 stone to the 1200 steel makes a fine edge for kitchen use. Toothy for appropriate knives and those that like that. Coming from and 800 stone to the steel is probably all anyone every needs on a chefs knife.

Still, on my nicer harder knives I usually go back to a bench strop or tapes on the EP and get a polished edge, avoiding the steel. But, that is probably overkill. I imagine most folks here lean that way (knife nuts) and it works better on harder thinner knives. On German knives I think Ben Dale is correct and they probably work better that way then when highly polished.

The one with a handle that comes with the bigger EP kits (the pro) is an Idahone 1200 grit. The ones that come with the Apex that slide into a plastic sheath I suspect are from Idahone too like the ones Idahone uses in their V stick sharpening system.
 
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sasafrass said:
Hey Stitchawl, I got mine from HandAmerica and hit it with a Sentry Tuf-Cloth when I first got it. Since then, I've never had a problem with rust.
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I tried that for a couple of years, and for the times that I didn't use the steel it held up well. (The Sentry products work very, very well :thumbup: ) But during those times of intensive kitchen use during summer months I could see the individual stripes where the knife made contact with the steel, removing the Tuf-Coat. I live in a VERY humid environment. For my situation, I found it better to just really dry off the steel after use. (All my working knives, other than kitchen knives, get the Marine Tuf-Cloth treatment religiously! Otherwise I'd have one of the world's largest collection of iron oxide...:eek: ) These days I use the glass rod even more than the steel, probably because I'm just too lazy to properly care for the steel. :(

My EP came with a ceramic stick too. Only problem is, unless you're bang on with your angle when you use it, you can ruin that beautiful new edge you just worked so hard to get. Not a problem with a smooth steel. :)

-Dan
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My thoughts exactly. Add to that the fact that, other than my kitchen knives, I usually take my edges much further than the 1,200 grit of the ceramic rod, always going to at least 4,000 grit with the EdgePro, or as much as 10,000-15,000 grit with polishing films, not to mention stropping with Chromium Oxide. I've never used the ceramic rod that came with my EdgePro. I don't want to dull down my sharpening.

I can see it being an advantage when working on kitchen knives though. Although these days I use a Sharpmaker for them, back when I was using the EdgePro I only took them as far as the 600 grit stone. Touching that up with a ceramic stick works well. I just happen to have a 'pre-Sharpmaker' V-block with ceramic stones that I used back then, and had set the EdgePro to the same angles so all worked well together. Now the Sharpmaker sits set up in the kitchen at all times. Other than my Chinese cleaver I don't think I've put any of our good kitchen tools back onto the EdgePro since.

Stitchawl
 
scubadoo97 said:
When did you have a smooth steel? Mine came with the ceramic and that was a couple of years ago.
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Me too me too. At least 10-12 years ago. Haven't used it yet. It came with some sort of plastic tube to use as a handle too!

I wish I did know where I got my smooth steel from. :confused: I think that one of the recent posters said something about a steel from HandAmerican... That's a possibility... I did a lot of ordering from them once they got their shipping straightened out.

Stitchawl.
 
scubadoo97 said:
When did you have a smooth steel? Mine came with the ceramic and that was a couple of years ago.
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I bought mine just recently and it came with the ceramic. I know that some of the older kits came with the smooth steel but I'm not sure how long ago that was.
 
I don't believe that any versions of the EP ever came with a smooth steel, just the aforementioned ceramic stick. In any case, if you're looking to buy one here's a resource.
http://www.restaurantsource.com/fors...0587-5420.aspx I bought mine at HandAmerican years ago, but, judging from their webpage, I don't believe that they are still doing business. They just have links to other businesses.
 
sasafrass said:
Just tried my link for the smooth steel and it didn't work. Here it is again. http://www.restaurantsource.com/for...ers-sharpening-steel/ProdDesc-40587-5420.aspx
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That is a fantastic price!!! :thumbup: I was looking at one a couple of weeks ago that was at least 5x the cost. Same maker but a bit longer. Forschner makes some very serious kitchen tools so we can assume that the quality of this one is tops!

