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There has been a lot of momentum building with the soon to be released Hapstone RS, so I thought I would post some first look and first sharpening photos and answer some questions here. I received this pre-release unit from Gritomatic to experiment with and to see what can be designed as part of any possible upgrades.
The first knife I sharpened on it today was a Bugout. I used my Venev MS-1 Metallic bonded CBN stones.
I have to admit - I was much more impressed with the Hapstone RS than I expected to be! It's meant to be Hapstone's smaller "entry level" system but it performs better than many of the high-end professional systems that I have used.
The clamps are a shortened, smaller version of the Hapstone "Opti" clamps. I am not that big of a fan of the regular length Opti clamps, but these shorter clamps seem to work better than the regular Opti clamps. I tried various Spyderco full flat grind knives in them to see how they sit in the clamps and all of them clamp securely. Using one clamp on the tang area and the second towards the tip works well with most knife grinds that I have tried up to this point. The clamp stock is a little on the thin side, which means they can permanently deform a little bit when over-tightened but the thin profile is an advantage for low angles and small knives. The F80 grit Venev CBN MS-1 made very quick work of re-profiling the well used and chipped Bugout blade.
The Hapstone RS base plate is heavy, sturdy and works very well even though it's smaller than the R2 base.
Hapstone made the module mount point standard, so optional Hapstone modules (M3, V8, Scissors and Chisel module) will work on it. This is a big bonus if you ever wanted to convert it into a magnetic platform sharpener, scissors sharpener or if you just want to expand and upgrade the RS system. You could even mount a R2 rotating bar on it if you really wanted to.
The clamp bar is also standard, so any of the new generation (R2) Hapstone clamps will fit on the Hapstone RS bar.
The Stone holder will accommodate any 6 inch or smaller 4 inch sized stone and also works just fine with non-backed rectangular stones / dual sided stones. I would be careful not to over tighten the stone clamp adjustment screw (black screw below) because the stone arm is a tube that slides over a rod. If you over-tighten the screw and bend the tube, then it might bind up on the rod so don't be overzealous with this screw. With normal tightening it will not be a problem, but some ham-handed individuals might cause damage here. I don't see it as a problem at all - just something to be aware of.
For stone thickness compensation, they use a rubber o-ring...this is not a good idea at all because it can move if bumped. In reality, a stone thickness compensator is not actually necessary at all, as long as you use a digital angle cube and compensate by adjusting your angle when swapping stones or strops. [EDIT - I was wrong about the rubber O-ring, it is NOT meant for stone thickness compensation.
Hapstone Official
explained further down in this thread that it is meant to be a dampener when the vertical rod slips down so it won't strike the table you're working on.]
Due to the stone arm design (rod inside of a tube) you'll only be able to use 1 stopper, not 2 stoppers for sharpening stroke length restriction.
Hapstone very cleverly designed a magnetic bearing mount for the sharpening stone arm. (The first magnetic bearing of this type that I've seen in any system). This makes it quick and easy to pop off and mount back instead of relying on a parking hook system. It's a great feature to be able to quickly remove the whole sharpening stone rod arm when inspecting the blade during sharpening.
15 Degrees per side gives the following clearance with the standard clamp screws mounted, using the Bugout blade and standard clamps. Note, this will vary on blade type and size.
For reference below I have 2 photos of the lowest sharpening angle possible (10.3 degrees) before it touches the rotating clamp unit. Note - with longer R2 clamps, a wide blade or my Leading Edge magnetic platform, you can actually get a much lower sharpening angle than this.
And here are 2 photos of the highest sharpening angle (35.2 degrees), using the standard RS clamps with the Bugout blade clamped in them.
The built-in Fine tuning adapter comes standard with the RS. It has a range of adjustment of 4 degrees.
That's some of the most important points I can think of - for now, but please feel free to ask any questions and I will answer them as far as I can.
The first knife I sharpened on it today was a Bugout. I used my Venev MS-1 Metallic bonded CBN stones.
I have to admit - I was much more impressed with the Hapstone RS than I expected to be! It's meant to be Hapstone's smaller "entry level" system but it performs better than many of the high-end professional systems that I have used.
The clamps are a shortened, smaller version of the Hapstone "Opti" clamps. I am not that big of a fan of the regular length Opti clamps, but these shorter clamps seem to work better than the regular Opti clamps. I tried various Spyderco full flat grind knives in them to see how they sit in the clamps and all of them clamp securely. Using one clamp on the tang area and the second towards the tip works well with most knife grinds that I have tried up to this point. The clamp stock is a little on the thin side, which means they can permanently deform a little bit when over-tightened but the thin profile is an advantage for low angles and small knives. The F80 grit Venev CBN MS-1 made very quick work of re-profiling the well used and chipped Bugout blade.
The Hapstone RS base plate is heavy, sturdy and works very well even though it's smaller than the R2 base.
Hapstone made the module mount point standard, so optional Hapstone modules (M3, V8, Scissors and Chisel module) will work on it. This is a big bonus if you ever wanted to convert it into a magnetic platform sharpener, scissors sharpener or if you just want to expand and upgrade the RS system. You could even mount a R2 rotating bar on it if you really wanted to.
The clamp bar is also standard, so any of the new generation (R2) Hapstone clamps will fit on the Hapstone RS bar.
The Stone holder will accommodate any 6 inch or smaller 4 inch sized stone and also works just fine with non-backed rectangular stones / dual sided stones. I would be careful not to over tighten the stone clamp adjustment screw (black screw below) because the stone arm is a tube that slides over a rod. If you over-tighten the screw and bend the tube, then it might bind up on the rod so don't be overzealous with this screw. With normal tightening it will not be a problem, but some ham-handed individuals might cause damage here. I don't see it as a problem at all - just something to be aware of.
For stone thickness compensation, they use a rubber o-ring...this is not a good idea at all because it can move if bumped. In reality, a stone thickness compensator is not actually necessary at all, as long as you use a digital angle cube and compensate by adjusting your angle when swapping stones or strops. [EDIT - I was wrong about the rubber O-ring, it is NOT meant for stone thickness compensation.
Hapstone Official
explained further down in this thread that it is meant to be a dampener when the vertical rod slips down so it won't strike the table you're working on.]Due to the stone arm design (rod inside of a tube) you'll only be able to use 1 stopper, not 2 stoppers for sharpening stroke length restriction.
Hapstone very cleverly designed a magnetic bearing mount for the sharpening stone arm. (The first magnetic bearing of this type that I've seen in any system). This makes it quick and easy to pop off and mount back instead of relying on a parking hook system. It's a great feature to be able to quickly remove the whole sharpening stone rod arm when inspecting the blade during sharpening.
15 Degrees per side gives the following clearance with the standard clamp screws mounted, using the Bugout blade and standard clamps. Note, this will vary on blade type and size.
For reference below I have 2 photos of the lowest sharpening angle possible (10.3 degrees) before it touches the rotating clamp unit. Note - with longer R2 clamps, a wide blade or my Leading Edge magnetic platform, you can actually get a much lower sharpening angle than this.
And here are 2 photos of the highest sharpening angle (35.2 degrees), using the standard RS clamps with the Bugout blade clamped in them.
The built-in Fine tuning adapter comes standard with the RS. It has a range of adjustment of 4 degrees.
That's some of the most important points I can think of - for now, but please feel free to ask any questions and I will answer them as far as I can.
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