The end must be near: new KME system!

B

Blade Lab

Joined
Aug 2, 2022
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Yes, we are apparently in the end times. After what seems like decades of companies challenging and surpassing KME, it appears that they've finally gotten off their duffs and will be offering a new, hopefully more competitive system. I don't see it on their site, but Pete of Cedric and Ada has one and gives us a glimpse of it at around the 12:20 mark here:


Looking forward to seeing what they've come up with.
 
Interesting, I wonder what the price will be?
 
Blade Lab said:
I don't know how you can say that another system is more capable just from looking at pictures.
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Well, they kept their "defective" stone clamp, they don't support the EP style stone mounts even though they now support 1"x6" stones, the rotating location method looks to be the same as their old system, which is not on par with others, they kept their rod the same on the stone holder assembly, and their clamps are not as accurate as the fully machined type like others use. This is from the very limited pictures they have and a little experience with their original sharpener. I think the others have their issues too, but I am pretty picky about what makes a proper guided knife sharpener.

I think what made KME desirable was simplicity and price, both of which the new system has less of.
 
Diemaker said:
Well, they kept their "defective" stone clamp, they don't support the EP style stone mounts even though they now support 1"x6" stones, the rotating location method looks to be the same as their old system, which is not on par with others, they kept their rod the same on the stone holder assembly, and their clamps are not as accurate as the fully machined type like others use. This is from the very limited pictures they have and a little experience with their original sharpener. I think the others have their issues too, but I am pretty picky about what makes a proper guided knife sharpener.

I think what made KME desirable was simplicity and price, both of which the new system has less of.
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Yeah, it will be an issue if the stone holder doesn't work well with Edge Pro-style stones. Not sure what you mean about the clamps being less accurate than others. They're self-centering clamps. They all have issues with full flat grinds, but since they have double clamps now you should be able to grab the ricasso.

The issues I had with the original KME seem to have been addressed:
* hard to measure precise angle due to wobbly base
* only 4" stones
* poor micro-adjustment ability
* not suitable for knives much longer than 6"

As far as actual results, I found it as good as any of them in terms of producing a sharp or mirrored edge. The quick release, toolless clamps are a nice touch, provided they're secure enough.

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see some testing.
 
There is the fact that the thin metal strip that goes to support the clamps needs a metal rod to support it. If they had to add it to the base and they say you can remove it from the base and use it free hand then it is just another wobble/flex point. They state "Longest blade sharpenable - 20” or more easily." Ok, how about without having to move and reclamp the blade? A Lansky system can sharpen a 20"+ blade doing the same thing. Going from their pictures it looks like you have about 6" of clamp spread and you can't do a center hold with the included jaws.

For the same price you can get a Hapstone RS/R2 system with some stones. You can use the RS hand held as well and don't need to worry about flexing issues. You can flip the angle clamps to the middle for a center hold on a small knife, or outside for a really long knife without having to buy additional jaws/clamps.
 
jeffbird said:
Which ones do you recommend at the $500 and under price point?
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Honestly it all depends on what you want.

Worksharp makes a variety of systems, both clamp and guide style and belt style. Their clamp systems all use proprietary stones which can be hard to find replacements for.
If you don't mind having to hold the knife then Edge Pro Apex.
Tsprof Pioneer or Kadet, although they are quite a bit higher priced and their CS can be pretty bad, especially if you life outside the USA. They ghosted me on a few issues after making some promises which a lot of others have complained about as well.
The TooHR #3 is an interesting system but you really need to take it apart fully and clean it out then properly reassemble it and the clamps aren't that good but you can use Tsprof/Hapstone ones.
I personally am a big fan of Hapstone systems. Their systems work well, are well priced, and they have amazing customer service.
 
Bdtry said:
There is the fact that the thin metal strip that goes to support the clamps needs a metal rod to support it. If they had to add it to the base and they say you can remove it from the base and use it free hand then it is just another wobble/flex point. They state "Longest blade sharpenable - 20” or more easily." Ok, how about without having to move and reclamp the blade? A Lansky system can sharpen a 20"+ blade doing the same thing. Going from their pictures it looks like you have about 6" of clamp spread and you can't do a center hold with the included jaws.

For the same price you can get a Hapstone RS/R2 system with some stones. You can use the RS hand held as well and don't need to worry about flexing issues. You can flip the angle clamps to the middle for a center hold on a small knife, or outside for a really long knife without having to buy additional jaws/clamps.
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My assumption is that they're saying the system can handle knives up to 20" without reclamping, but we'll have to see. If that's not the case, then yeah, I don't see any compelling reason to choose it over the Hapstone RS or one of the similarly priced TSProf systems.
 
Diemaker said:
Well, they kept their "defective" stone clamp, they don't support the EP style stone mounts even though they now support 1"x6" stones, the rotating location method looks to be the same as their old system, which is not on par with others, they kept their rod the same on the stone holder assembly, and their clamps are not as accurate as the fully machined type like others use. This is from the very limited pictures they have and a little experience with their original sharpener. I think the others have their issues too, but I am pretty picky about what makes a proper guided knife sharpener.

