Originally posted by slices
At first I tended to leave the knife still & make wider strokes, instead of moving the knife as illustrated.
Actually, with the ATR, that's what I did as the blade is tough to situate on the ramp (tougher still, because the 'removable' hood was probably red-Loctite sealed the way the clips' screws were :grumpy: ).
Originally posted by slices
Also, check your hones often for flatness, especially when finishing the blade.
I'm bad for that. I keep my stones soaking in a pencil box all the time, so they all look 'flat enough'.
Originally posted by slices
I'm careful to keep the burr as small as possible at that stage. Keeping a pan full of water & a small scrub brush next to the edgepro keeps mess to a minimum & helps to clean/wet the stones often.
The terrycloth towel included with the set and some paper towels can help, too. Ben saved a lot of would-be sharpening geeks from angering their wives with hand towel. I've found that soaking the stones lets me keep everything working with just the squeeze bottle and towel.
Originally post by slices
The shape of some blades makes it tough to stay consistant with the Edgepro,(my Spyderco ATR for example), but if you are careful & pay attention to detail, it works great. Just takes longer.
As Cliff points out, you gain cutting power with acute bevels, but lose durability. This is where you have to decide what you want the knife to be used for, and set your included angle to best match the steel & intended use.
Well, since the ATR is a stainless knife from the overbuilt pantheon (Greco, Strider, ExtremaRatio), and since S30V has a
lot of wear resistance, I chose the safe choice of 15 degrees per side. That way, the edge was thick enough to not require days of reprofiling without a belt sander and would still slice well. Opening bags of cat food and cat litter are my most blade-intensive tasks (it's not much, but you get immediate feedback on how sharp your knife is).
Originally posted by slices
Precision is the key when dealing with a microscopic edge. I take my cue from the Japanese. Every stroke is a masterpiece. For me, sharpening is not about speed, it's precision & attention to detail.
I'm still a little into speed because I don't want to spend all day at the sink, but precision is definitely needed for treetop shaving. Also, less than precise passes with the waterstone irk me, so maybe you and the Japanese are on to something great.
Originally posted by slices
For nipping off the burr, setting the microbevel & giving the edge that "sticky" sharp finish, the Ultrafine Sharpmaker hones are great. I've also found that most knives respond to a final strop with CRO pasted leather very well.The constant angle this provides helps get that last bit of sharpness.
No rechargeable strops in the house, but the CrO, SiC, and AO loaded mylar sheets seem to work well. Didn't use them this time as I usually use them for convex-edged blades and touchups between sharpenings (I guess creating more convex-edged blades
). To get rid of the burr while doing the least amount of rebevelling possible, I set the angle slightly higher and used two nigh-weightless passes on each side with .03 micron AO mylar lapping film on the blade blank.
Originally posted by slices
Getting a blade to cut hair above the skin was truely going to the next level for me . Achieving that hones your skill as well as the blade 
Keep us posted..
Thanks for the encouragement. My guess is that you'll reach that level a little before me.
