Hapstone RS - First Look and Updates

[Blade Lab]

Thanks. Forgive the basic questions but could the stones just lie flat on the blanks without gluing them? Wouldn't the blanks likely be 1" x 6" whereas my stones are 1.25" x 6", and would that matter?

Might work that way. Or you could use some double-sided tape so you can remove them for use with the WS.

 

[777 Edge]

Thanks for your reply. I guess that would make the process a bit awkward.

But.....I just looked at the website video. The stroke shown is much more side-to-side than front-to-back, so maybe it would work?

Andrew

It's always best to use as much as possible of the full surface of your stones, front to back. You should never really sharpen purely side to side.

Your strokes can be diagonal, using as much of the surface as possible.

It would only take a few minutes to get used to how much of the Work Sharp plates you can use before touching the stone clamp becomes a factor.

I would try them as-is to start with, and if you don't like how they work you could always later make a backing for them.

 

[AFAustin]

It's always best to use as much as possible of the full surface of your stones, front to back. You should never really sharpen purely side to side.

Your strokes can be diagonal, using as much of the surface as possible.

It would only take a few minutes to get used to how much of the Work Sharp plates you can use before touching the stone clamp becomes a factor.

I would try them as-is to start with, and if you don't like how they work you could always later make a backing for them.

Thanks, that's very helpful.

Andrew

 

[AFAustin]

More basic questions:

What are the clamps covered with where they touch the knife? Any danger of scratching?

And likewise no need to tape the face of the knife to avoid scratches?

Thanks

 

[777 Edge]

More basic questions:

What are the clamps covered with where they touch the knife? Any danger of scratching?

And likewise no need to tape the face of the knife to avoid scratches?

Thanks

The clamps are made from duralumin aluminum alloy as far as I know. There is no coating on them, other than the anodizing.

You can use some painters tape on the insides if you prefer but generally there is no issue with aluminum clamps scratching a knife blade at all. Aluminum is significantly softer than hardened steel. As long as the insides of the clamps are clean (make sure no abrasive particles or metal swarf is on them) then you won't have any scratching issues.

If the clamps have even the slightest bit of metal swarf or abrasive grit from your stones on them before you clamp your knife, then they will scratch & scuff your blade.

Personally, I prefer (most) metal clamps to have no rubber or other coating. I just keep my clamps clean and never have scratching issues. I have experimented with many different coatings and recently used some RIB boat hypalon / pvc rubberized fabric - which worked quite well, but I still tend to prefer no coating between the clamp and the blade. Too much rubber inside a clamp allows for movement of a knife (up & down) because of its padding effect.

 

[AFAustin]

Thanks again for the helpful information. I've always been surprised at what can scratch a knife blade---e.g., a Kydex sheath, the rough side of a sponge, etc. But your saying that you've had no scratching with these clamps is reassuring.

I'm going to trouble you with another: If I were to use the RS with the very thin Work Sharp diamond stones I mentioned earlier, would it change the sharpening angle or how to use an angle cube?

Thanks

 

[akston]

I’ve had my RS for about a week and a half. I’m new to guided systems, so I don’t have much to compare it to, but I’m super impressed with the quality and usability thus far!

 

[777 Edge]

Thanks again for the helpful information.

My pleasure, happy to help.

I've always been surprised at what can scratch a knife blade---e.g., a Kydex sheath, the rough side of a sponge, etc. But your saying that you've had no scratching with these clamps is reassuring.

Yeah, in most cases it's not the Kydex sheath but dust, sand or other particles that get in-between the sheath and the knife which ends up scuffing your blade.

Sponges also tend to get contaminated with grit or harder particles and can then scratch your blade.

Just keep the clamps absolutely clean on their inside surfaces before you clamp and it'll be fine.

I'm going to trouble you with another: If I were to use the RS with the very thin Work Sharp diamond stones I mentioned earlier, would it change the sharpening angle or how to use an angle cube?

If you swap between thicker and thinner stones of various types and brands, then yes you'll have to adjust the angle to compensate.

I would suggest to always re-zero your angle cube and check / readjust your angle every single time you swap stones. This is a good habit to get into, even if you use the same thickness stones.

 

[AFAustin]

My pleasure, happy to help.



Yeah, in most cases it's not the Kydex sheath but dust, sand or other particles that get in-between the sheath and the knife which ends up scuffing your blade.

Sponges also tend to get contaminated with grit or harder particles and can then scratch your blade.

Just keep the clamps absolutely clean on their inside surfaces before you clamp and it'll be fine.



If you swap between thicker and thinner stones of various types and brands, then yes you'll have to adjust the angle to compensate.

I would suggest to always re-zero your angle cube and check / readjust your angle every single time you swap stones. This is a good habit to get into, even if you use the same thickness stones.

Thanks again for all your help. I greatly appreciate it.

Andrew

 

[whiskeykilokilo]

I had the opportunity to use the Hapstone RS for the first time last night. Please take this with a grain of salt as I am a novice to sharpening. My previous experience has been waterstone free-handing which allowed me to get knives reasonably sharp but never shaving and a KME style clone from AliExpress which was a pain to use but gave slightly better results.