I think what made KME desirable was simplicity and price, both of which the new system has less of.
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Tell us how you really feel...... :cool:
 
Blade Lab said:
My assumption is that they're saying the system can handle knives up to 20" without reclamping, but we'll have to see. If that's not the case, then yeah, I don't see any compelling reason to choose it over the Hapstone RS or one of the similarly priced TSProf systems.
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If you look at the pictures, the guide rod appears to be ~8" long or so (not counting stone holder). Unless they have a separate one that you can buy it is simply not possible. The biggest one I have is about ~14.5" long on my TooHR #3, longer even than my Hapstone R2. I would have to move the upright side to side to sharpen a 20" blade on it.
 
Bdtry said:
If you look at the pictures, the guide rod appears to be ~8" long or so (not counting stone holder). Unless they have a separate one that you can buy it is simply not possible. The biggest one I have is about ~14.5" long on my TooHR #3, longer even than my Hapstone R2. I would have to move the upright side to side to sharpen a 20" blade on it.
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Whelp, reviews are coming out. The guide rod is MUCH longer than what they show in their website pictures. Looks like they took an original KME rod and put it with the set or something.
 
I watched Cedric&Ada video yesterday Mr. Bdtry posted. He didn't test two clamps with long knife yet but he sharpened a Spyderco EDC knife and at least to me looked like there was no problem clamping the blade and holding the blade in position while sharpening. He also didn't mentioned anything about clamps not holding the blade and similar.

Is there an improvement? Yes; at least regarding sharpening angle adjustment called: ''Super smooth friction drive angle adjustment system with micro adjustment feature. Operates with one hand and provides absolute angle control at all times.'' Man, it must be good.
About this sturdy base .... yes, it's sturdy but they are talking about this base like it's a privilege and not 'a must' on a sharpening system. They could made a sturdy base easily and cheap with previous system or I should say a sturdy base/sharpener connection.
I didn't like this so called ''Innovative threaded Monopod brace''. Oh, man; don't they have a proper engineer in the house? It would be cheaper and easier to just make the clamp holder stronger. But it looks fancy, neat, innovative and very high-tech.
Is this worth 5 Benjamins? Not in my book.
I was just reading their description (features) in their site. Oh dear ..... a very strong, detailed and technological list of all ''improvements'' and ''new'' features. Average non-technological Joe will like and will buy.
 
Sure, it doesn't have the build quality of TSProf, Hapstone, or the other top brands, but my take on it is this: it will produce virtually the same results in virtually the same amount of time. It will handle bigger knives than the lower priced competition, and it comes with a starter set of stones, so it's also less expensive. And it's made in the USA, if that matters to you.
 
Blade Lab said:
it will produce virtually the same results in virtually the same amount of time
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Yes, it will. Cedric sharpened his EDC in his video without a trouble to a nice polished edge.
But the same can also do my home made sharpening system with similar $18 clamps and cheap diamond files and otherwise made of scrap parts.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IoJwJVaav3InsAALW9v6QTYPNI0RxbLe/view?usp=drivesdk

Blade Lab said:
And it's made in the USA, if that matters to you.
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If it does matters to me, how can I be sure this is true and not just "assembled in USA" or "repacked in USA"? These days I need to see a proof, not just some "Made in USA" on an internet site.
 
TheOne45 said:
Yes, it will. Cedric sharpened his EDC in his video without a trouble to a nice polished edge.
But the same can also do my home made sharpening system with similar $18 clamps and cheap diamond files and otherwise made of scrap parts.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IoJwJVaav3InsAALW9v6QTYPNI0RxbLe/view?usp=drivesdk


If it does matters to me, how can I be sure this is true and not just "assembled in USA" or "repacked in USA"? These days I need to see a proof, not just some "Made in USA" on an internet site.
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Poor fit and finish is usually a dead giveaway for US products. Hard to afford proper machining when you have to pay employees. It's how I usually tell apart counterfeit benchmades, KME and DMT fixed angle systems are both made pretty poorly for the price. They work great, I've been using them for years now, but both give off a very "made by a 12 year old in shop class" vibe. Nearly $500 for a slightly improved version (I bought the original for less than $250 iirc) is absurd. I hope that's a joke or something, because every other option in that price point is better in every way.
 
I won't stick my nose in US cost/profit ratio, production costs and products prices.
As engineer who works as tooling/machines/devices constructor for 30 years I just expressed my opinion about new KME sharpener.
I can't agree with all those changes they made in the construction because I would do it simpler and cheaper. For example ...
this silly ''Innovative threaded Monopod brace'' to support clamps holder could be avoided by making stronger clamp holder. It would be also cheaper. They can write some fancy text about improvements and impress common user but .....

A strong argument they list is a new sturdy base. This is a must and should not be listed as something premium. They made a bad job with previous sharpener ... the base is OK; they just made bad connection (shaft/hole) with sharpener so it's wobbly when you put sharpener on the base. They could made simple, good and cheap connection but they didn't bother or they didn't know how.

Kryme said:
Nearly $500 for a slightly improved version (I bought the original for less than $250 iirc) is absurd.
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I agree. If this is what they managed to put out after all those years then ... well .... I'm sure a majority of those non-technical youtube influencers will find this new sharpener as an excellent and 'must have' product at a fair price.

Kryme said:
Hard to afford proper machining when you have to pay employees.
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According to the price of this new sharpener looks like they heavily overpaying their employees.
For such a price I would look elsewhere. I personally would go for a Toohr sharpener for 3 times lower price.
 
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