Wondering About Edge Pro Apex

actually the tapes are his grit range there actually 2000=5000g 3000=10.000and 6000=30thousand there insane for a mirrored edge I can actually see the color definition in my eye then I look at it
 
That's amazing. Maybe there isn't any need to get anything beyond the regular set? Except the 1/2" stones for my recurved edges.
 
I went from free handing to using an Edgepro back to free handing about 70% of the time. The Edgepro is great for setting bevels, but I find that it is faster, easier, less time consuming, and more economical in many ways to use full sized waterstones (e.g. Shapton, Chosera, Naniwa SS) once the bevel has been set.

The Atoma 140 plate sized for the Edgepro is a great stone. The 2x6 DMT diamond plates, apparently, can also fit the Edgepro and may in fact be the more economical option for low grit stones.
 
Can anyone tell me, besides stone quality, why the EP is worth ten times the indistinguishable $30 knock offs?
 
kevnkar said:
Can anyone tell me, besides stone quality, why the EP is worth ten times the indistinguishable $30 knock offs?
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The stones that come with the Edgepro really aren't all that great. Aftermarket stones are much better and are also correspondingly higher in price. Also, the most basic Edgepro can be had for ~$120 last time I checked; the base model is all you would need anyways.

The Edgepro is made in the U.S., has a good amount of exposure, appears to be well backed by the manufacturer, and probably has a much more thought out design than the cheapo knock-offs.
 
Because for the real edge pro your paying for all of this

R&D , Ben did it and the chinease just ripped it off
Quality Assurance , Ben wont send out any units that are out of spec
Warranty , Call the Chinease when one of those crappy legs breaks
Experience , Again call the chinease when you have a question regarding its use. Odd knife shape or procedure..
 
I'll chime in here with my experience. I've had my EP Apex for probably at least 10 years. My only regret was not getting the Pro model. I'd like to do scissors. I have the original stones going up to 3000 tape. It's more than sufficient.

Like others have said, within 30 min, the first knife that I sharpened was not just popping hairs, but I could hold a newspaper or yellow pages in front of me and push cut down through it 4-5 inches away from my holding hand without any slicing at all. And my edges were highly polished like those you see in this thread. The EP has taught me more about sharpening then all the friends and experts I've ever talked to or read. I still freehand because I enjoy it, but when I really need "that" edge, or I need to re-bevel, out comes the EP.

I've always made this claim after handling knives sharpened by ABS masters and professional sharpeners. I can easily beat anyone's hand sharpened edges, and match anyone's guided or machine sharpened edges. Here's the beauty of that claim. Any EP user can make the same claim. It's really that good. It's the best money I've ever spent on sharpening equipment, and it's improved my hand sharpening 1000%.
 
sodak said:
I'll chime in here with my experience. I've had my EP Apex for probably at least 10 years. My only regret was not getting the Pro model. I'd like to do scissors. I have the original stones going up to 3000 tape. It's more than sufficient.

Like others have said, within 30 min, the first knife that I sharpened was not just popping hairs, but I could hold a newspaper or yellow pages in front of me and push cut down through it 4-5 inches away from my holding hand without any slicing at all. And my edges were highly polished like those you see in this thread. The EP has taught me more about sharpening then all the friends and experts I've ever talked to or read. I still freehand because I enjoy it, but when I really need "that" edge, or I need to re-bevel, out comes the EP.

I've always made this claim after handling knives sharpened by ABS masters and professional sharpeners. I can easily beat anyone's hand sharpened edges, and match anyone's guided or machine sharpened edges. Here's the beauty of that claim. Any EP user can make the same claim. It's really that good. It's the best money I've ever spent on sharpening equipment, and it's improved my hand sharpening 1000%.
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That is my experience exactly. My very first knife sharpened on the Edge-Pro was BETTER than the edges sharpened for me by professionals.
 
I'm definitely going to get the Shapton set when I have the funds. I do wish they would adapt a DMT XX Coarse to use for grinding the initial bevel though.
 
BladesB4Firearms said:
I'm definitely going to get the Shapton set when I have the funds. I do wish they would adapt a DMT XX Coarse to use for grinding the initial bevel though.
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You can get both DMT and Atoma diamond plates for reprofiling and damge correction.
 
I got the knock off from amazon and the original stones and tape from the EP site, plus a couple shapton glass stones from ken at chefknivestogo. All together, I spend about 120$ total for a setup that is better than any stock edge pro kit. I know it's not popular to say, but I think the piece of plastic and two metal bars is not worth the extra 200$. The important part of the system is the stones, and great ones can be had from ken or from congress tools. the spyderco double stuff is also a great option for this. The stones come apart easily, and they make great ceramics at a very reasonable price. If you have money to burn, by all means, go through EP, but I'm not sure there's anything that different about it compared to the chinese version that merits the price.

