I used to collect knives back in the 90s at which time I used a Lansky. I recall how upset I was when I tried to sharpen the Randall #14 freehand and let's say, I did not do a particularly good job. I am a physician by trade and consider myself a detail oriented guy, and I was rather upset by the mess I made of the Randall. I sent it back to them and they were able to restore it without a problem.
I think there are several issues here. First of all, let's remember that a lot of people here seek to sharpen a knife in a particular manner that quite frankly, I do not think a knife was ever intended to have. That is to say, simply put, a the purpose of a knife is to cut something. From a practical standpoint, having an edge polished to gleam in the sun in my humble opinion does not really do anything for the knife except make it look nice to those who like them that way. In fact, I have read both on the Forum here and elsewhere, that certainly for powdered steels, a blade cuts better when it is toothy and left at something like 400 to maybe 600 or so grit. It also depends upon what you want to cut and for how long you want your edge to last. There are also certainly a lot of different opinions on this subject.
The next issue is that of course knives come in all shapes, sizes, and blade types which do not present a problem when they are sharpened in the manner that has been done for ages, that is freehand. I was never particularly good at this but with practice, I have been getting better and I have done exactly what others have suggested...sharpen inexpensive folders like the Rat. I have both the big and smaller ones and have tortured them with stones and diamonds!
I have a Worksharp guided system which has been very helpful in terms of giving me a very good feeling for proper bevels, angles, etc. In fact I have become very good at it and can consistently get a knife to cut very think paper like you find in a phone book or shave the hair on the back of my arm. Yet I noticed something interesting with my ZT Hinderer 0562 CF. The edges on each side of the blade do not look like they are exactly the same angle despite having had the same number of passes. I think that it is not me or the Worksharp but something inherent in the knife blade. Despite this, I can get the blade sharp enough to cut as I have described.
With the Worksharp there is also an issue with different types of knives. When I have a flat surface like on the ZT I use that as my reference for the 17 or 20 degree angle on the guided system. However, what to do with the paramilitary and military that I have....they are straight V grinds....there is no horizontal flat surface...not an issue if you sharpen free hand but it is with the Worksharp guided system and I can see the problem with any guided system with clamps including the TSProf.
The bottom line is that the sharpening systems are tools. They are not fool or idiot proof. You have to know something about what you are doing to use them correctly and a lot of it is by trial and error. I consider myself something of a Renaissance guy who likes to take on projects involving information that I have no experience with. I pay a price for this in terms of the amount of time it takes to learn and the fact that I make mistakes. I do my own electronics work and some auto repair work...both certainly out of line with my professional training.
So, again, the problem is not with the TSProf. We need to learn how to use any new system.
I have to give Paul a lot of credit for working to sell his product here in the US. Yes, it would be helpful to have some videos. I would like to help myself and if possible, my wife who speaks Russian will help me to get some of the existing videos translated.
I received my TSProf system but have not used it yet. I have been scratching my head trying to think how I will sharpen the Spydercos with it but I suspect that there are enough smart people here that with a group effort we can figure these things out.....and....we can help Paul iron out any kinks.