The setup was as follows:
Hapstone RS
Hapstone stopper which I put near the magnetic ball at the top of the sharpening rod
AliExpress SYTOOLS set of 6x1 diamond plates on plastic blanks (I used the 80, 200, 400, 800, 1500, 3000)
Gritomatic 6x1 cow leather strops on aluminum blanks (I used 4 of them loaded with 10micron, 3micron, 1micron and 0.5micron Venev diamond paste)
Venev diamond paste
Water bottle with soapy water
AliExpress inclinometer

The knives I sharpened were an Opinel inox #6 and a Civivi Elementum 2. I went through the progression using the diamond plates, wetted with the soapy water, until a burr was achieved on each side and eventually on to the diamond paste loaded strops using 8 passes on each side. The results were spectacular with a perfectly even mirror finish on each bevel. I had wanted to try whittling hair but I wasn't able to because hairs are being destroyed on contact. Each knife absolutely obliterates hair when shaving with zero resistance or drag. These are now, by a large margin, the sharpest knives I have ever used.

Now on to some pros and cons that came up during sharpening. Again, I don't have much experience with other systems.

Pros:

The entire setup is very compact. I have limited space for this kind of work and the system is an ideal size.

The magnetic ball mechanism for the sharpening rod is excellent. I hated the KME clone loop and rod style mechanism which would get out of alignment after reaching the ends of a knife and need fiddling with during sharpening.

The fine adjustment knob is also excellent for dialing in the angle between plates/strops to make sure it's consistent.

The ease and speed which you can flip the knife over to the other side is superb.

The little platform to zero the angle finder is helpful.

Cons:

I found myself placing the fingers of my off hand on the base during sharpening. The system was never in danger of falling over or tipping, nor did it ever rock, but despite this I felt that I wanted a more secure base. Perhaps this will change with time. The previous system I used was clamped to a table.

I was able to sharpen the Elementum at 15dps with room to move down if desired, but the Opinel #6 had to be set at 16dps to clear the nut holding the clamp closed on the tip end of the knife. This seems to be completely dependent on the height of blade that is being sharpened.

The "rod in a tube" sharpening arm style means that at the top of the stroke the rod pokes out through the handle and can hit you in the hand depending on your grip. This is a bit of a nitpick and not really a con. If you're used to palming the ball handle this might annoy you. It happened a few times before I adjusted my grip and I never had to think of it again.


In conclusion I am very pleased with the Hapstone RS and would buy again as well as recommend to others. I'll do a few more knives tonight and report back any changes.

 

[ShelseyWalsh]

Thank you so much for this! It is great to hear actual sharpening experiences from less experienced sharpeners like me. The RS would be my first guided sharpening system. Getting close to pushing the button but would love to hear more of your experiences!

Also I see TSProf has now released the Pioneer for just under $300 which would seem to be a potential competitor.

 

[akston]

I suppose I could provide more useful feedback than my first post above. My experience with the RS is very similar to whiskykilokilo’s, but I am also a novice sharpener (especially with guided systems), so please take that into account.

I love the machined angle reference points on the base and stone holder, but I wish they would have machined a small lip or wall on both surfaces so I had a lateral reference point to slide my angle finder up against. Maybe it’s just my particular device, but I do seem to get different readings depending on how far back or forward it’s positioned.

I agree with whiskeykilokilo that the base could be more stout, as I sometimes also find it necessary to hold everything down with my off-hand. I do realize however, that any changes to the size/heft of the unit would be detrimental to the compactness of the system, so it’s a trade-off that doesn’t concern me much.

I’ve also had some issues with stones hitting the clamp bolts on lower angles, as well as the clamps themselves. I’ve been able to remedy this for the most part by adjusting how I have the blade clamped. Usually by either moving the clamps closer to the spine, or clamping on a thicker part of the spine (which causes the bolts to not protrude as much). I believe some of the other Hapstone clamps may be compatible with the RS, so I may end up experimenting with those in the future.

I agree that the rod protruding through the handle is a nitpick, but it definitely catches me off-guard sometimes, and it does kinda dictate your grip on it.

While we’re on the subject of the rod itself, I’ve noticed some slight “stiction” in the smoothness of the rod at times, especially with higher grit stones. I’ve tried with a drop or two of oil on the rod, and without, but it doesn’t seem to make much difference. Now I just try to wipe it with a shop rag every stone change or so, and that seems to have the biggest impact. Also a slight nitpick.

Overall though I’m nothing but satisfied with this thing, especially at this price point, and I’ve never gotten better sharpening results!

Be careful though, it’s given me an excuse to buy more knives now that I’m not worried about ruining edges, so in reality it’s cost me a lot more than $200!

 

[AFAustin]

Thanks to whiskeykilokilo and akston for their detailed comments. Very helpful.

