Axminster Ultimate edge

[Noho12C]

Hi,

I wanted to know if someone had experience with the Ax ultimate edge, and could provide some feedback.

I was considering some time ago a Sorby Proegde but the Axminster seems to have some improvement. I got rid of my Tormek which i found very slow.

The main purpose of it would be to regrind the primary bevel and sharpen a secondary bevel on mostly PMV11 blades. Final honing will be done on fine sandpaper and leather strop.

I have been using mostly diamond stones and scary sharp + leather strop, pretty happy with it, but i find the diamond stone not so good when you need to remove nicks on a blade. Took me ages this morning on an Atoma 140 and PMV11 blade to regrind the primary bevel.

Anyway, if someone has some feedback to share, i would be more than happy to read about it !

Cheers
Chris

 

[colinc]

Hi,

I have the Sorby, bought as part of a job lot including a lathe and bandsaw. I also have a Tormek and a conventional grinder (which is now under the bench somewhere). I can only speak about the Sorby, but they have much in common.

It is now my preferred machine for grinding bevels, although I would prefer a slight hollow grind if I could get it. The range of jigs has helped me get past a previously failed learning process for turning tools. The range of abrasives available is outstanding. I have a range of belts right down to some that genuinely produce a mirror edge. You do have to worry about heating the metal in a way you don’t with the Tormek.

My Tormek also has a place, but ease of set up and repeatability is a strength of the Sorby.

I would say buy it, you shouldn’t regret it.

Colin

 

[TFrench]

Like Colin, I have the pro edge. Bought for my turning tools but I use it for most things now. Almost never use my bench grinder. I restore a lot of old chisels and it makes life very easy. Also the other day I was making a marking scribe and needed to make a piece of silver steel into a suitable spike shape. Chucked it in a battery drill and ran it on the belt for a couple of minutes to get the shape I wanted. I was genuinely amazed how much metal it removed in such a short time!

 

[Noho12C]

Thanks for the feedback, really appreciate !

Im surprised about the heating issue, i thought there was barely any risk to overheat the tool. But it's good to know.

Have you had any issue with harder steel, such as A2 or PMV11 ? does it remove material efficiently ? Also, does it generate lots of sparks ? It would sit in the workshop (aka garage) and dont plan to invest in a dedicated vacuum. So basically there will be no extractor attached to it.

 

[TFrench]

Overheating is much less of a risk than with a grinder, but you're still generating heat on something that by definition comes to a very fine point! I keep a jam jar of water next to mine just to keep things cool if I'm doing heavy regrinding. It cuts HSS turning tools just fine - I can't see there being an issue though. Also if they are newish tools, its only going to be tickling them up you'll be doing, not heavy regrinds? I recently got some trizact belts for mine, I havent tried them on a bench chisel yet, but you can put a mirror finish on a skew with them.

 

[Noho12C]

Yes, tools are in a fairly good condition, but when you need to remove nicks, you got to remove a bit of material to get back to a clean primary bevel. I will try to go Axminster and give it a try in a couple of weeks. I'll bring a blade and see how it performs.

Do you have any issues with the sparks generated by the grinding ?

 

[TFrench]

Never had a problem with sparks. It generates much less than a grinder. The guard on the pro edge is just a pain so I leave it off! Not sure how the axi one is.

 

[Noho12C]

yes, seemed to be a pain. I think the Axi had the same system than the proedge but seems different in the latest version.

 

[Jacob]

Sparks not a prob due to the open structure but you still have to watch out and keep it clean - I set on fire a twist of steel wool which happened to be lying in the wrong place.

 

[transatlantic]

I really like my pro-edge, the only thing that bothers me is having to take off the rest very time you want to switch between flat tools and gouges. It's really quite annoying when you're turning a project and switching between tools a lot. Some kind of quick release clamp system would have been so much better than having to undo one inch of thread every time.

The Axi system seems to have the same annoying belt guard, two thumb screws. Again, a little thought into a quick release system would have gone a long way.

