Alternative guided sharpening system if you can't do required ambidextrous motion of EP

[Delphonic]

I've had the apex for many years. But I've never been good with it. Edge Pro, Ben, has ALWAYS been terrific to deal with. Helpful and patient. But I'm still disappointed. But I never feel comfortable or controlled using my left arm to sharpen one side of the blade. I know Hapstone and TS Prof have the rotational clamps. That seems like it might be what I need? Or maybe the wicked edge system? Yes, it uses both hands, but I feel like it's time to try another system. I'm reluctant to go freehand but maybe an angle guide like Razor Sharp could be an option. I'm also considering Work Sharp Ken Onion, or maybe the Tormek T-1.

I've some EP Diamond Matrix stones and diamond plates from mark. But I'm open to a new system. Thanks!

[Radar53]

Here's something from out of left field and I haven't tried it myself. I'm wondering if for the LHS of the knife you could use the metal "slide guide" plate as a pseudo clamp. Remove the plastic guide clip if you are using it. My thinking would be to do the RHS as you usual then flip the knife over and use the guide plate to secure the knife to the table. Loosen the slide guide, slip the spine of the blade under the guide plate and then tighten the guide screw. (I would be careful here not to tighten it too much as I don't know how strong the screw is.) Hopefully you could secure the knife enough to hold it in place as if you were going to sharpen it left handed.

From here you could (i) stand on the same side as for sharpening the RHS of the blade, and use your right hand to guide the stone from the heel to the tip etc. (ii) or you could use "draw" strokes to get to the heel properly??

Alternatively, you could move to the other side of your EP Apex and again use your right hand to do heel to tip sharpening strokes.

Apologies up front as my EP Apex is packed up and put away so this is all in my head ATM and I haven't tried any of this out myself. Come back if you run into any problems or it doesn't work and I'll start unpacking .........

[Delphonic]

That's a neat idea, Grant. It also occurred to me there may be some deep jaw clamp I could get hold of to do the same thing as your suggestion. I'm just disheartened to have owned the edge pro so long and never gotten good with it. The left arm sharpening is the biggest issue. So much so I'm entertaining other systems. The Tormek T-1 seems adequate to my needs. I like sharp edges by I'm not striving to get mirror polished perfection. My knives are the tools of home cooks. (A Makato in SG2 being the best knife I've got. Some Mac knives and German type stuff rounds out my collection.) The Wicked Edge seemed like another option, but them I loose my stones collection. And it's not an EP clone, so a bit of a learning curve.) The $250 Work Sharp Precision (an EP clone) seems to be the cheapest system with a rotating clamp to keep everything right handed. But I like this clamping idea. I'm also looking a the Work Sharp Ken Onion mini belt grinder. Seriouseats.com reviews it favorably.

[Radar53]

It's a while now since I've dug around the rotatable, "deep jaw" clamps. Also, I've got some knives that I like to sharpen at pretty acute angles. If memory serves, the inherent "bulk" of these rotatable clamps puts limitations on how acute that angle can be before I got interference issues between stone and clamp. None of that may impact your set-up & needs and if that's the case then all good. Just something to be aware of.

I also have the Makoto SG2, 240 and I probably grind my main bevel at 12 deg per side and then add a micro bevel at say 14 deg per side. For my R2 Shibata's I found that Shibata-san's original angles were less than 10 deg per side, which would be a bit of a challenge with a bulky clamp.

[Kerneldrop]

Before buying a Work Sharp mini belt grinder check out the 1x30 variable speed belt machines on ebay or aliexpress. They look like a mini grinder.
There are far superior belts in the 1x30 than in the work sharp.
You can even buy 3M diamond belts which will sharpen anything you have.

They require using both hands though. I don't use a guide on mine. But we all have different levels of seeing planes and dexterity.

I machine sharpen with a 1x30 variable speed Rikon and with Razor Edge paper wheels on a high-speed benchtop grinder.
Although I only sharpen cheaper knives like Rada, Mercer, Victorinox....I can go from dull to slicing phone book paper in minutes.

A Grizzly variable speed 1x30 is $150 and is an exact of the Rikon. I lay mine flat. I have much better results with a horizontal belt than a vertical belt.
I can see my angle when using a horizontal belt, but not a vertical belt.

Here's a mini grinder version off Aliexpress: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/32568059 ... ry_from%3A