You can also cover the bulk of the blade with painter's tape before you start. Since you're not going to be sharpening it there's no need for it to be exposed to any abrasives.

M2 and CPM M4 are great to sharpen. Yes, it might take a while if you are going to thin or profile the edge but maintainability is excellent. I use a sharpmaker for such tasks, the thing I like most about M2 and M4 is the lack of burr- they give a nice, clean edge with very little burr formation.

Ok looked back to some earlier posts. It's bad enough I spend thousands on knives now I gotta buy a several hundred dollar sharpening system as well? If the edge pro is as good as folks suggest I'll be happy I did though.!

quote:

Originally posted by Lost Lebowski:
Ok looked back to some earlier posts. It's bad enough I spend thousands on knives now I gotta buy a several hundred dollar sharpening system as well? If the edge pro is as good as folks suggest I'll be happy I did though.!

And that about sums it up.

I..ah.. bought the Edge Pro "APEX"
it's awesome. full kit#4 less than 300$'s
It's light = more portable
easily taken on extended trips

Gets you started, especially if you only own a dozen or so knives and not sharpening for the entire town.

I'll buy the Pro a little further down the line and gift the apex to someone. I'll keep most of the stones.. Buying a few stones won't be to much of a start up price for the person that gets the apex.

Glad to know you like the Apex Blue, when I'm back at work I'll look into one of those to supplement the SharpMaker. Having ANY kind of system to make sharpening chores easier is worth the money.

Before I got the SharpMaker I sent the knives up for LifeSharp, which even at minimum shipping plus that $5 really adds up - although for the ones I can't get right the service can't be beat.

Right on Joe, after I got the EP I've only sent one knife to lifesharp.......actually I've only sent one ever. It was an 806D2. I just wanted to see how well they did one and I wasn't about to send them an "easy" one.

They did a great job on it and I've never had to sharpen it since. If it gets a little dull, so far I've been able to bring it back with a quick stropping, using a horsehide strop and some of Tiny's magic green polishing compound.

Yep on the shipping plus 5$'s REALY adds up.
Local knife sharpening shop charges 1.50 for most pocket knives. Which aint to bad.
I agree, the edge pro pro is quite an investment. That's why I choose the "apex".

I freehand in my edges on DMT stones, Shapton Glasstones, and I finish on 3M lapping film in .05 micron. CPM M4 takes unbelievably sharp edges, better than with any other steel I have tried. I go with a 7-10 degree per side bevel on my M4 knives, and at 10 per side it handles dismantling a 400 lb hog, taking the feet off at the knees as well as the head with no chipping. If you do your job right sometimes at DMT Coarse and most times at DMT blue you will be splitting hairs if you are careful to not form a burr. At 16000 grit it is a perfect mirror and extremely sharp, by .05 microns it is very hard to whittle hair as it just pops the hair in two when you touch it to the hair. With my sharpening equipment even takes care of S90V, but M4 seems easier to sharpen than almost any steel to me because it doesn't hardly burr, making it way easy to get extremely clean and crisp edges.

Mike

I have to agree that the m4 takes and holds an edge very well. That being said, I use a sharpmaker to maintain all my blades. M4 or otherwise. I don't know about all these people who are sayin that shaving sharp isn't sharp enough. I use my knives at work every day and it is next to impossible for me to keep a blade that sharp. I really don't think that it matters much seeing as though I'm using my knives for work and not personal grooming. Either way to each his own. M4 rocks d2 rocks I love steel of all types strengths and qualities. Oh ya, shaving sharp is plenty sharp for me!