Sespe Pete

Chad -- Exactly what I was looking for. I figured that this must be what you were getting at, but had to be sure. I have ordered the Edgepro Pro and it is back-ordered for a couple of weeks. I have talked to Ben (very easy to talk to, quite personable) and mentioned to him that I was convinced to buy his sharpener by your tutorial. He told me that he couldn't believe how much increase in business he had noticed, lately. I told him that it might have something to do with your excellent tutorial on this site. He was unaware of this tutorial and asked for the address, etc. He also asked for your email address, which I furnished. He seemed quite pleased by your inclusion of his product in your tutorial.... can't be all bad, can it? Thanks for your help. Pete

Chad -- In reading your tutorial for the 3rd time, I found a section that I'm not sure I completely understand. Maybe a little explanation of the explanation will do to straighten me out.... In your tutorial, Section Five: Sharpening Step by Step... Step 7 states, "Stroke gently from heel to tip, alternating sides with each stroke." Now, using a captive rod/stone system like a Lansky or Edgepro, how do you stroke from heel to tip? Or, how do you 'slide' the "stone on a stick" from one end of the blade to the other? Are you talking about removing the rod/stone and doing freehand, or with the rod/stone still captive in its proper angle guide thingy thing? Trying to visualize this is making my mind's eye all red and weepy-like and building up crusty things in the corners, like ya read about. Pete

Hello Chad -- I really enjoyed your egullet treatise on knife maintenance and sharpening. I read it several times. I also went through the Q and A several times. I have been using a Lansky system to sharpen my knives for several years. Probably incorrectly, which is why I write. I normally clamp the knife in the middle and stroke the stone from hilt to point, in a very shallow arc. This gives me a good edge from end to end, but tends to round off the point of the blade, as the sharpening angle changes significantly over the length of a 10" blade. Right? Well, what is the correct technique? I believe it to be to 'saw' the blade with the stone in several different clamp positions, over the length of the blade? If this is so, how do you ensure that you are not taking more material off of one area of the blade than the next? I mean, this 'sawing' action would seem to be very innacurate, at the very best. Taken to the extreme and very much magnified, wouldn't/couldn't this techique result in a square-wave appearance of the edge of the blade? Am I missing something here? I am also contemplating the purchase of one of the EdgePro Apex systems, but it employs the same technique of using a 'sawing' motion to sharpen the blade. Correct? Where am I going wrong? Can you please advise me on how to use these two types of systems so that I can get an even edge from end to end? Many thanks for any help you can provide and thanks also for your excellent treatise on basic sharpening techniques and equipment. It helped me enormously!! Walt Travers