Which of these two kits is the better deal?

BiggBeans

BiggBeans

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Hello, ive basically decided i am going to purchase one of these two kits as my first sharpening kit. Which kit is the better starter kit? Just want to maintain my EDC knives. Please educate me. New member here. Glad to be here.

Option 1: TSPROF Kadet Pro with their stones and the clamp $498.00

Option 2: Hapstone RS with Jende Stones and a few different accesories or upgrades. $650

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Ajack60 Ajack60 everything i own is in bd1n, s30v, s45vn, and magnacut. Hoping to purchase knives with other steels in the future. Big spyderco fan here so there are alot of options out there.
 
In my opinion, unless you're a knifemaker, or you intend to do professional sharpening, or you have a lot of money to spend and you don't care how much things cost, you don't need one of those expensive sharpening kits.

For basic sharpening I've gotten through life just fine with a coarse DMT hone, and a fine DMT hone. And I added a cheap diamond file for recurve blades. All of that combined is a fraction of the cost of one of those kits.

And before I started buying diamond hones (DMT) I got by with a couple of cheap sharpening stones.

You don't need an expensive kit to put a good edge on a knife. When I think "starter kit", I don't think of spending $498-$650. I think of getting a few hones and learning how to sharpen freehand.

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I have a capstone, but use my DMT guided sharpening kit, lansky or freehand 95% of the time. The Hapstone is a project, and if you are not going to use it regularly, it takes some time to set up or it just eats up bench space. I like it otherwise.
 
Plates are going to sharpen faster than resin, but leave a rougher edge.
I'd double check to see if that Naniwa flattening stone is enough for those resin stones. They are usually used on aluminum oxide stones.
 
It's been a few years since I purchased my TSPROF, but I looked at the Kadet and the Hapstone (don't remember which model). I don't think there were any negatives with the Hapstone, I just liked the design and build quality of the Kadet better. Before ordering the Kadet, TSPROF put a K03 kit on sale for only slightly more than the Kadet, so that's what I bought. I considered this a long term purchase and wanted to get the best base sharpener I could afford. I figured I could add all the doodads later.
 
Unless you just demand the best of the best of the best I would just get one of the Worksharp guided kits. I still have and use the Precision Adjust kit that comes with multiple plates. I haven't even felt the need to step up to their newer "better" version. But I will add I only sharpen around 4" and under blades with it. I get the buy once cry once attitude but this may just be overkill if this is really just for EDC knives that are pocket sized.
 
I would agree with most opinions on a cheaper setup. I opted for powered sharpening, It’s the same though, an endless parade of expensive or “needed” “upgrades”.
If I was only sharpening for myself, a Worksharp or a good set of stones would probably be fine.
 
BiggBeans said:
Hello, ive basically decided i am going to purchase one of these two kits as my first sharpening kit. Which kit is the better starter kit? Just want to maintain my EDC knives. Please educate me. New member here. Glad to be here.

Option 1: TSPROF Kadet Pro with their stones and the clamp $498.00

Option 2: Hapstone RS with Jende Stones and a few different accesories or upgrades. $650

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Hi,
The Jende stone set is a perfectly logical and balanced progression.
One thing to keep in mind: the diamond lapping plates will wear out eventually (roughly after 15–20 stones, depending on use).I would not recommend using the flattening stone on Jende stones, as it may damage the surface and alter the geometry. For Jende stones, a better option is a standard cleaning stone like Boride / Hapstone Dressing Stone — that will clean the surface without affecting flatness.For actual flattening, bonded stones should be maintained only on flat glass with silicon carbide powder. This applies to resin bonded, metallic bonded, and hybrid bonded stones.Regarding the mini angle gauge for the Hapstone T2 — it works, but it is a bit slower in practice. I would recommend the standard Hapstone angle gauge instead.


Mario
Hapstone
 
Without trying to sound like a jerk, take it for what it’s worth and ignore me if you wish.

Guided systems have benefits, don’t get me wrong. They’ll let you get far more perfect edges. If you’re sharpening very expensive custom knives, etc I can see the value. When I first started to really try to learn to sharpen to a much higher degree of sharpness, I got a lansky (this was a long time ago). It helped me learn about what I was doing wrong freehand.

But, with YouTube today, things are different.

Therefore, my suggestion would be to get a cheap diamond stone from Home Depot (they sell a 200/600 or something like that) plated diamond bench stone with riser, and a cheap knife. Dull the knife, sharpen it. Learn to freehand. It’s a super useful skill, because you can sharpen things on the fly and you don’t need a system to get you there. It takes some time, patients and attention, but you’ll be less dependent on equipment. I’ve also found that my freehand edges seem to hold longer than when I was using a guide to get a perfect V edge, likely due to the natural more convex edge from freehand.

And yes. I still sometimes think of getting another guided system because of the precision they bring. But I’m just sharpening edc folders and kitchen knives.
 
BiggBeans said:
Ajack60 Ajack60 everything i own is in bd1n, s30v, s45vn, and magnacut. Hoping to purchase knives with other steels in the future. Big spyderco fan here so there are alot of options out there.
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There are more economical systems out there that will do just fine. That being said, go with whichever one you’ve listed that gives you the most confidence, it’s a deep rabbit hole with all the sharpening systems out there. Remember, with any sharpening system, there’s a learning curve. And that’s where it’s the most frustrating, but once you learn how to master your sharpening abilities, you’ll like the system you’ve chosen.
 
Ajack60 said:
There are more economical systems out there that will do just fine. That being said, go with whichever one you’ve listed that gives you the most confidence, it’s a deep rabbit hole with all the sharpening systems out there. Remember, with any sharpening system, there’s a learning curve. And that’s where it’s the most frustrating, but once you learn how to master your sharpening abilities, you’ll like the system you’ve chosen.It doesn't take long to get a good edge with most systems. To create exceptional bevels on a variety of knife configurations took me a good while to learn, still am.
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I agree with the curve...
Most systems, although they most certainly have a learning curve, will enable you to repeat your work precisely. You should be able to generate some kind of edge fairly quickly. Proficiency is required for exceptional bevels and that's that darn curve. All different blade configurations and or steel types come with thier own curve. IMHO
 
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