I had my KME Sharpening System out the other day and I though some of you guy might appreciate a review of this Product.
First I would have to say hands down better then Gatco's & the Lansky System's out there not even close to this one,I have owned the Lansky and Gatco ones before and just Hated them with a Passion the biggest problem with them is they a using a metal on metal contact to keep the Knife in the jaws of the clamp and the Knife alway's falls out no matter how many times you tighten it down or how tight you turn the screws.
The KME System comes with Ceramic Stones that do a really good job and I also got a Black Arkansas from KME as well and some got me there Diamond Stones as well.
The two best features of the KME System is that the Jaws have Neoprene Pads that really hold the knife very well and the other feature that really stands out is that the jaws rotate as well that way you can flip the knife over to Sharpen the other side really easily.Another feature I really like about the KME System is the Hollow Plastic Sphere the rod goes into it really makes a big difference and the rod does not jump around like the Lansky and Gatco Systems.
I just use the second coarsest stone on a New knife and then work my way down to the Arkansas Stone and I just use Vegetable oil for lube and you olny need 2 drop's on the stone and that's it and when I use the Arkansas stone I apply oil to it then wipe it off very lightly.If to much oil is used the knife will seem like it's duller then before it was sharpened and that's because there's just to much oil on the stone and it there's just to much of a Barrier between the stone and the blade,I lent my KME to a friend gave it back to me with his knives and told me to show him what he did wrong and when he seen I was olny using 1 to 2 drops of oil on the stone he thought it was not enough until I gave him his knives back.
I mainly use and angle of 20 to 22 degree's when Sharpening and the pocket knife in the Picture will shave my arm hair without any problem's at all so be be warned if you buy one and get really good at Sharpening be very very careful and I can not stress this enough because the edge is just like a razor.
The olny problem I had with my KME and it was a simple fix,the Neoprene pads glue is not very good so I took the jaws apart and went to HomeHardware and got some 15 or 20 minute Epoxy and glued them in place and everything is fine a year later,also everything in the KME kit is Guaranteed for life even the Stones unless you drop them.
The KME System is not cheap but well worth the money a few thing's to keep in mind are is that this is not going to Sharpen a Filleting Knife as they are not wide enough to stop the jaws from hitting the Stone because you would need to use the lowest angle you could,I use this more for kitchen and Pocket Knives and it does it very fast even with the Ceramic stones,just very light pressure is needed to much and you'll put a Burr on the other side of the and can be felt and seen when you flip it over to the other side.
Also everyone that sees me use my KME thinks I should use a sweeping motion from one end to the other and that's so and would take to long,you push and pull the stone back and forth toward the plastic bearing that holds the rod working you way toward the end of the knife.
Just google KME Sharpener to find out if you want to look into getting one.
Here is the Knife turned half way not all the way flipped over I wanted show the 2 Tit thing's that are sticking out just a bit on each side of the jaws there a 2 holes in the backplate of the jaws and that's what help's to hold the knife in place,the large Plastic Wing nut thing is what tightens the jaws down on knife,the black knob with the spring on it is what applies pressure on the backplate of the jaws to stop the knife from falling over when sharpening it you just turn the knob and your done.
