Just bought an Edge Pro Apex

gunmike1

gunmike1

Joined
Dec 9, 2005
Messages
2,402
While I have no problem getting beautiful mirrored bevels freehand, I decided to go for the EP Apex 4 kit with glass blanks and some 6000 grit tapes to complement the full set of stones plus the 2000 and 3000 grit tapes that come with the kit. My thinking was I had back surgery last year, and freehanding can really flare up my back when I get into a longer sharpening session. I hope to save some time with the EP and I should be able to get in an more comfortable position for my back with it. I used one before for a few days that Thom Brogan had lent me, and I remember getting good results but just having a few issues with how to lay larger blades like the Military on the blade table and maintain a consistent angle all the way through the tip without moving it on the table, but I figure with a bit of practice that should work itself out. After talking with Ben Dale I found out the 6000 grit tape is 1 micron, so I look forward to trying my .3 and .05 micron lapping film on the EP to see if it betters the EP tapes. I got a nice deal on it, and I figure best case I'll get even better edges than I already get ( I get beyond hair whittling edges now) in less time, though getting similar sharpness in less time would be fine with me. Worst case I won't like it, sell it for a bit of a loss, and fall back on my freehanding. I'll report back on how I like it once it arrives and I practice on a few blades. I have about 10 that need full sharpenings, so that will be a nice break in and practice session to get used to it before trying it on my favorite EDC blades, which will be gradually dulling as I use them. This site and Ben Dale should provide me wall the help I need as I learn the system.

Mike
 
I've seen Ankerson's videos and they are excellent. I briefly used an Edge Pro a couple years ago, and while the results were good I just felt a little unsure about the best way to position the blade on the blade table. That will come from experience, and hopefully it will allow me to get better edges in less time. I can't wait to try out my .3 and .05 micron lapping film on the EP, I am sending some to Ankerson (hopefully they will get to him by Friday) so a master on the EP can see if those finer grit films can out do the 6000 grit tapes. This will be fun. I got my confirmation e mail that my EP should be here by Friday and I have more lapping film on the way as well.

Mike
 
Where can I buy the edge pro? I only found one place, knifeworks.

Thanks
 
just in case you're interested you can buy the EP with a bundle of chocera stones from chefknifetogo .
 
I just got mine last Wednesday and OH BOY!!! I was getting pretty good results free handing and with my sharpmaker but I really wanted the "ANKERSON EDGE" as I like to call it. Jim your videos and posts are great keep it up. I have sharpened blades from a Case Butterbean to my Swamp Warden and many other smaller blades. I only have one large blade and I have yet to even use it. I told a co-worker to bring me his hunting knife tomorrow to put an edge on it. I have only taken an edge to "21" degrees and "25" but so far both are amazing. Ben really out did himself on this.
 
HAKnPocket said:
I just got mine last Wednesday and OH BOY!!! I was getting pretty good results free handing and with my sharpmaker but I really wanted the "ANKERSON EDGE" as I like to call it. Jim your videos and posts are great keep it up. I have sharpened blades from a Case Butterbean to my Swamp Warden and many other smaller blades. I only have one large blade and I have yet to even use it. I told a co-worker to bring me his hunting knife tomorrow to put an edge on it. I have only taken an edge to "21" degrees and "25" but so far both are amazing. Ben really out did himself on this.
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Thanks. :)

Just Keep working with it and the edges will keep getting even better. :D
 
5.56 said:
Jim, your vids were a big part of my decision too. :thumbup:
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Thanks. :D

The thing about the EP is you can take a knife, reprofile and sharpen to Whittling and TP sharp in about an hour once you get used to it. :thumbup:

And it doesn't really matter what steel it is either.
 
I bought mine directly through Edge Pro, and it was great to be able to get answers to my questions about the Edge Pro directly from the creator on the phone, and the price was within a few bucks of the other online sites. I figure I'll be bugging Ben Dale quite a bit, and he made me aware of the glass blanks and how easy it is to replace the stones on the existing blanks (which will save me 50% per stone), plus since I'm pretty close to Oregon I will get the system pretty quick.

Mike
 
Ben's a good guy, I hope you like it! I wish you had gotten the Pro, so if you didn't like it, I could buy it from you! :D
 
HAKnPocket said:
So how do you attach the stones to the blanks? One of mine looks like its coming loose.
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I use 3M Super 77 spray cement. It's quite easy to use, and if perchance you need to re-use the blank with a new stone, the old one is easily removed by merely boiling it for a moment, and sliding the stone off.

(Do wear gloves when removing a hot stone! :p )
 
Start with some old beater blades, kitchen knives etc.

I'm just two weeks in with mine and it's all coming together nicely.

Takes a definite handful of knives to get the hang of it, particularly if you are new to sharpening practices in general.

Once you get the feel of it, it's rather incredible. I've only been bringing the blades up to 1000 grit and the results have been fantastic. The last edge I put on my Gerber Magnum LST I can dry shave my arm smooth with no effort at all.

You'll find that you 'get it' when you aren't trying to pin the knife edge to the table with force and you aren't pushing on the stones enough to move the blade around. It really doesn't take a lot of pressure at all, hardly any, once you get in the groove of it.

I'm finding, unless I need to re-profile or repair the edge, that I'm using 320 600 and 1000 the most frequently. If an edge is in halfway decent shape to start, that will make it shaving sharp. The 120 and 220 are great to take rough edges down and the 120 is just coarse enough to do some minor reprofiling.

My only wish is for a more rapid stock removal plate for larger profile changes and a few suppliers make DMT and other coarse stones to fit that are far faster than the 120 from EP.

This is the first time ever that I've had truly sharp knives.
 
sodak said:
Ben's a good guy, I hope you like it! I wish you had gotten the Pro, so if you didn't like it, I could buy it from you! :D
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I would love to have bought the Pro model, but my wallet was screaming at me. How do you like your Apex? Is it your go to sharpener that you use the Sharpmaker to compliment it with microbevels. I think when mine gets here tomorrow I'll be trying hard to find the best way for me to set good bevels on knives with a decent bit of belly that are a bit longer than the blade table. I understand I'll have to move my larger kitchen knives on the blade table, but I want to find a good way to index a blade like my Millies so I can leave it in one spot and not have the angles change. Ankerson gets perfect looking bevels, but most importantly extremely sharp bevels, on his Millies. I wonder it he moves the blade, or let's the stone roll a tad towards the tip, or if he just gets it centered on the blade table and just goes straight along the edge keeping the stone flat. I got the "level" app on my iPhone to judge the angle my FFG blades reduce the listed pivot angles by, so that will be nice. I guess with my Caly 3 and Caly Jr. ZDP knives I'll be able to get about 6 degree per side angles on them by going to the 10 degree setting and laying the blade grind flat on the table. From the looks of it blades like my Millies and Manix will be about 11 degrees on the 15 degree setting, which is close to the factory angle on my 2 S90V Manix 2's and a couple degrees less than my Millies factory angle. I'll try the sharpie trick and practice on some beaters I have to see if I can manage to get a consistent bevel that doesn't make the tips a zero grind when I sharpen at the thin angles I like on my high end steels. As Ankerson said, let the madness begin! I'm sure I'll be sharpening all night as soon as the brown truck drops off my Edge Pro tomorrow as I apply the OCD I use on freehanding to figuring out the Edge Pro. I will accept nothing less than push cutting newsprint over 7" from the point of hold, which is what I get freehanding. OK, I'll stop babbling, my sharpening OCD meter is just off the charts right now in anticipation of playing with a nice new toy that may bring me better edges more consistently than my freehanding does. Oh, the possibilities!

Mike
 
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