KME Sharpener is excellent!

Hairlesstwinkie

Hairlesstwinkie

Joined
Feb 4, 2013
Messages
1,562
There are always post about which sharpeners to get and whatnot, and it'll usually be WE or EPA. Well... I would recommend the KME instead. You guys can do your own shopping around to find the best deals. The clamp system is very similar to a Lansky, but without the shotty tolerances. I was always annoyed that my angles would be a few degrees off between each stones so my edges never look as clean as I would like. The stock angle adjustment is from 17-30 degrees, but you can just invert the guide to achieve shallower angles. I would highly recommend an angle cube. My favorite part is that the accessories are quite affordable. The Diamond stones are $25 a piece and water stones range from $30-50 a piece.

I had just picked up a set from Blade. I was going to pick up a WE until I saw the KME booth. I know that WE has limitations with large blades, and I was sold on the KME when one of the guys sharpened an Ontario RTAK II without repositioning. I bought the water stones and the leather strop. I got the diamond kit + water stones ( 1000, 3000, 5000,& 10000 grit)+ leather strop + diamond paste for just under $380.

Here are a few knives that I've sharpened with the KME.

Untitled by Hairlesstwinkie, on Flickr
Untitled by Hairlesstwinkie, on Flickr
Untitled by Hairlesstwinkie, on Flickr
Untitled by Hairlesstwinkie, on Flickr
 
Veautifull edges! How long it takes to prepare everything on kme before sharpening can begin?
 
J-P, it takes 1 minute to get your blade set into the KME and start sharpening. One of the great things about the KME is that you don't have to worry about flipping your knife over per se, it simply rotates in the clamp. I think the KME is the best value in a guided sharpening system out there. I also have and highly recommend the diamond system and some leather strops with some diamond paste.
 
Nice edges! You said:
The stock angle adjustment is from 17-30 degrees, but you can just invert the guide to achieve shallower angles.
Click to expand...
Can you elaborate on this?

Thanks,

Andrew
 
Nice edges. :thumbup: I don't put as much effort into mine. I have a DMT plate, 2 Gold Series plates, and the 4 standard stones that originally came with my KME. I get things set up with the diamonds and then finish off with the coarse standard stone (not the SiC, but the next one down). I don't have the patience to get the edges looking nice with the finer stones, and I like the super toothy edge this method leaves on most steels, so I leave it at that. I agree the KME is a fantastic system, though. :cool:
 
I have been using the diamond set and have just got the standard ceramic set for finishing. For best results, should I use oil or water on the ceramics?
 
Hairlesstwinkie said:
completely unscrew the thumb nut and take the ball guide out. Invert the guide and screw the thumb nut back on.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I no longer have my KME so maybe not having it in front of me makes it harder for me to get this (or maybe I'm just a slow learner :o). Won't this make it difficult to have clearance of the rod over the jaws, especially with narrow blades?

I've talked to Ron quite a bit about achieving lower angles, especially on small traditional blades, and he never mentioned this trick, so I am curious.

Thanks,

Andrew
 
AFAustin said:
Thanks. I no longer have my KME so maybe not having it in front of me makes it harder for me to get this (or maybe I'm just a slow learner :o). Won't this make it difficult to have clearance of the rod over the jaws, especially with narrow blades?

I've talked to Ron quite a bit about achieving lower angles, especially on small traditional blades, and he never mentioned this trick, so I am curious.

Thanks,

Andrew
Click to expand...

It will, but that's why I got the pen knife jaw. It's being shipped to me right now, so I'll be playing with it when it arrives.
http://www.kmesharp.com/geiiinja.html
 
Is there a way to compensate for uneven stone wear? The EPA I have has a collar the serves this purpose. I've been considering replacing my EPA with this.
 
Hairlesstwinkie said:
It will, but that's why I got the pen knife jaw. It's being shipped to me right now, so I'll be playing with it when it arrives.
http://www.kmesharp.com/geiiinja.html
Click to expand...

Thanks. When I had my KME I also had the Pen Knife Pro Jaws and they are a nice addition. I still couldn't get as low as 15 degrees per side on the smaller blades, but maybe you'll have better luck with your inversion technique. Hope you'll post your results.

Andrew
 
HT, do you use an angle cube or something to figure out what your edges are when you do the inverted guide trick?
 
And it's not really that slow either! I have taken to doing most of my knives on my KOWS and it is damn fast for sure. But just last night, I did a Leek that we keep in the kitchen for a variety of tasks, which had gotten fairly dull. Would still cut copy paper OK, but not close to shaving....Well I threw it on my KME, coarse diamond for about 2.5 to 3 mins. and then to the fine diamond-that's right I skipped the middle diamond stone-went through about 2 mins on the fine stone then finished up with the translucent Arkansas, and it was shaving REALLY shaving sharp. Now this is only about a 2 7/8" blade, but I really couldn't do it much quicker with my KOWS, maybe a minute or two overall, but point being, the KME is pretty quick for a medium to smallish blade anyway.
 
Fish30114 said:
HT, do you use an angle cube or something to figure out what your edges are when you do the inverted guide trick?
Click to expand...

I use an angle cube the whole time. It's a lot more accurate than the guides.

TotalDbag said:
Is there a way to compensate for uneven stone wear? The EPA I have has a collar the serves this purpose. I've been considering replacing my EPA with this.
Click to expand...

I would just flatten my stones every time after I use them. I would take a pencil and draw lines on the stone then take a diamond to even out the stones. When all the pencil marks are gone, I know it's even or near even.
 
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