To start with, here is a list of the standard upgrades I purchased and consider vital to improving my sharpening experience (i.e. ease of use and improved repeatability and precision):
1. Slide guide
2. Bench mount
3. Apex retractable magnet
4. Full Matrix diamond set
These items improve the outcomes I can achieve and wouldn't be without them.
Now onto the other items and modifications:
Items:
1. Acrylic panel: I use this on the surface I sharpen on as it (the surface) is not great for the suction cups - this solves that problem. It also protects the surface from the bench mount and G clamp.
2. Double sided tape: I use this to hold the acrylic firmly down to the table on the opposite side, to remove any flex in the acrylic. Not vital, but it's just another easy step to reduce variation.
3. Hapstone angle cube: gives me precision I just wouldn't be able to achieve without it; beats using a marker by itself and works even better in combination with one! This is especially useful if you have bent knives (looking at my Paramilitary 2 in Maxamet).
Modifications:
Basic mods:
- I polished the stone guide with 200k grit (0.1 Micron) diamond paste and lubed it up with a drop of KPL - runs smooth all the time. I've also used KPL on every other moving part of the system - vital? No. Increased smoothness in use? Of course.
- I spray painted black lots of hardware because I was bored and had a tin of paint laying about, it will chip over time but I had fun doing it.
Below is a picture for reference:
edge pro mods
I'll work from left to right:
1.
Handle: You'll notice there is a black acrylic platform attached to a silver disc - this is so that I can place the angle cube in a repeatable manner (I included a slight lip, so that it can be put in the exact same place every time) onto a strong neodymium magnet and not worry about it falling off while I set the right angle (this happened lots and is what spurred me into wanting modifications); I can literally twist it 90 and the cube won't fall off now.
2.
Blue arrow: I placed a washer between the height adjuster and stone guide's plastic interface (polished to 0.1 microns and oiled with KPL) - this is because I'd often find the far end of the stone guide would clip / catch on the black; adding this space means I keep it tightened satisfactorily and no longer experience this 'knock' every time.
3.
Red circle: This is a Hapstone fine angle adjuster, a superb instrument that enables
very fine angle adjustments in a comfortable manner and when used in combination with an angle cube I cut out
all variation in my sharpening approach (This equals more precision than I'm likely to need but this is part of the fun for me in this hobby - chasing perfection) Oh, that is if you can fit it on your system! If you want to know more about this, read on, otherwise, you can stop reading about the mods here.
This item is advertised as compatible with Edge pro systems, which isn't incorrect if you class compatible as '
it will fit on the system but you can't use the red and black sharpening angles because it's too bloody big!'. Big problem for me. I was going to return this to the vendor when I 'discovered' this quirk, but I then realised how much I would enjoy this facility, if only it would fit.
So I got thinking, I considered many different ways to create the space to accommodate this item. Then Covid boredom hit me, so I decided to... file it. I don't have a lathe, or a clamp or any suitable tools, and so I sat and filed this damn thing with a hand file for (honestly) seven / eight hours over the course of a few days. I did as much as I could bear doing and tried it out - still way off! I was running out of angle adjuster to file (I didn't want it to be so small that I couldn't use it easily). So I got thinking about what else I could work with, which lead me to the:
4.
Yellow Circle: This is the Edge Pro's inbuilt angle adjuster; I eventually decided to cut the adjuster housing off and file it down flat as it was no longer necessary - you do need this in the standard set up because you don't have anything beneath the adjuster to stop it from slipping downwards (I have the Hapstone fine angle adjuster so this isn't a factor for me). Doing this enabled me to remove a load of unnecessarily occupied space on the angle guide rod. I now use the same angle adjuster 'bolt' as a free floating item at the top, to stop the stone guide from slipping up.
All of this work has enabled me to do this:
It might look trivial, but it's made sharpening a lot more fun for me and being able to customise this system makes it feel like I really own it now - hope you enjoy.
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