Edge Pro Sharpening Tips, Mistakes, and Lessons Learned

Mr.Wizard said:
D David Richardson The stock EP 120 is fast but it can take a lot force to get enough pressure, especially on hard steel or wide bevels. If the stone doesn't form some mud you aren't getting the top speed from it. From what I understand the Matrix stones take a light touch. A complication in that comparison.
Click to expand...
Yes, absolutely light pressure with the matrix stones. I will give the 120 a try. The other EP stones are kind of ok. They work fine on more basic steels. I find that they don't cut high carbide steels well and they wear fairly quickly. I have a set of SiC stones that work nicely.
 
Mr.Wizard said:
FYI the Edge Pro #120 is silicon carbide, a BORIDE Engineered Abrasives CS-HD specifically.
Click to expand...
Ah! I didn’t know. It’s downright scary how fast it removes material though.I played around with the 220 water stone and the 250 DM on a mangled CTS-XHP blade I paid $5 for last night. It’s supposedly heat treated to 61-62. It was a night and day difference how much better the water stone worked. I’m still not sure if the water stones are that good or if I just got bad DMs.
 
bedrock said:
Ah! I didn’t know. It’s downright scary how fast it removes material though.I played around with the 220 water stone and the 250 DM on a mangled CTS-XHP blade I paid $5 for last night. It’s supposedly heat treated to 61-62. It was a night and day difference how much better the water stone worked. I’m still not sure if the water stones are that good or if I just got bad DMs.
Click to expand...
That 220 performance is interesting to me. I hated my one and only stock Edge Pro 220 from 2009, finding it to skate on any reasonably hard steel. As far as I know they still use the same one, supposedly a BORIDE AM-K. I think I got a bad one as everything else seemed well chosen. Though I have read comments that the 220 is the roughing stone for "junk steel" and the 120 is the starting stone for anything else which mirrors my own experience.

I haven't used the Diamond Matrix stones but I suspect a dressing problem. For a while I was flattening the Edge Pro stock stones and similar on a worn diamond plate instead of loose grit as recommended and it really hurt the aggression of the stones. (This made the 220 almost unusable but even properly dressed it remained poor.) I presume you are using loose grit as prescribed for "leveling and cleaning" but I give this example just to illustrate that dressing can make a big difference in performance. D Diemaker would know how to evaluate the situation.

You might enjoy trying other silicon carbide stones, namely the Congress Tools MoldMaster or the other BORIDE CS-HD grits. Congress Tools sells individual stones, while the only economical route for BORIDE stones are their "sample kits."

Incidentally if you don't yet have 1/2" wide stones you can very inexpensively get a set as a 1/4" * 1/2" * 6" BORIDE sample kit. You'll need to make stone blanks to hold them but it is not difficult with 1/8"*1/2" aluminum extrusion, a hack saw, and a hand file. For reference the Edge Pro 400 is an OrangeEDM, the 600 is an AS-9, and the yellow 1000 is a Golden Star. Another popular alumina formulation is the T2 which hard and slow wearing, and works well with oil as it is not porous. (It still works with water but you need to wet it more often.)
 
Yes I use Edge Pros flattening table and both sizes of loose grit. It takes no time to get a stone looking literally like new. Another thing about the DM stones, especially 1100 and finer, is that they plug up fast. It might be my technique but no matter how much or little pressure and speed I use, and rinsing often, I can’t get them to NOT plug up. So far the water stones are staying clean a lot longer.
 
About the congress tools stones. I assume you buy the 1” x 6” stones and edge pro blanks to glue them to???
 
B bedrock "Plug up" by appearance or cutting action? Some statements from Diemaker (who make stones, if that's not clear) that seem relevant.

