own a 5000 auto and having a hard time keepin an edge on the blade..not havin much success with stones..i like the foolproof design of the mousetrap but wonderin if you guys had any advice.i would like to have a sharp edge now rather than wait years while i gain experince with the stones..i'll just carry my 45 till i get the BM sharp,but the colt is so much harder to conceal.. thanks

I too used to have a tough time with stones especially on harder steel now used. 5000 is 154cm? Anyway the tutorial on www.knivesshipfree web page is excellent. I spent a LOT of time learning how to sharpen...it's still difficult with some blade either due to stell or heat treat. Now my process is get a rough edge with a medium stone or diamond rod then strop the edge with medium and fine stropping compound on a leather strop glued to a paint stick. Once I can shave my arm hairs with it I use an ultrafine ceramic stone to give it that extra polish that makes it razor sharp. Some blades I have the last step seems to dull the edge so I omit the last step with those. I'm sure there are lots of guys here who can provide more or better info regarding blade profiles and grinding angles etc. Hope it helps and keep at it. I have damaged some blades so much that I had to send them for professional sharpening first and now I focus on maintaining the factory edge from day 1 rather than waiting until the knife is dull to think about sharpening it. It amazes me also that many knives get a hell of a lot sharper when you take them home and strop them right from the store! Turns out benchmade in particular does not put a razor edge on their knnives from the factory and are capable of a much sharper edge than they come with new.

Also never use oil even if the stones manufacture calls for it. it only lubricates and makes sharpening more difficult and it takes much longer to get a tothy edge that bites. Oil on stones is an urban myth...only power grinders need to be wet stones. IMHO

The oil also keeps the stone from loading up with metal particles.

Water stones cut faster and many "oil" stones can be used with water.

Water stones wear faster.

As to sharpening, take the time to get a sharp edge with coarse stones, then work with finer stones.

thanks guys..played round with the stone today still not happy with results..this 154 CM is one hard steel..anyway i'll keep tryin.. practice makes perfect..love the BM,hate my sharpening skills..post any more tips for me please

buy the cheapest edge pro.

I agree with Skimo. I never had a lot of luck with benchstones. My SharpMaker has instilled a lot of confidence, and have seen how good the Edge Pro is. Worth the money.

Does that system really make sharpening that much easier?

Yes, I think after maybe only a few hours playing on it I was able to reliably get razor sharpness.

The best thing about it is how easily it reprofiles a knife, makes setting a primary bevel extremely easy.

I have pics to prove it

It really is an amazing system. Some people want to use croc sticks or bench stones, that's fine for them, for convex edges it would be like getting a $150 to $575 setup, it's not for playing around unless you really want to sharpen or if a couple hundred dollars isn't an issue.

Best results take time, I can get knives past scalpel sharp, even sharper if I made a strop for it, the kind of sharp where cutting yourself by barely touching the blade.

I just got myself paper wheels for sharpening and must tell you... THE ONLY WAY TO SHARPEN for me from now on. 1-2 minutes max and RAZOR and I mean RAZOR sharpness is achieved.