I just checked back and it was you, Sass, that first mentioned the steel from HandAmerican. Mine looks as if it was just hacked off from a longer rod. No finish to the edges of the ends at all. Not that I need it to look that way, but odd considering the good construction of other HA products.

I think if I were in the States I'd probably order myself the Forschner steel. Considering my carelessness it would be nice to have one with a hand guard... :o

Stitchawl
 
sasafrass said:
I don't believe that any versions of the EP ever came with a smooth steel, just the aforementioned ceramic stick. In any case, if you're looking to buy one here's a resource.
http://www.restaurantsource.com/fors...0587-5420.aspx I bought mine at HandAmerican years ago, but, judging from their webpage, I don't believe that they are still doing business. They just have links to other businesses.
Click to expand...
The instructional video that came with my kit shows the demonstrator using a smooth steel.
 
stitchawl said:
I just checked back and it was you, Sass, that first mentioned the steel from HandAmerican. Mine looks as if it was just hacked off from a longer rod. No finish to the edges of the ends at all. Not that I need it to look that way, but odd considering the good construction of other HA products.
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Below is the one I bought from HandAmerican Stitchawl. I think I paid around $39 for it but that was around 10 years ago. I made the sheath for it as it just came with a cardboard tube around the steel.

You're right about the Forschner being a quality item and the price can't be beat :thumbup:

-Dan

SmoothSteel01.jpg



SmoothSteel02.jpg



SmoothSteel03.jpg
 
sasafrass said:
Below is the one I bought from HandAmerican Stitchawl. I think I paid around $39 for it but that was around 10 years ago. I made the sheath for it as it just came with a cardboard tube around the steel.
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Beautiful! Both the steel and the sheath! I admire your skill with with leather. I've never been able to stitch straight lines...:(
(I'll also admit to some fear of people with tidy work spaces... :eek: ) No belt slots in the sheath? You don't carry it when you're camping? ;) Joking, of course, but your sheath is pretty enough to deserve some recognition! That's no joke!

My steel must have come from a VERY different source. It doesn't have any handle at all, and even the ends weren't filed down square. One end has a ridge on the side as if only cut partially with a saw, then bent over to complete the break. Hmmmm..... It looks more like something I'd make for myself...:o (Now that's really scary!)

Stitchawl
 
Yep. I've got an HA steel like that (only a little shorter). Mine came with a simple leather sheath, just a tube formed by folding the leather over and stiching along one side. I like the way these smooth steels work on kitchen knives (Henckles). At first I thought the Henckle grooved steels were better, but then I developed a touch for using the HA smooth one. Now I like it best.
 
Hi-

Sounds like you are doing a great first job! You have done the Sharpie thing right but now spend some more time on the coarse stone to remove some meat, then when it has a burr move on to 220, make sure you are matching the angle completely. A good thing to do is to practice with kitchen knives.

Good luck and if you need anymore help just let me know.

-Bill
 
stitchawl said:
Beautiful! Both the steel and the sheath! I admire your skill with with leather. I've never been able to stitch straight lines...:(
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Thanks for the compliment Stitch, I've been working with leather for about 13 years now. Most of my stuff is more heavily tooled as that's what I enjoy doing the most. I just used a stitching groover with an edge guide to get my stitches in a straight line. By the sound of your name, you must do a little leatherwork too.

stitchawl said:
My steel must have come from a VERY different source. It doesn't have any handle at all, and even the ends weren't filed down square. One end has a ridge on the side as if only cut partially with a saw, then bent over to complete the break.

Stitchawl
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Hmmmmmmmm that's really strange as I've bought several items from him (HandAmerican) and all have been top notch. What did he nick you for yours?

-Dan
 
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