- Joined
- Jul 22, 2009
- Messages
- 11,409
Considering the few problems I've had with it and the constant need for maintenance(flattening the stones) and lack of detailed instructions(should I bother trying to flatten the fine stones?), I was wondering if $232 was too much for it.
I've found the DMT Aligner for a mere $45 plus shipping and maybe an extra coarse stone for another $17. Since it uses a clamp system, it seems a bit more precise and less tedious than the EdgePro.
Since the EdgePro has you simply rest the blade on a table, keeping a steady angle can be somewhat difficult. On most folding knives, there are very few flat angles to rest the blade on, which means you have to hold the knife up yourself in order to keep a consistent angle with the given settings, assuming you don't rock the knife on any other bevels on the knife. If you rest the knife on the opposite backbevel, you don't know exactly what the difference in angles are, and so you don't know exactly what angle you're sharpening at. Not to mention that if the backbevel isn't exactly the same on both sides, the angle on each side could change as well, or you could scuff the backbevel instead of the primary bevel when sharpening at extreme low angles.
The only obvious advantage I see is that the EdgePro has a much wider range of angles than the DMT Aligner, which may or may not be useful for the average folding knife user, as I doubt anyone goes beyond 15-20 degrees per side.
Ben Dale assures me that diamond sharpeners aren't all that great, as they wear out very quickly due to the diamond particles "sticking" to the soft steel and breaking out of the matrix very quickly. He says that his use with the DMT Super Coarse only lasted 10 knives. I personally think he might've mashed on the stone with extreme pressure, thus "breaking" the stone with the first few swipes.
Of coarse, I seriously began to doubt his claim when he said that the 120 grit silicon carbide stone cut faster than the DMT Super Coarse.
But on the other hand, I only need a DMT stone to lower the primary bevel on some new knives. After that, I doubt I'd need the super fast cutting speeds of a diamond stone. Though I personally don't look forward to spending another week trying to lower the angle on my Kershaw Shallot with S110V from over 24 degrees on one side down to 18 degrees, especially when resting it on only an inch of flat bevel and trying to keep it perfectly level while mashing on it with a 120 grit stone.
I've found the DMT Aligner for a mere $45 plus shipping and maybe an extra coarse stone for another $17. Since it uses a clamp system, it seems a bit more precise and less tedious than the EdgePro.
Since the EdgePro has you simply rest the blade on a table, keeping a steady angle can be somewhat difficult. On most folding knives, there are very few flat angles to rest the blade on, which means you have to hold the knife up yourself in order to keep a consistent angle with the given settings, assuming you don't rock the knife on any other bevels on the knife. If you rest the knife on the opposite backbevel, you don't know exactly what the difference in angles are, and so you don't know exactly what angle you're sharpening at. Not to mention that if the backbevel isn't exactly the same on both sides, the angle on each side could change as well, or you could scuff the backbevel instead of the primary bevel when sharpening at extreme low angles.
The only obvious advantage I see is that the EdgePro has a much wider range of angles than the DMT Aligner, which may or may not be useful for the average folding knife user, as I doubt anyone goes beyond 15-20 degrees per side.
Ben Dale assures me that diamond sharpeners aren't all that great, as they wear out very quickly due to the diamond particles "sticking" to the soft steel and breaking out of the matrix very quickly. He says that his use with the DMT Super Coarse only lasted 10 knives. I personally think he might've mashed on the stone with extreme pressure, thus "breaking" the stone with the first few swipes.
Of coarse, I seriously began to doubt his claim when he said that the 120 grit silicon carbide stone cut faster than the DMT Super Coarse.
But on the other hand, I only need a DMT stone to lower the primary bevel on some new knives. After that, I doubt I'd need the super fast cutting speeds of a diamond stone. Though I personally don't look forward to spending another week trying to lower the angle on my Kershaw Shallot with S110V from over 24 degrees on one side down to 18 degrees, especially when resting it on only an inch of flat bevel and trying to keep it perfectly level while mashing on it with a 120 grit stone.
