Suggestions on maintenance

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coyotes72

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Feb 23, 2016
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I have only owned cheaper knives, and i am planning on buying a Benchmade APB Assist. I have good oil, but i only have Allen wrenches. I use stones to sharpen, so my knives end up with convex edges. Could anyone suggest some tools and sharpening system to keep the flat grind, thank you for any help.
 
I use Frog Lube and Tuff Glide, for sharpening your gonna need a good strop, and all my knife tools are WIHA, torx and allen
 
Just bought a set of WIHA torx drivers myself the other day. Great recommendation.
 
sharpening system to keep the flat grind
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At the least buy and start with a coarser stone : 120, or 220 something like that. At least use it every once in a while to get some of the thickness thinned down. Some body said here on the forums that "the sharpening is done on the coarse stone". How true.

At the other end of the spectrum would be an Apex Pro sharpening jig. Once you get the factory bevel to play well with the Apex Pro then it is very easy to keep the flat bevel and can just select the kind of "grind" you want as far as toothy or polished. Once you get the bevels as described above the 500 Shapton on the Apex Pro is all you need to start with and don't need the coarser grits that make the hand (jigless) sharpening easier.

In other words if you know you will ultimately get the Jig maybe just skip getting the extra coarse hand stones. Unless you are like me and enjoy having "too many" stones.
 
The apex pro is pretty expensive, what do you think about the lansky sharpening system, has anybody used one, and what do you think about it. Thanks
 
coyotes72 said:
The apex pro is pretty expensive, what do you think about the lansky sharpening system, has anybody used one, and what do you think about it. Thanks
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The Lansky is good but it does have its quirks like clamping certain blades can be fiddly and the fixed angles do change depending on how wide the blade is.
If you give it a good bit of time and practice on a lots of different blades it gets easy and can be a nice system.

I used mine a lot when I got it and can get great results with it.
For the price I like the stones and still use a few of them freehand these days.
 
I concur with willc on what's said about lansky. The trick is to use a sharpie and the extra fine stone to find the previous angle of sharpening for touch up (it does not matter if you are to reprofile the bevel).
 
If you use stones already. then read the stickies at the top of this subforum on sharpening. It sounds like you're not maintaining the same angle as you hold the knife in your hand.
 
Using stones gives you a convex edge?!

It's not the stones if that's what you're implying.....

BM makes a great little Torx kit that I have had for many years with no issues.
 
The torx drivers mentioned above are one of the best on the market. For sharpening I would recommend the Spyderco Sharpmaker. Easy to use and keeps a pretty consistent angle on your knives although there are only two angles to choose from. 30 or 40 degrees inclusive. Use a sharpie marker on the edge you are sharpening prior to starting. After a few strokes on a bench stone or sharpmaker check to see if you are holding the blade at the proper angle. On a new knife the angle might not be 15 or 20 degrees per side and you might have to adjust for these angles by using the bench stone to get this angle the first time as a Spyderco sharpmaker is not for re-profiling the blade but mainly to keep the knife sharp as needed. Good luck with whatever you choose.
Ron
 
JR88FAN said:
Using stones gives you a convex edge?!

It's not the stones if that's what you're implying.....

BM makes a great little Torx kit that I have had for many years with no issues.
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I was not meaning that it was the stones, I know that it is me.
 
Fyi, frog lube is basically coconut oil and can develop mold. Fireclean, another expensive gun oil is, wait for it, vegetable oil. I like slip2000.
 
coyotes72 said:
The apex pro is pretty expensive, what do you think about the lansky sharpening system, has anybody used one, and what do you think about it. Thanks
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There are Edge Pro knock-offs available, such as this: http://www.amazon.com/Professional-...liid=I1OO9AZH6O01VJ&ref_=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl

Seem to be reasonably well made and get good reviews. They will work with the Edge Pro stones which are around $19.50 from Amazon. The stones that come with the knock-offs are pretty low quality.
 
Why so worried about a little convex?

It's promoting good cutting ability and edge retention, both of which will be decreased by using a guided system at the same bevel angle. The very flat bevels tend to promote wedging while the very fine apex has a tendency to microchip.

I've tried many systems over the years and they all worked but none of them ever offered any advantage over freehand, IMO.
 
Jason B. said:
Why so worried about a little convex?

It's promoting good cutting ability and edge retention, both of which will be decreased by using a guided system at the same bevel angle. The very flat bevels tend to promote wedging while the very fine apex has a tendency to microchip.

I've tried many systems over the years and they all worked but none of them ever offered any advantage over freehand, IMO.
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CATRA even offers powered sharpeners that make what they call a "Gothic Arch" edge, after finding all else being equal they reliably got better retention.

I agree 100% with the above, the only good reason to to use such systems is due to physical restrictions or other limiting factor. Even powered systems offer no real advantage other than speed (substantial if grinding off a lot of material), though often at the cost of more quality control.
 
Jason B. said:
Why so worried about a little convex?

It's promoting good cutting ability and edge retention, both of which will be decreased by using a guided system at the same bevel angle. The very flat bevels tend to promote wedging while the very fine apex has a tendency to microchip.

I've tried many systems over the years and they all worked but none of them ever offered any advantage over freehand, IMO.
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I did not consider that, i had wanted to stay as close to the factory grind as possible, only i had wanted there to be more of a mirror edge


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Mirror edges are made by tight grit progressions not tight angle tolerances.
 
Fixed angle systems are great.
Imagine being able to hold a blade freehand at an unchanging angle of your choice, with a precision level of one degree.
You could try a generic version of an EdgePro for $30 and see for yourself.

Mirror edge: get yourself some 1200 grit wet/dry sanpaper and some Windex. Polish away! Only takes a few minutes of effort on a decent edge.
Doing a whole blade takes a bit longer :-)

Tools: as long as it doesn't break and does the job, it's good (i.e. no real diff. between Craftsman and SnapOn in most situations)
 
Let me recommend the DMT Aligner clamp system. It's dirt cheap ($12 for the clamp without stones, and you can use it with your current stones,) quite a nice selection of angles, works VERY well with pocket folders, and and fast and easy to use. If you chose to get their stone set, be sure to include their ultra-coarse and ultra-fine stones as well.

The DMT Aligner clamp really shows its worth when used with wet/dry sandpaper followed by polishing films. Mirror finishes (if that is your wish) in a matter of minutes while watching a ball game on TV. It doesn't get much more fool-proof than this!
 
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