KME Sharpener for small blades

J

jth250

Joined
Jun 27, 2011
Messages
220
Has anyone here used a kme sharpening system with traditional knives. I was wondering if the system will work with small blades like the secondary blades on a stockman. Thanks in advance for your replies.
 
Howdy,
Going to move this to Maintenance. I haven't read any post in Traditional mentioning the KME system.
 
It should work anywhere the Wicked Edge works, as it is the same concept. Good looking tool for 1/2 the cost of the W.E. There are diamond stones cut just for it available at some of the sharpening supply houses. You can contact the owner and he will answer any questions you have about the system very quickly. Very friendly people from my experience.

Blessings,

Omar
 
The KME's clamp should be big enough to hold onto the handle of the knife and then sharpen the blade. Not really sure though since i don't have my own...yet. It's just not near the top of that list at the moment :\
 
fervens said:
The KME's clamp should be big enough to hold onto the handle of the knife and then sharpen the blade. Not really sure though since i don't have my own...yet. It's just not near the top of that list at the moment :\
Click to expand...

If it holds at all, there's another issue that would be a problem with some knives. A traditional pocketknife with more than one blade (and spring) won't be properly centered in the clamp, if held by the handle only. The blades are offset to one side of the handle on multiple-spring knives, so they won't be centered, relative to the clamp's jaws and angle guide. This would mean the sharpening angle would be different on each side of the blade's edge bevel.

I've pondered something similar in using my Lansky/Gatco/Aligner clamps for small knives, but there's no easy way around the centering issue with multiblade knives having more than one spring. For that matter, some traditionals have bent (krinked) blades, which would position the blade un-parallel to the jaws of the clamp, if held only by the handle. That would be another issue getting in the way. In order for the blade to be centered to the clamp, the blade itself would have to be held by the clamp.


David
 
That's a good point David. I didn't think about the offset blades. Since the KME has a base you can set it on, what if you clamped a 1 inch by 1 inch piece of sheet metal or something and used it like an Edge Pro?
 
fervens said:
That's a good point David. I didn't think about the offset blades. Since the KME has a base you can set it on, what if you clamped a 1 inch by 1 inch piece of sheet metal or something and used it like an Edge Pro?
Click to expand...

Sort of like a 'mini-table' for the blade? I suppose it could work. I don't have a KME, but it sounds plausible anyway; at least maybe worth doing some experimenting with it.

I used to use a hobby vise (PanaVise) with my Lansky clamp, to support it. I may dig it out again, and see how that idea might work with it. Assuming sharpening 'EdgePro style', with one hand holding the blade supported and stabilized on the 'table', while honing with the other hand, it might work OK. Nice thing about sharpening small traditional blades is, they don't take too long. Such an improvised setup might be a little more difficult if used during a real long sharpening session on a bigger blade.


David
 
I've been trying to think of how to make the KME more versatile for me to convince myself to spend the money that i don't have yet. Back to the OP, do you have a KME, and how do you like?
 
I haven't used a KME yet either, but I have one on order that should be here tomorrow. I'll have to have it in hand to be sure, but I get the feeling you'll be stuck with steeper angles on such narrow blades, just like any other clamp system. I'll try out the small blade on a canoe once I get the KME and see how it goes. :thumbup:
 
fervens said:
I've been trying to think of how to make the KME more versatile for me to convince myself to spend the money that i don't have yet. Back to the OP, do you have a KME, and how do you like?
Click to expand...

No I don't have one yet I was thinking about getting one but I mostly have traditional folders that is why I was wanting to see if it would work on smaller blades or not before i bought one.
 
G. Scott is probably right. It already bottoms out at i think 17* per side. It just looks like such a solid system for the price.
 
Okay, I finally clamped a couple small blades into the unit. No dice, unless there's some trick I'm unaware of. It looks like minimum blade width for this thing is gonna be about half an inch, with 5/8" and up being preferable. Even at .5" you're still stuck around the 28-30* per side mark. Looks like you'll have to look elsewhere for something to sharpen your narrow bladed stuff. It's a great system, just not small blade friendly.
 
G. Scott H. said:
Okay, I finally clamped a couple small blades into the unit. No dice, unless there's some trick I'm unaware of. It looks like minimum blade width for this thing is gonna be about half an inch, with 5/8" and up being preferable. Even at .5" you're still stuck around the 28-30* per side mark. Looks like you'll have to look elsewhere for something to sharpen your narrow bladed stuff. It's a great system, just not small blade friendly.
Click to expand...

Have you contacted the MFG yet to see what they have to say about your problem? Would be interested to hear what they have to say about it. Perhaps it is just a design limitation, or maybe they have a work around. I would at least let them know of your problem. There are a lot of small blade traditional knife owners out there, and a good system like they have, could benefit from a system for them to use.

Blessings,

Omar
 
It's not really an issue for me. I don't have many blades small enough for this to be a real problem, and I have no trouble freehanding those I do have. I just tried it for the OP's benefit. But I will contact them and see if they have any advice, then try it out on my system and post my results for those interested. :thumbup:
 
I have talked with Ron about the KME's ability to handle smaller traditionals. He has been working on the issue an said that there may be an offering in the works in mid June - early July. He is great to talk to, and is working on a solution.

Peter
 
Pjake said:
I have talked with Ron about the KME's ability to handle smaller traditionals. He has been working on the issue an said that there may be an offering in the works in mid June - early July. He is great to talk to, and is working on a solution.

Peter
Click to expand...

I don't have a KME, but in looking at their website, I noticed they have a broadhead sharpening accessory that is designed to be used on a bench stone (I assume; they have a video demonstrating it's use on a bench hone). The jig seems better-suited for holding onto some of those smaller blades (for arrows), and I'd wondered if KME may someday adapt it to small pocketknife blades as well. In it's current form, I suspect it wouldn't be quite right in this application, but they seem to have a clamping design that might work with some additional tweaks. I'll be curious to see what their upcoming solution will be for these.


David
 
Pjake said:
I have talked with Ron about the KME's ability to handle smaller traditionals. He has been working on the issue an said that there may be an offering in the works in mid June - early July. He is great to talk to, and is working on a solution.

Peter
Click to expand...

Good deal. I guess that pretty well answers the question. :thumbup:
 
Instead of modifying the kme clamp to allow extending blade edge further out, I tried to create more acute grinding angle at edge by using thicker stones in the stone holder. As a partially successful experiment I cut some 1" x 1" x aprox 4" balsa to fit the holder. I thought at first to just use as a precision guided strop a la wicked edge system. Then thought why not glue various grit strips of wet/dry sandpaper to these thicker "stones". In retrospect I think any fine hardwood would be a better base for the sandpaper and would clamp in better to the stone holder. One could use other stone thicknesses to adjust angle in addition to the variable angle control inherent to the kme system.

bill
 
The narrower blades are a problem on the rod guided systems that use a clamp.

I use a GATCO and I have a KME.

I like to go with as small of an angle as I can. I can't sharpen some very narrow blades such as the Victorinox Classic.

I just finished sharpening some knives. On my kitchen cutlery I can use the 11° and 15° slots in the clamp. For my Leatherman Juice S2 I have to go up to the 19° slot or I will hit the clamp with the stones.

If you can hit the edge on a narrower blade sometimes you have to increase the angle to make it work.

Good Luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top