Sharpened my first knife with the Edge Pro.....wow!

My Edge Pro Professional arrived this week. I had also ordered a set of chosera stones from CKTG that were already here and was anxious to use the system. Yesterday, I tried it out on an old, dull, cheap paring knife with no edge I found in my junk drawer. It took forever to reshape the edge, first with a 120 diamond plate, and then with the 400 and 800 stones, but I eventually got a decent edge. Nothing to write home about, and a lot of work. Today, I tried it out on my new Moritaka Nakiri 165mm, which was pretty sharp to begin with. I used the magic marker method to find the angle, which ended up being around 14 degrees, if I counted dots correctly (halfway between the black and red dots). Started with the 800, then went to 2k and finished with 10k. Deburred with the Rock Hard Deburring Felt Block from CKTG. Altogether it took, maybe, 10 minutes, mostly because I am a complete newbie to serious knife sharpening and to the system. Then, I tried the knife. Holy cropolie! With the exception of a razor blade, I have never held anything so sharp in my life. I tried it out on some tomatoes and cukes. It was, literally, no effort. The knife essentially cut through the veggies on its own weight. It was scary.

I know this is old hat to the pros on this forum, and that you are all chuckling to yourselves. And, I also know that you can put an edge on this knife that would put mine to shame. But, for my first attempt, I am really happy with the results. It is SO COOL. And, it was SO EASY. The Edge Pro system is amazing - solidly built, easy to use and fast, especially with the chosera stones. I was running around the kitchen, looking for more things to slice and dice. I have a brand new Konosuke HD 270mm Wa-Gyuto that I also thought was super sharp out of the box. Now, I can't wait to sharpen it. But, I have to go on a business trip tomorrow. I will be dreaming of knives and stones in hotel rooms, until I get back.

Thanks to everyone, who posted positive reviews of the Edge Pro system. It was everything you said it was, and more.

Bill

lol you just got bit by the sharpening bug which is almost as bad as the k. knife bug. Enjoy it. Next you will be going free hand, calling your self a noob.:clown:

Congratulations also, you did achieve something that you thought wasn't possible.:thumbsup:

Congrats! The sharpening bug is definitely worse than the knife bug

obtuse said:

Congrats! The sharpening bug is definitely worse than the knife bug

Click to expand...

Worse, but a lot cheaper. Until you find yourself writing to Maksim, that pusher of japanese exotica...

I suggest you get an angle cube since the lines on the edge pro arent exact since the stone can vary in thickness. Also I recommend trying some of the j-natural stones for it, I like those even better than the choseras.

+1 to the angle cube. This will become a necessity if you ever mix and match stones, and as your stones wear down from use. I would also look into getting a drill stop collar, as it makes stone changes much easier without having to go back to the angle cube in between stones.

Regards,
Chris

The only problem with the stop collar is that you can't use it with angles lower than 12 degrees. Works for all angles on the EP Pro like Rookie has

I seem to have misplaced my collar. Hopefully I put it somewhere in the garage near where I last used the angle cube (for non EP stuff)...

Also, this is just my humble opinion, and I am sure others will disagree, but I would not be too inclined to purchase J-nat stones for the edge pro. The set of Choseras that you have should more than suffice your sharpening needs for that particular unit. I do not really want to get into why I do not believe J-nats are not suitable for the edge pro, but I will suffice it to say that J-nats are more suited to a free hand style of sharpening than to a guided system such as the edge pro.

Thanks for all the support and great advice. It really is a kind of addiction. But, at least I and the people around me will get something useful out of it - sharper knives. For the Edge Pro system I actually already have the Angle Cube and the stop collar, as they seemed to be a couple of useful accessories to have, maybe not for right now, but certainly down the road. Other accessories I bought include the felt deburring block, a leather strop, the scissor attachment, and the stone leveling kit. For now I am happy just to sharpen knives using their original angles Eventually, I will get more aggressive, I'm sure. Looking forward to learning and growing.

No offense meant by this, but I got a better understanding of sharpening by abandoning my Edge Pro and switching to stones. The edges that I now obtain on my knives are not the world's best, but are far superior to anything that I could get on the EP.

So while the sharpening bug bit me while using the EP, graduating to stones gave me the better results. You might want to consider that before investing more into your EP setup.

However, run with what works best for you. Have fun.

Mine showed up today. I'm going the opposite direction from freehand to fixture....just had to do it. I'll report back one I get to play a while.

PZ

I'm glad that you like it! I had a similar reaction the first time I created and in-humanly perfect, mirror polished bevel on my EP in less time than it normally took me just to raise an even burr by hand.

Pablo, I really like your "jump in and try everything" sharpening tool rampage you've been on recently. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on the EP going from freehand to the EP.

I also started with freehand sharpening: began when I was a kid and all I had was a cheap oil stone from my father's shop and some scraps of sandpaper. So, I knew the basics of sharpening long before I got my edge pro, but I didn't feel like I really every scientifically experimented with different angles or compound bevels. I had a guess of the kinds of angles that worked best and some theories about compound bevels, but the EP was the first tool that really let me easily delve into the minute details of edge creation. It allowed me to take some of the "human factor" (wobble, alignment, consistency) out of the equation and experiment and observe with a very fine level of detail. I could start with a factory angle and slowly reduce it till I got past the point of what the steel could take, observe the signs of failure and then slowly add a micro bevel, thin behind the edge, ect and see what improved durability while maintaining the same feel of the very acute angle. Experimenting with different levels of polish on different steels, grit progression, pressure and scratch patterns... it was all much easier and clearer than freehand. I learned more about sharping and what makes a good edge for a given knife and task in a few months with the edge pro than I had in the past few years of freehand sharpening.

I have no doubt that the EP made me a better freehand sharpener.
I'll also note that I have the "Pro" model. I debated between the two for awhile, but I'm very happy with my decision. The Apex is a mass-produced product and, from what I can see it's a very solid device, but the Pro model is handmade (the base is a heavily modified/beefed up panavise) and has this awesome feeling to it like an old machinist tool. The extra adjustability angle range, and arm length are also nice.

I did buy the 15K chosera for the EP . The idea of the jnats for the EP sounded appealing just because it would be a way to try them out for a faction of the cost of a full size slab of gourmet rock, but every piece of stone is unique so the results wouldn't necessarily translate. Also, I learned that even if I sharpen on the EP, I still like to polish/ finish by hand: mainly because I like the micro-convening that happens with a little bit of natural hand wobble.

I still sharpen by hand more often than I do on the EP, but I'll never sell it.

Justin, as far as j-nats for the edge pro go vs free hand ones. Yes there is variance, but they are sooo worth it. Love them.