Skarb v. Apex--Comparison?

Looking to move up into the field of better sharpening abilities. Have a sharpmaker (the 204 is coming to replace the shaky 203). Is the Apex system cracked up to what is advertised? Can anyone compare with the Skarb? Advantages of each? HELP ME BEFORE I BUY!
 
Interesting timing! Yesterday one of the guys who invented the Skarb said he'd send me one for evaluation. I'm hoping to check it out first-hand in the next month or so!

Joe
 
T

TANGUS

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Oct 6, 1999
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Joe,

I'll be interested in viewing your review. The Skarb does seem to be an innovative design--BUT DOES IT REALLY WORK AS WELL AS THEY SAY IT DOES.
 
I have a Skarb sharpening system. Yes it does work as well as they claim. It will put a bevel on a knife that is better than a lot of factory bevels. It came with a two sided stone but I've been substituting some different stones that I had. You can use any 2"x6" or 2"x8" stone on it. If you have a lot of different kinds of blades invest in the extra clamp size for thicker blades. It does take a little practice to use effectively but not much. Not as much practice as a Sharpmaker. I don't use it as often as my Sharpmaker though because it takes a bit more setup time. I keep mine out all the time but you have to clamp the blade in, set the angle, clean stones (unless you have some dimond or ceramic benchstones). I use the Skarb to set a bevel or thin a bevel out, and the Sharpmaker for general upkeep. I wish that the makers of the Skarb would etch the degree scale on the clamp assembly instead of the two stickers they use now. The stickers haven't come off yet, but I'm afraid they will some day.

If you get a Skarb, do yourself a favor and keep a small log book of the angles you use on different knives. This will save you a lot of time. You can use the magic marker on the bevel trick initially, but that gets tiresome after a while. The Skarb is very well made and should last many years with a little care.

The double bevel edge you can do on the Skarb is as close to a Moran edge as one can get without a slack belt grinder. I'm looking forward to hearing your opinions of this system Joe.

Paul Davidson
 
I have no experience with the Apex. It looks like a nice system, but I believe you have to use their stones.
Paul
 
I have the Apex and it does a fantastic job on the overwhelming majority of my knives. The only thing that it doesnt do well is my MD Operator; the system comes with waterstones that will cut quite aggressively, but Ben doesnt have diamond stones to go with it. I recently purchased an EZLap diamond stone to glue up on one of the blanks, thus giving me diamonds to try with the ceramic blades. You do need to use the systems stones, but they are inexpensive to replace ($15 or so) and the finer grits last a long time. You do have to periodically flatten them out to true but this is pretty easily done. I don't have the url for their site but I'm sure someone here does.

Overall, great system. I have been doing more freehand as of late but still use my Apex for most sharpening chores. For freehand I'm pretty impressed with the 3M large diamond benchstones.

Cheers-

Bob
 
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