I have a confession Re: edgepro

[Tjstampa]

For most of my 40+ years of knife sharpening i have been a huge advocate for free hand sharpening and good bench stones. I have sevral Arkansas stones as well as DMT diamond plates. A few years ago someone talked me into buying an edgepro knockoff from amazon. It was like $25 bucks or so. I used it a couple times and was not overly impressed. I bought a cold steel recon 1 from the online auction site real cheap. The description warned me it was in fair to poor condition. As hard as I tried I could never get it as sharp as i wanted to on the diamond plate. So i was surfing this site and read about the venvee plates carried by Gritomatic. I bout the basic set and i was finally able to get most of the nicks out but the knockoff sharpener was so flimsy. Well for my Birthday/Christmas i got the Edgepro Apex and wow what a difference. This fair to poor knife now is hair popping sharp with little effort. I still think everyone should learn and practice hand sharpening because it can be done anywhere when necessary but now i am an Edgepro convert.

 

[ecallahan]

I have the EdgePro and use it when I want the best edge I can produce (personally). In between EP sessions I sharpen my knives freehand which I really enjoy, then occasionally back to the EP for a nice flat edge. Small knives and kitchen knives I do freehand all the time. I just personally can get such a nice edge on my carry knives using the EP. But I still aspire to up my freehand game.

 

[sodak]

My EP really taught me how to freehand sharpen, both holding angles and understanding how to test an edge and what to look for between grit changes. I don't use it much anymore, but will pull it out and use it when I want a really refined edge. Great tool.

 

[Blues]

Mine sits alongside the shop sink waiting for the call. It's nice knowing it's there if needed...but 99% of the time I go freehand or touch up on the Sharpmaker.

 

[jjg6319]

I like EP and bought mine a long time ago. I should have sharpened some kitchen knives over the holidays but did not have time. I will get it out soon to do that. I always liked Ben Dale and thought he was very sincere in wanting to produce good products.

 

[Tjstampa]

"Where shopping is a pleasure..."

How about covering the entire assembly with a milk crate? Seems like it would easily fit.

Otherwise, isolate it somehow from suicide cat. Put it on a high shelf? Inside a cabinet? Close the door to your sharpening area?

Brian.

I like EP and bought mine a long time ago. I should have sharpened some kitchen knives over the holidays but did not have time. I will get it out soon to do that. I always liked Ben Dale and thought he was very sincere in wanting to produce good products.

He has resonded to several of my questions on upgrades. So far I am getting great edges.

 

[l1ranger]

I completely agree that freehanding is a great skill to learn.
but like you found, on a badly worn knife edge, the easy consistency and repeatability of a fixed blade system is a definite advantage.

 

[Blade Lab]

If nothing else, learning freehand sharpening is useful in the sense that you employ the same muscle memory for stropping, which is done much more frequently than sharpening (if you are actually maintaining your edges).

 

[garry3]

I didn't even know I needed to use a strop to maintain my knives until today.

 

[me2]

I’m slowly becoming a guided sharpening convert. I just can’t match the edges I get even off the home made sharpeners I patched together. I blame the DMT Aligner and a bench stone for getting me started.

 

[DeJure]

I'm lucky. I built a career around a hobby. Many might have called me a handyman, but of the many handymen I've met, few invested in cabinet saws, over-arm pin routers and so on. Today, and though retired, I have an 1,800 square foot shop with all manner of toys. I even have an electroplating station. Anyway, craigslist went a long ways to helping my equip my shop. Just a machine or two over from my variable speed, four wheel grinder can be found my floor model, cabinet based buffer. A filter cleans the air pulled off the wheels. I use it every few days to buff plastics, metal and to touch up the edges of knives.

My last purchase has floated around my pocket for about six months and has been sharpened only once. In part because the buffer does a great job of cleaning the edge and keeping it push cut [in paper] sharp. Buffers kick butt for so many things.