Noob second post.
I'd recently started down the path of figuring out how best to use the Edge Pro Apex. I'm recently retired and now have the time to do things that I didn't make time for previously. The initial purpose for wanting sharp knives is solely because I enjoy cooking. And, cooking isn't a lot of fun when you have dull knives. But, it's become something more than that.
I got the EPA ~ 10 years ago because I didn't think that I'd ever be able to have the time to develop the skill to hand sharpen or the time to be able to get knives sharp rapidly just using my hands and stones. At the time, this was absolutely the case! I was working full time, plus serving as a Scout leader for my sons Boy Scout Troop, along with all of the other time pressures in life.
Now, I'm questioning that assumption. Or rather, conditions have changed. I now have the time to devote to pursuing knife sharpening. But, it's not just that I have the time. Part of it is my interest in learning new skills. I used to get challenges of learning new things at work. Now that work is done, I am looking for other outlets for skill building. This seems like a worthwhile and practical set of skills to know.
Over the past several days, I've binged YouTube knife sharpening videos. One of the things that really pushed me down the path of hand sharpening were videos showing the speed with which one who is skilled at manually sharpening can get an excellent edge. That potential efficiency combined with my desire to learn a new skill prompted me to bite the bullet and purchase a "stone": the Sharpal 162N
Starting down the path of learning any new skill frankly SUCKS! It requires being really bad at that skill for a while.
I'm embracing the suck.
In order to jump start the process, I checked with the current Scout leader to see if it would be OK for me to grab the knives from the adult chuck box to sharpen. The next Scout outing is at the end of July and happens to be summer camp (meaning, they likely won't need the knives until the September outing). He was thrilled!
Here's what I got:

There are a wide range of blades here from different manufacturers and different eras. Seems like a great way to get started!
Step one-get them clean (or at least, MUCH cleaner!).

Unfortunately, it appears that some of the knives were put away while still wet and have started rusting. It happens. Used some steel wool to take off the top layers of dirt and rust.
Worked on sharpening these for a couple hours yesterday just using the 162N. They're sharper than they were, but still not where I think they can be. And, there were three knives that I just couldn't get sharp. One of those challenging three was a very inexpensive knife that was quite long, very thin, and super bendy.
I'm going to continue to work on them for the next several days while working on building the technique. We'll see how it goes!
if all else fails and I decide the squeeze isn't worth the juice, I'll get them sorted using the EPA.
Bruce
I'd recently started down the path of figuring out how best to use the Edge Pro Apex. I'm recently retired and now have the time to do things that I didn't make time for previously. The initial purpose for wanting sharp knives is solely because I enjoy cooking. And, cooking isn't a lot of fun when you have dull knives. But, it's become something more than that.
I got the EPA ~ 10 years ago because I didn't think that I'd ever be able to have the time to develop the skill to hand sharpen or the time to be able to get knives sharp rapidly just using my hands and stones. At the time, this was absolutely the case! I was working full time, plus serving as a Scout leader for my sons Boy Scout Troop, along with all of the other time pressures in life.
Now, I'm questioning that assumption. Or rather, conditions have changed. I now have the time to devote to pursuing knife sharpening. But, it's not just that I have the time. Part of it is my interest in learning new skills. I used to get challenges of learning new things at work. Now that work is done, I am looking for other outlets for skill building. This seems like a worthwhile and practical set of skills to know.
Over the past several days, I've binged YouTube knife sharpening videos. One of the things that really pushed me down the path of hand sharpening were videos showing the speed with which one who is skilled at manually sharpening can get an excellent edge. That potential efficiency combined with my desire to learn a new skill prompted me to bite the bullet and purchase a "stone": the Sharpal 162N
Starting down the path of learning any new skill frankly SUCKS! It requires being really bad at that skill for a while.
I'm embracing the suck.
In order to jump start the process, I checked with the current Scout leader to see if it would be OK for me to grab the knives from the adult chuck box to sharpen. The next Scout outing is at the end of July and happens to be summer camp (meaning, they likely won't need the knives until the September outing). He was thrilled!
Here's what I got:

There are a wide range of blades here from different manufacturers and different eras. Seems like a great way to get started!
Step one-get them clean (or at least, MUCH cleaner!).

Unfortunately, it appears that some of the knives were put away while still wet and have started rusting. It happens. Used some steel wool to take off the top layers of dirt and rust.
Worked on sharpening these for a couple hours yesterday just using the 162N. They're sharper than they were, but still not where I think they can be. And, there were three knives that I just couldn't get sharp. One of those challenging three was a very inexpensive knife that was quite long, very thin, and super bendy.
I'm going to continue to work on them for the next several days while working on building the technique. We'll see how it goes!
if all else fails and I decide the squeeze isn't worth the juice, I'll get them sorted using the EPA.
Bruce
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