How To KME question

fatheadhill

fatheadhill

Joined
Mar 30, 2008
Messages
1,180
I just got the KME yesterday for Christmas, but it is by far my favorite sharpening system yet. However, I'm having an issue I'm not quite sure how to fix. Once I get down to about the 1k or 3k grit Chosera stones I noticed that I was only getting a polish near the shoulder. I looked at my Chosera stones and noticed that they vary in thickness from one end to the other. I flipped the stone in the holder and it moved the polished section from the shoulder to the edge. Now I've got a narrow unpolished section in between the edge and shoulder that I can't seem to get. What am I missing?

My progression has been the diamond stones down to 1500 then the 1k, 3k, and 5k Chosera stones.

Thanks for any tips/advice!
 
Also, is it normal for the Chosera stones to be uneven from one end to the other? I dont have calipers to measure the difference, but its definitely noticeable. Will this cause many issues?
 
fatheadhill said:
What am I missing?
Click to expand...
An Edge Pro.

Hahaha
sorry I couldn't resist.
Maybe just go with Die Maker's diamond matrix stones. We KNOW they are made to very tight tolerances.
I have had zero problems with my Shapton Glass stones as far as being pretty consistent thickness end to end. Heck I have had no reason to even check them. I just flatten / condition them from time to time.

Tapered stones. Sounds really frustrating.
I'd send them back and ask WTF.
 
I know there is a stone thickness adjuster but I don’t think it will work for stones that has a varying thickness in the stones. Ideally you would need to flatten the stone I don’t know much about doing that but it is possible.
 
Make sure the stones are not coming up from the blank at one end. As long as it isn't that you should be able to lap the stones until they are even, which is easy enough using loose silicon carbide grit on glass or polished tile, but if they are significantly off you'll waste stone material. Does the manufacturer or seller specify a stone thickness? If the thin end of the stones is less than that a complaint would be well founded. (A precision ruler should be enough to tell that, but digital calipers can be found quite inexpensively these days if you look.)
 
I have to adjust the angle depending on the stone used. Mark the edge with a sharpie each time you switch grits, then adjust and reset the angle.
 
Check them with a straight edge and if they are out really bad contact KME and send them a picture,also look on ebay for an atoma 140 grit diamond plate for flatten them as well,only buy the atomas from Japan not the ones from China they are fakes.

Also you need to flatten the stones over time but they should have been flat when you got them,also it's good to have a 1000 grit diamond plate around as well because the Chosera stones love to glaze over once they have dried out and will not cut very well,I use a 1000 grit diamond plate or a medium grit rust eraser also found on ebay.

The diamond plates cost more but are the better choice for Chosera stones,the Chosera's often need to gentle scrub on a diamond plate to get rid of the glaze,you should also soak the Chosera's for 12 minutes and no longer,using them not soaked long enough is bad news and over soaking will ruin them use a timer,also soak them all for 12 minute's then throw the next one in you want to use for 2 minute's,I throw them back in just when I'm almost done sharpening the side working on and I know it's getting close to changing the stone.

fatheadhill said:
I just got the KME yesterday for Christmas, but it is by far my favorite sharpening system yet. However, I'm having an issue I'm not quite sure how to fix. Once I get down to about the 1k or 3k grit Chosera stones I noticed that I was only getting a polish near the shoulder. I looked at my Chosera stones and noticed that they vary in thickness from one end to the other. I flipped the stone in the holder and it moved the polished section from the shoulder to the edge. Now I've got a narrow unpolished section in between the edge and shoulder that I can't seem to get. What am I missing?

My progression has been the diamond stones down to 1500 then the 1k, 3k, and 5k Chosera stones.

Thanks for any tips/advice!
Click to expand...
 
The Chosera stones were purchased directly from KME. They appear to be the proper thickness on the thinner side.., hell even the thicker would work if it was a consistent thickness all the way across. I do have the stone thickness compensator as well as an angle cube.

I set the angle with the diamond stones, then reset and rechecked it with each of the Choseras. Each angle was within about .05 of the original. I was still unable to get an even polish all the way across the bevel.
 
wade7575 said:
[soak]Chosera's for 12 minutes and no longer,using them not soaked long enough is bad news and over soaking will ruin them
Click to expand...
Sounds kind of comical for a high quality stone.
Let me elaborate. My real Shapton Glass stones obviously work well with no soak and do not change or deteriorate in performance with extended use; hours of quickly rinsing and sharpening.
My Jenev wannabe Shapton Glass 120 stone starts out pretty good with a splash and go but soon, even while sharpening one knife if I have to reprofile it, starts to get softer and softer the more I rinse it and pretty soon I put it away rather than make it all concave. Garbage.

I've always thought Choseras were supposed to be great stones and I've heard good things here and in YouTubes by people I respect.

I've never tried one and from this thread I must say I'd rather not.
That and the price for them is rather comical considering I can get Shapton Glass stones for less which are capable of sharpening higher alloy blades than the Choseras .
 