If you do go through the knockoff route, DO NOT use their stones. They are complete garbage. EP's stones are actually very reasonably priced, and I like their tape a lot. Using the tape at 8$ for 15 strips is more cost effective than getting a shapton 30k. you'll get a couple nice edges off each strip, so 15 will last you a while.
 
going to grab a cheap $9 double sided diamond 2x6" stone off ebay and clamp it up in my stone holder arm and give it a whirl. I suspect it will work like a champ. Im trying to figure out a maintenance free stone progression that doesn't require flattening. Im thinking that 2 sided diamond stone, then a spyderco medium and fine ceramic in 1x5" or 2x8 in my home made edge pro would be a thing of beauty...no flattening!
 
Rsq said:
I got the knock off from amazon and the original stones and tape from the EP site, plus a couple shapton glass stones from ken at chefknivestogo. All together, I spend about 120$ total for a setup that is better than any stock edge pro kit. I know it's not popular to say, but I think the piece of plastic and two metal bars is not worth the extra 200$. The important part of the system is the stones, and great ones can be had from ken or from congress tools. the spyderco double stuff is also a great option for this. The stones come apart easily, and they make great ceramics at a very reasonable price. If you have money to burn, by all means, go through EP, but I'm not sure there's anything that different about it compared to the chinese version that merits the price.

If you do go through the knockoff route, DO NOT use their stones. They are complete garbage. EP's stones are actually very reasonably priced, and I like their tape a lot. Using the tape at 8$ for 15 strips is more cost effective than getting a shapton 30k. you'll get a couple nice edges off each strip, so 15 will last you a while.
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You're right about one thing, it's not popular to say. You are helping others rip off an honest man. Welcome to my ignore list.
 
I have the Edge Pro and love it. Just like many other folks that do freehand or use other sharpening systems likely love their methods.

I have had mine for a few years and have learned a few things I would recommend to most folks depending on what they are using it for.

1. Buy it with the original EP stones. Use them and get use to them. If nothing else for the experience gained. I find I can take care of the majority of my needs with the EP stones. Mostly Deer skinning knives, fillet knives and kitchen knives. This gives me a cheap set of stones to use on knives where all I am looking for is a good "working edge.

Another reason I recommend keeping a set of the EP stones around is that once I got an edge pro I found myself offering to do up a few friends knives for them. Well they got hooked and started bringing me more knives. So in time, I simply made them come over and offered to teach them how to use the Edge Pro. I told them if they did, I would then loan them my edge pro periodically as needed. The EP stones gives me a cheap "loaner" set of stones.


Buy 1 set of each of the EP polishing tapes. Mostly again just for the experience. The tapes are finiky and I don't like them. Easy to tear, wear out quickly etc. But it's good to try them at least once simply so you can say you have and might learn a few lessons from them.

This is where I would start transitioning over to the Shapton Glass stones. Start replacing the the EP tapes with the Shapton Glass Stones available on the Chef Knives to Go website as needed. This will let you continue to get the results you were getting with the EP polish tapes but with stones that are going to last longer than those finiky tapes.

Over time, as your EP stones start showing wear, then start looking to slowly replace those as needed with the Shaptons.

But these suggestions are what I have recommended to several friends looking at the Edge Pro. It does not break the bank. Gives you some experience with the EP stones and tapes and let's you slowly build up a good shapton collection as funds and time allow.

Good Luck,
Jeff
 
Rsq said:
If you do go through the knockoff route, DO NOT use their stones. They are complete garbage.
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I don't know man, I don't think those cheap Chinese stones are that bad...
4KZc35f.jpg
 
sodak said:
I'll chime in here with my experience. I've had my EP Apex for probably at least 10 years. My only regret was not getting the Pro model. I'd like to do scissors. I have the original stones going up to 3000 tape. It's more than sufficient.

Like others have said, within 30 min, the first knife that I sharpened was not just popping hairs, but I could hold a newspaper or yellow pages in front of me and push cut down through it 4-5 inches away from my holding hand without any slicing at all. And my edges were highly polished like those you see in this thread. The EP has taught me more about sharpening then all the friends and experts I've ever talked to or read. I still freehand because I enjoy it, but when I really need "that" edge, or I need to re-bevel, out comes the EP.

I've always made this claim after handling knives sharpened by ABS masters and professional sharpeners. I can easily beat anyone's hand sharpened edges, and match anyone's guided or machine sharpened edges. Here's the beauty of that claim. Any EP user can make the same claim. It's really that good. It's the best money I've ever spent on sharpening equipment, and it's improved my hand sharpening 1000%.
Click to expand...

You can actually do scissors on an apex, here's how.

images
 
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