With these knife sharpening stones, you need to use less pressure when sharpening. The lighter the pressure used the shallower the scratches they will make and the longer the stones will go between dressings, but they do like some pressure. The best way to learn it is to start very light and slowly increase your pressure when you first start using the stones. The more pressure you use the better they will cut but you will reach a point where they degrade in performance quickly. When this happens give the stone a quick dress and now you have a better idea of what too much pressure is.
Click to expand...
Cleaning can be as simple as scrubbing the stone with your thumb while wet to using rubbing alcohol, Bar Keepers Friend, Comet, Ajax, Mr Clean Magic Erasers, etc to remove all of the dark marks left from the steel. These methods will not remove any resin so they will not wear the stones. The stones don’t have to be clean to work, it is far more a cosmetic issue vs practical.
Click to expand...

Yes, with the Congress or BORIDE stones you'll need to mount them yourself. Frankly Edge Pro overcharges for basic stone blanks; look at GritOMatic or Hapstone USA for five-packs instead.
 
bedrock said:
Yes I use Edge Pros flattening table and both sizes of loose grit. It takes no time to get a stone looking literally like new. Another thing about the DM stones, especially 1100 and finer, is that they plug up fast. It might be my technique but no matter how much or little pressure and speed I use, and rinsing often, I can’t get them to NOT plug up. So far the water stones are staying clean a lot longer.
Click to expand...
Something seems off here. The only time I see this issue is with softer (sometimes called gummy) steels. What steel are you sharpening? How many passes are you doing with the stones?

Once I apex I do about 10 passes per side, edge trailing only. Maybe 15 on Spyderco Maxamet. This almost has to be a steel issue or too much time on the stones. After sharpening I rub the stones under water with my thumbs there are almost clean. If I want them to look new I clean with alcohol.

Can you post some picture of how the stones look when loaded?
 
Just cleaned them all. I’ll put some pics out after I use them again. My normal procedure (before I bought the water stones) was apex w the 250, or 650 if the edge wasn’t too bad, and then progress w a few light strokes on the 1100, 2300, and even the 4000 if I wanted to goof around making it shiny. Regardless, none of the finer stones got anywhere near the use the 250 or 650 got, but they’d plug way faster.
 
On to traditional (Alox) stones, I know they are supposed to be splash and go, but does anyone else get better results and less plunging up if you soak them first?
 
Darn it! Thought I was done spending money on sharpening stuff for a while. Which are better? Gritomatic mounted silicone carbide stones or Congress tools SC stones?
 
bedrock said:
Darn it! Thought I was done spending money on sharpening stuff for a while. Which are better? Gritomatic mounted silicone carbide stones or Congress tools SC stones?
Click to expand...
I bought the edgepro to save money but it is a rabbit hole unto itself
 
bedrock said:
Darn it! Thought I was done spending money on sharpening stuff for a while. Which are better? Gritomatic mounted silicone carbide stones or Congress tools SC stones?
Click to expand...
I have used neither of those, only the BORIDE CS-HD and CS-M. If you search "Moldmaster" you will find plenty of opinions on the Congress Tools stone. In general Congress Tools doesn't make stones finer than ANSI 600 whereas BORIDE makes most forumulations through F1200. GritOMatic stones are F120, F220, F400, F600, F1000. If you want the finest F1200 stone you will need BORIDE. If you want to get all CS-HD grades F320, F400, F600, F800, F1000 and F1200 order BORIDE sample kit "028830" for 1" wide stones ($52) or kit "028826" for 1/2" wide stones ($34).
 
I apologize but I couldn't find this answer using the search function.

i am trying to figure out how to use an angle cube to reprofile my kitchen knives.

My thought is:

1. Set knife on base as I would if I was sharpening it
2. Zero angle cube on blade
3. Set angle cube on stone and adjust for desired angle

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
 
CHuynh22 said:
I apologize but I couldn't find this answer using the search function.

i am trying to figure out how to use an angle cube to reprofile my kitchen knives.

My thought is:

1. Set knife on base as I would if I was sharpening it
2. Zero angle cube on blade
3. Set angle cube on stone and adjust for desired angle

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
That is how i do it
 

Attachments

  • 20240225_145239.jpg
    20240225_145239.jpg
    261 KB · Views: 9
  • 20240225_145206.jpg
    20240225_145206.jpg
    285 KB · Views: 9
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top