Do they make Shapton Glass stones that fit the KME stone holder?

Wowbagger said:
Sounds kind of comical for a high quality stone.
Let me elaborate. My real Shapton Glass stones obviously work well with no soak and do not change or deteriorate in performance with extended use; hours of quickly rinsing and sharpening.
My Jenev wannabe Shapton Glass 120 stone starts out pretty good with a splash and go but soon, even while sharpening one knife if I have to reprofile it, starts to get softer and softer the more I rinse it and pretty soon I put it away rather than make it all concave. Garbage.

I've always thought Choseras were supposed to be great stones and I've heard good things here and in YouTubes by people I respect.

I've never tried one and from this thread I must say I'd rather not.
That and the price for them is rather comical considering I can get Shapton Glass stones for less which are capable of sharpening higher alloy blades than the Choseras [
Click to expand...
Wowbagger said:
Sounds kind of comical for a high quality stone.
Let me elaborate. My real Shapton Glass stones obviously work well with no soak and do not change or deteriorate in performance with extended use; hours of quickly rinsing and sharpening.
My Jenev wannabe Shapton Glass 120 stone starts out pretty good with a splash and go but soon, even while sharpening one knife if I have to reprofile it, starts to get softer and softer the more I rinse it and pretty soon I put it away rather than make it all concave. Garbage.

I've always thought Choseras were supposed to be great stones and I've heard good things here and in YouTubes by people I respect.

I've never tried one and from this thread I must say I'd rather not.
That and the price for them is rather comical considering I can get Shapton Glass stones for less which are capable of sharpening higher alloy blades than the Choseras .
Click to expand...
 
If they don't that's strike two.
I thought you were going to ask do they make the Diamond Matrix stones from Diemaker for the KME.
That's the way to go.
If they don't I think I would be double back taping some to the KME right quick ;)
 
Mr.Wizard said:
I have never heard of "Jenev" -- is that an eBay special?
Click to expand...
Oops; sorry I knew I should have looked that up.
Jende.
Here's an old photo when it was new. Goes without saying it was my first and only stone by them.
Heck I think I even got it through the ChefKnives to go people.
IMG_3602.jpg
 
Wowbagger said:
Heck I think I even got it through the ChefKnives to go people.
Click to expand...
Nah I looked up my old post about getting it and the ChefKnives were months getting me one so I struck out on the web on my own and ordered it from "over seas". It came up in a search for Shatpton Glass 120 for Edge Pro.
Yeah don't do it.
 
The thickness compensator is your friend here. It's much more reliable than the angle cube when using stones of varying thicknesses.
 
Curious as to why you think the thickness compensator would be more reliable than the angle cube? I thought the angle cube would be more exact since you can adjust the angle down the the hundredths of a degree.

tomhosang said:
The thickness compensator is your friend here. It's much more reliable than the angle cube when using stones of varying thicknesses.
Click to expand...
 
fatheadhill said:
Curious as to why you think the thickness compensator would be more reliable than the angle cube? I thought the angle cube would be more exact since you can adjust the angle down the the hundredths of a degree.
Click to expand...

The angle cube is a great tool for sure. When I had my KME, I tried doing the same thing you are with just matching the angles. The problem is that the angle varies a lot depending what part of the blade you have the stone resting against. So even though you matched it on one portion of the edge, it doesn't match further down (hope that makes sense). The thickness compensator perfectly compensates for the differences in stone thickness, hence the name. When I just relied solely on the thickness compensator, my edges came out perfect. I hope that explains everything thoroughly :)
 
tomhosang said:
The angle cube is a great tool for sure. When I had my KME, I tried doing the same thing you are with just matching the angles. The problem is that the angle varies a lot depending what part of the blade you have the stone resting against. So even though you matched it on one portion of the edge, it doesn't match further down (hope that makes sense). The thickness compensator perfectly compensates for the differences in stone thickness, hence the name. When I just relied solely on the thickness compensator, my edges came out perfect. I hope that explains everything thoroughly :)
Click to expand...

That does explain it very well, and I can see now why that would be more consistent. I'll try using the thickness compensator next time. Thanks for your reply!
 
I would say the angle cube and thickness compensator are equally useful. The main advantage to the compensator is that is reduces or eliminates the need to use the angle cube with each stone change. The angle cube should give a consistent output each use so could effectively be used in absence of the compensator. I would say an angle cube would be good for the initial stone regardless of weather or not one has the comepnsator. I would also add that the neither the compensator nor an angle cube will do much for an uneven stone, the OPs problem, and perhaps an angle cube would do more than the compensator in such an issue. as one will be able to see easily which end of the stone is a higher angle.
 
I know I checked the angle after use the thickness compensator and I could never get really repeatable result's and sometime it would be off 4 tenths to half a degree off when I checked with my angle cube.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top