KME or Edge Pro Need Advice

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snipa

Joined
Aug 30, 2013
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Hey I am looking at getting a knife sharpener and wonder which would be better I have not owned a sharpener before. The knives I have are BM 940-1, PM2, Delica, Mini Grip. I am just looking for the better system that is easier for beginners.
Thanks for the input
 
I have a KME, so naturally I'm gonna say get a KME. Watch some video's of both systems and see which one you think will suit your needs. The KME is a leap above the Lansky and probably a step below the Edge Pro. I have the diamond stones and the KME handles my needs without getting deep into the pocketbook.
 
I was thinking KME anyway due to the clamp system vs the set on Edge Pro. What stones do you use for the KME what grit? Also does it work good for s90v and s110v? I am getting the diamond package if go the KME route
Thanks
 
I think there are two answers here and it depends on what you are looking for. If your goal is to just sharpen some stuff quick, easy, effective and be done go with a guided system. Most of them work. If you want to learn a skill and get satisfaction out of your sharpening buy a couple stones, a dmt course plate and invest your time into freehand sharpening. I regret not going this route from the start. I wish I would have invested all of that time and money in perfecting my freehand sharpening but it is what it is. Some of my edge pro stones...
image.jpg

My S30V and S90V knives really struggle to develop a crisp edge on anything but diamond stones. I can get a very sharp edge on them with water stones but the diamonds just work so much better for me. The S30V always seems the hardest to sharpen.
 
snipa said:
I was thinking KME anyway due to the clamp system vs the set on Edge Pro. What stones do you use for the KME what grit? Also does it work good for s90v and s110v? I am getting the diamond package if go the KME route
Thanks
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I have the Diamonds, Gold Series in 300, 600, 1500 grit. The diamonds work well with hard steels such as you listed, S90V, S110V, M390, ZDP189. The trick on any diamond is not to apply too much pressure using them. I find light pressure for hard steels and even lighter pressure for softer steels such as S35VN, Elmax VG10 and carbon steel. You'll also find that a strop with a paste to clean the burr finishes the edge nicely. I usually use a ceramic rod and strop between sharpening's to prevent from having to pull out the KME every time a knife needs to be sharpened.
 
I use a KME system, and as for the stones I picked up a set of Gold Series stones in 140, 300, 600 and 1500 grit and also a strop from the KME site that fits the sharpener along with a bottle of 4 micron emulsion solution. It can take a beat up knife in S30V to a polished edge in about 40 minutes to an hour.

The only drawback I've found to this system is it doesn't like recurve blades. If you have a lot of those to work on, you're gonna want something with a much narrower stone or a rod of some sort.
 
One more question. How sharp is the knife off the 1500 grit? I might have to wait a little while to get the strop and cbn.
Thanks
 
What type of stone? Diamond, shapton, chosera, nubatama, etc? what type of steel?
 
good question. i've learned that using any sort of grit number as a reference point in the sharpening world is pretty much worthless unless you also give the stone manufacturer. if you look at the universal grit sticky in this forum you will see that a 1000 grit shapton is slightly more course than an 800 grit chosera and so on.

technique and use of progressively lighter strokes/pressure on the extra fine diamonds stones can yield a fantastic edge. especially with the s30v and s90v steels. i also can't imagine not following with a stop at this point. it really makes a huge difference to my sharpening. most of my touch ups on personal knives are done solely on strop rather than going back to the stones. a $20 barber strop without any compounds is a great sharpening tool for the investment amount and highly recommended. most will come with green compound anyway so that saves the cbn investment.

the only real application i have found for cbn or diamond compound is if i want to sharpen s30v on water stones. search the forum for the science behind it.
 
SOFileworks said:
The only drawback I've found to this system is it doesn't like recurve blades. If you have a lot of those to work on, you're gonna want something with a much narrower stone or a rod of some sort.
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I haven't picked it up for my KME yet but it's called a Hewlett JewelStik. It's said to be 3-sided with a different grit to each side and will handle recurved blades.
I like my KME system a lot but I'm sure I'd also really like the EdgePro system as well. My son just picked up the EdgePro but seeing he lives in Hawaii I don't envision myself borrowing it for a test run anytime soon.
 
KME all the way. I use the gold series diamond stones and they will last you a very long time. I sharpen everything from s110v, s90, zdp, s30/5,d2,a3,o1,10xx series. My progression is 300 grit, then 600, 1500, clear Arkansas, 4 micron strop, 1.5 micron strop. At the end of each grit, use trailing strokes with VERY light pressure. My knives are insanly sharp at the end of this process provided i did my part by raising a good burr with the 300 grit stone.
 
snipa said:
Hey I am looking at getting a knife sharpener and wonder which would be better I have not owned a sharpener before. The knives I have are BM 940-1, PM2, Delica, Mini Grip. I am just looking for the better system that is easier for beginners.
Thanks for the input
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Thanks for the post! You and I have similar knives and I've been looking for a better sharpening system than my sharpmaker. I've noticed the s90v is just nearly impossible to sharpen on the sharpmaker standard kit and ultra fine stone when I try and sharpen my 484-1. I've literally spent a solid hour to hour and a half in total trying to sharpen this knife on the SM and its barely sharper than the factory edge. Therefore, I've given up and started to explore other options. I suppose I could get the diamond stones for the sharpmaker, but at that point, I'm still limited to preset angles and I want to have more options to reprofile if I feel the need. I've been heavily researching the KME as well since I fear I'd screw up my higher-end pocket knives on whetstones, so this has brought me to the guided-system world as well. I'll most likely be buying the KME in the near future once I feel I've completed my research. It's tough to beat at the price-point, that's for sure. I intend on getting the diamond kit and purchasing the ceramic stones as well.

Surprisingly to my novice self, my m390 BM 581 does a great job on the sharpmaker (in fact, it's currently my sharpest blade), but this s90v is just too much of a headache for the SM. Do any of you guys that have used the ceramic stones for the KME in the past think they would work on s90v, or would it just be futile to try the ceramics for this particular steel?
 
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I've sharpened a few s90 blades using the gold does diamond stones. They were re profiled, not just touched up. While i have no experience using the ceramics on a s90v i guess it could be done, i just wouldn't want to do it. Diamonds all the way. ...
 
Btw, for recurve blades all you need is the KME jewel stick. I sharpen my ZT 300/350 series with one and it is a snap and very effective.
 
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