Andrew

 

[ShelseyWalsh]

I suppose I could provide more useful feedback than my first post above. My experience with the RS is very similar to whiskykilokilo’s, but I am also a novice sharpener (especially with guided systems), so please take that into account.

I love the machined angle reference points on the base and stone holder, but I wish they would have machined a small lip or wall on both surfaces so I had a lateral reference point to slide my angle finder up against. Maybe it’s just my particular device, but I do seem to get different readings depending on how far back or forward it’s positioned.

I agree with whiskeykilokilo that the base could be more stout, as I sometimes also find it necessary to hold everything down with my off-hand. I do realize however, that any changes to the size/heft of the unit would be detrimental to the compactness of the system, so it’s a trade-off that doesn’t concern me much.

I’ve also had some issues with stones hitting the clamp bolts on lower angles, as well as the clamps themselves. I’ve been able to remedy this for the most part by adjusting how I have the blade clamped. Usually by either moving the clamps closer to the spine, or clamping on a thicker part of the spine (which causes the bolts to not protrude as much). I believe some of the other Hapstone clamps may be compatible with the RS, so I may end up experimenting with those in the future.

I agree that the rod protruding through the handle is a nitpick, but it definitely catches me off-guard sometimes, and it does kinda dictate your grip on it.

While we’re on the subject of the rod itself, I’ve noticed some slight “stiction” in the smoothness of the rod at times, especially with higher grit stones. I’ve tried with a drop or two of oil on the rod, and without, but it doesn’t seem to make much difference. Now I just try to wipe it with a shop rag every stone change or so, and that seems to have the biggest impact. Also a slight nitpick.

Overall though I’m nothing but satisfied with this thing, especially at this price point, and I’ve never gotten better sharpening results!

Be careful though, it’s given me an excuse to buy more knives now that I’m not worried about ruining edges, so in reality it’s cost me a lot more than $200!

Thank you for taking the time to provide this great feedback! I really appreciate it!

 

[777 Edge]

I’ve also had some issues with stones hitting the clamp bolts on lower angles, as well as the clamps themselves.

My pre release Hapstone RS came with a second set of shorter bolts for the clamps, not sure if the production units come with these. If you have a second set of shorter bolts, try them out for thinner blades.

 

[AFAustin]

Let me ask a basic question: I've always understood, and seen, that you can have a consistent bevel angle from choil to tip, or you can have even bevels (same width), but not both. That is, as blades are typically thicker behind the edge towards the tip, to achieve the same bevel angle as on the rest of the blade, you will need a wider bevel towards the tip.

I prefer even (same width) bevels, which means settling for a slightly more obtuse angle towards the tip. This can be achieved freehanding or with a belt, but I don't know how you would do that with a clamped system.

Am I right about this and, if so, is this a problem with the Hapstone RS?

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[777 Edge]

Let me ask a basic question: I've always understood, and seen, that you can have a consistent bevel angle from choil to tip, or you can have even bevels (same width), but not both. That is, as blades are typically thicker behind the edge towards the tip, to achieve the same bevel angle as on the rest of the blade, you will need a wider bevel towards the tip.

I prefer even (same width) bevels, which means settling for a slightly more obtuse angle towards the tip. This can be achieved freehanding or with a belt, but I don't know how you would do that with a clamped system.

Am I right about this and, if so, is this a problem with the Hapstone RS?

Thanks,

Andrew

This largely depends on the knife, distal taper, grind, amount of sweep up towards the tip and many other factors.

You can get a very even bevel with a clamped guided system, depending on how you position your knife in the clamps.

For example, if your knife does NOT have proper distal taper and the tip is swept far up (towards the spine), then of course as you mentioned you'll get into thicker steel and the bevels might show up wider. With a well designed and ground knife, this won't be the case because of the distal taper. If you want to compensate for a knife without distal taper and thick steel at the tip, then simply angle and clamp your knife in a position that your tip is closer to the pivot point of the sharpening system. This will result in a slightly higher sharpening angle at the tip, which will look more even.

If your knife is well ground with good distal taper and proper proportions, then you can simply clamp it to have the tip and heel aligned approximately 90 degrees to your sharpening plane. The angle will be very close to the same throughout the edge in this case, and will look aesthetically pleasing - unless of course it is a severely swept or disproportionate blade shape.

 

[AFAustin]

777 Edge, thanks very much for your explanation. It helps a great deal.

Andrew

 

[bengold]

I got my RS on Friday and it’s really great. It’s a bit awkward with double sided stones because they don’t have the play that fits into the notches on the stone holder. You have to use tension to keep them in place, which works, but I did a bit too much tension and the knob popped off

Then when I put the knob back in I overtightened it and it deformed the tube so it wouldn’t slide on the rod anymore. I was able to fix it with my dremel, but I wish that piece was designed better.

Still waiting on my scissors and chisel modules to test those out, but overall I’m pretty happy with the unit. It feels really nice.

 

[bengold]

I’m really curious how this compares to the TSProf Pioneer. I think a big selling point for the RS though is that magnetic ball system makes it much more compact than the longer rod on the tsprof and other systems