Want to buy a KME

G

gsteve

Joined
Aug 16, 2015
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Hi... ive finally decided on a KME to be my next system. My question is.. Which way to go , the basic and which optional stones. Or the deluxe?

I know it depends what all i want to do. It will be basic sharpening and id like to be able to try to get a real fine edge on a few fav knives.

thanks !
 
I'm trying the venev diamond stones myself from gritomatic.

they are way cheaper. but I recommend also getting the kme diamond stones in 50grit and 140 grit for re profiling.

if I had to do it again that's what id do from the start.

then get a finishing stone and a strop
 
I would suggest not using the 50 grit beast stone on a knife. EXTREMELY EXTEMELY coarse. Good for an axe or hatchet
 
I just did this. Have done 5 knives so far. Improving. I'd probably do the deluxe again. I also picked up the black arkansas. I think you need the 50 and 100 diamonds. Have also had no issues with the beast FWIW.
 
If you're sharpening steel such as S110V, S90V, S30V, M390, 204P, 4V, 10V, 3V, Z-ware go with the diamonds.
If you're sharpening steel such as 1095, VG-10, 14C28N, AEB-L go with the standard stones.
It's not that you can't sharpen the high end steels with the standard stones, it will take a lot longer to do so. The diamonds are way more aggressive than the standard stones, so you'll have to be careful not to take too much steel off. I learned to apply less pressure using the diamonds.
You can get a fine edge with any set of stones you get, it's just a matter of mastering the sharpening system you have.
I've had one bad experience using the really course diamond stone. Small chunks of the blade actually ripped off the edge of a custom fixed blade in Z-Ware that had a good heat treat. Could have been operator error, but I'll never find out. Decided then it may take longer to re profile an edge, but at least I'll have all the metal there.
From what I hear, the CBN emulsion will give you a fine edge.
 
the key is to not use the beast 50 grit to form a bur. its so course it will rip. not sure if that's what happened in the above post. kme warns about this on the website, don't form a burr with the 50grit. its great for removing material and fast.

I have the standard kme diamonds 140-1500 and it took a long time to re profile on the high carbide steel I have. beast made it easier and faster. probably won't need it for say vg10, so as mentioned in another post above, depends what steel your sharpening

also the lapping films are great too. if you get them use them very lightly and in one direction, down. I just get the blanks and buy the films in sheets and cut them to size as its cheaper for me. I'd suggest 1micron, .5 and .25 or something like that.
 
I know a lot of people use the 140-1500 then finish with the 4 CBN emulsion with great results. I would recommend the basic kit for starters and you can always add on in the future. I been using the shapton glass stones and they have been great too. Using a angle cube and ball knob can make things easier as well.
 
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