I’m looking to buy a sharpening system, and keep seeing this on eBay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121188769810
It looks quite robust, and I wondered if anybody here had any experience with it? Feel free to recommend anything else in budget (no more than 30gbp).
Needs to be guided ideally.
It looks like a lot of contraption to sharpen a knife. I don’t see any pre-set angles, so you would just be guessing anyway. Sometimes simple is better.
I have one that is like the Apex Edge Pro, it works as advertised and I can purchase higher quality stones that can fit just fine, here is a thread about it.
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1868535
And a reference here in BLF
HTH
AlexGT
I have one of those and it is a sturdy sharpener. It will require sockets and spanners to assemble though, it’s very like a Meccano™ set. They only come with two stones though so you’ll end up buying more.
The EdgePro copies are easier to use, but if you’re going that way get the more expensive later version. Exduct have a diamond stone system similar to the Lansky.
I just received the one in the OP, but have yet to even put it together. Seems very solid though. Angles are adjusted by raising the bar up and down the column. I don't believe there are any presets, but I guess the good side is that you can set any angle you want. I bought this because of being a knife newbie and not being able to get a good edge yet by other methods.
-Garry
Whatever system you get, buy an Angle Cube. They’re almost essential for ensuring you get the correct angle when sharpening.
^ Nice prison shiv’s. Should reach big Bob’s kidney without a problem the next time he starts something in the yard. :bigsmile:
I received my Ruixin Pro with 4 stones (120, 320, 600, 1500). I also ordered diamond stones for it.
I have the edge pro knockoff and the plastic part that holds the vertical shaft is all wallerd out. the all metal one in the op looks pretty nice, maybe if it had brackets to mount it to a board so you could clamp it to a table would make it better
Would this be the Ruixin Pro you bought?
I watched the video on this listing and I could see the arm with the stone flopping around where it connected to the vertical post. Is this an issue on yours and does it affect the sharpening result? It looks like that connector is plastic rather than the metal one the OP has but the metal one looks like it’d be harder to adjust.
No, mine is the all metal one, it came from here.
It’s quite new to me I haven’t got enough time to try it yet.
That a metal connection bracket too though it has a different adjustment mechanism, by the look of it. Thanks
These systems are great for someone with little interest in knowing how to sharpen who wants to do their sharpening at home. I wasn’t going to say anything, but a friend of mine just asked basically the same question and I’m going to go all “crotchety old man” for a minute. (If that’s allowed from a 33 year old :bigsmile: )
I repeat, if you or anyone else buys one of the countless jigs or systems available you rob yourself of an amazingly valuable skill.
If you can solder, or run a machine tool, or learn how to use your cell phone, or walk and chew gum, chances are that you can freehand sharpen. There are tons of videos online showing how it’s done, so I’m not going to clutter the Internet with another. You want to find a video showing someone who looks like they’re trying to cut a thin slice of the surface of their stone off when they sharpen. Watch it a few times, and then prepare yourself and your cheapest kitchen knife with the straightest edge profile for some abuse. Use a sharpie to learn how to control your angle. Buy the largest stone or diamond impregnated block you can afford (I recommend Diasharp 6” Coarse/Fine for most people. If you want to drop some serious coin, the single sided 8” blocks are much easier to use but about $50 each) and attach a 6-12” length of an old leather belt to the edge of a 2x4 with some spray adhesive and load it with green polishing compound (or 1-3 micron diamond loaded oil for those that want more bling). For $37 and an afternoon with a sore wrist you’ll be moderately proficient at freehand sharpening, and if you keep practicing and moving to more curved shapes you’ll get to the point where you can literally sharpen a knife almost anywhere. As a side benefit it will be naturally convex which is very durable and less prone to drag in a cut.
I’m trying to save you from finding out the hard way that sometimes an old school skill is more useful than new technology. I have a 10” Jet wet sharpener that I bought to sharpen mostly knives because I was horrible at it freehand. Once I realized that wasn’t going to solve my dull knife problem except when I was in the garage I sucked it up and started practicing. Once I felt like there was little danger that I was going to ruin a knife, I started taking my sharpening stones and a strop everywhere in a little 13” toolbox. Any time someone mentioned having a dull pocket knife or dull kitchen knives I’d offer to sharpen them for them. Most people sit and watch in amazement, or share stories of their dad or grandparents sharpening things. At this point I will actually sharpen knives for people on their coffee cups to prove to them that sharpening technique is worth learning and doesn’t require expensive tools if you have enough patience.
My expensive Jet sharpener gets dusted off a couple of times a year for chisels, otherwise I wasted around $300 on a fantastic tool that I don’t need anymore. It really does make things wickedly sharp, although only ever with a hollow grind, which although easier to strop back to sharp is more brittle than a convex edge.
Now if you read my entire post, here is the fine print at the end. Some people have two left hands, with no thumbs. Others really don’t care to know technique and just want to be able to maintain their knives at home. If you are one of these people, then kudos for doing it yourself and not paying someone else to do it. I highly recommend a jig like this that is fully guided. With good stones and some care it should work for you for a pretty long time. Things to watch for would be the sheet metal bends opening up, rust, and getting good stones with good progression of grits.
Good luck! I hope that most importantly whatever you end up with fits your needs and budget.
Freehand sharpening is fun too, by the way.
That’s a different, and from the looks of things much better, system.
I haven’t tried myself but have been told that a mouse mat and some wet or dry finishing with this can result in perfectly convexed blades. Very sharp and super shiny.
How do you reset your Angle Cube?
Do you set it to the sharpening table like this fellow or to the actual blade you’re going to sharpen?
I suppose setting it to the knife blade could give a more precise result.
I didn’t even know there was something as cool as this. Now I want one.