The reverse switch looks useful. If it's safer though, why wouldn't Sorby make theirs in the reverse mode? or even provide a simple switch?

The Axi system appears to have a completely different way for setting angles, which looks far more capable, but also potentially slower to setup, and perhaps not so easy to repeat.

There is a big price difference though.

 

[ED65]

Can I ask why you were working the primary when you already had a secondary?

If it was that the secondary was already a bit wide you could add a tertiary bevel. Presumably your secondary angle wasn't already so steep that the angle of this new bevel would still give clearance, especially as it only needs to be a couple of degrees steeper rather than a full 5 or 10 degrees.

Edit: sorry I've just realised I'm assuming bevel-down planes here! Maybe you're using bevel-up planes where you need to keep on top of changes to the angle at the edge much more.

 

[Noho12C]

Indeed, bevel up planes (I don't have any bevel down)
Also, adding an additional bevel is just postponing the regrinding, and putting a new primary bevel would take longer if the angle of the secondary or tertiary bevel is steeper. But it's an idea though.

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[ED65]

Yeah the whole sharpening thing is a quite a bit different for bevel-ups versus bevel-down. I'd be dead fussy too if my bench planes were bevel-ups!

 

[Jacob]

I really like my pro-edge, the only thing that bothers me is having to take off the rest very time you want to switch between flat tools and gouges. It's really quite annoying when you're turning a project and switching between tools a lot. Some kind of quick release clamp system would have been so much better than having to undo one inch of thread every time........

For steeper bevels you can just freehand it by resting on the edge of the tool rest, or if already removed -on the thingy bar below.

 

[Noho12C]

Thanks all for your feedback. Another question : do the belt last long ? They are not very expensive, but if one needs to change then often, it can be pricey on the long run.
I use the scary sharp method for honing, and they need to be changed fairly often.

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[woodbloke66]

Hi,

I wanted to know if someone had experience with the Ax ultimate edge, and could provide some feedback.

I was considering some time ago a Sorby Proegde but the Axminster seems to have some improvement. I got rid of my Tormek which i found very slow.

The main purpose of it would be to regrind the primary bevel and sharpen a secondary bevel on mostly PMV11 blades. Final honing will be done on fine sandpaper and leather strop.

I have been using mostly diamond stones and scary sharp + leather strop, pretty happy with it, but i find the diamond stone not so good when you need to remove nicks on a blade. Took me ages this morning on an Atoma 140 and PMV11 blade to regrind the primary bevel.

Anyway, if someone has some feedback to share, i would be more than happy to read about it !

Cheers
Chris

I hated the Pro Edge I had and the Ax version does seem better. I'd agree with your comment about the Tormek being slow....it is until you fit a coarse diamond wheel, which is a complete and utter revelation. On PM-V11 (and A2) the ordinary stone constantly glazes which makes the cut really, really slow. Those sorts of steel have no effect on the diamond wheel which removes steel surprisingly fast Sorry for going slightly OT - Rob

 

[Noho12C]

I hated the Pro Edge I had and the Ax version does seem better.

why did you hate your pro-edge ?

 

[Bm101]

Two tools that changed my approach to beginner woodwork most were my bandsaw and a sorby. All of a sudden I can cut straight, dimension process etc and also consistently have sharp tools with no effort. Literally changed my focus from feckin' about with details to producing.

Both my tools bought used and much loved but it's a shame the sorby does not have speed settings.

One thing I stumbled upon on the sorby was this this for easy life trackless camber free sharpening. Works bevel up and down.
post1306601.html?hilit=Camber#p1306601

Lastly. There was a post a while ago about gang buying belts to save money.
post1179842.html?hilit=Sorby%20belts#p1179842

I'm well up for this guys.
I don't mind sorting the details. Any interest for a group buy to save on costs?

Cheers
Chris

 

[no idea]

Hi,

I wanted to know if someone had experience with the Ax ultimate edge, and could provide some feedback.

I was considering some time ago a Sorby Proegde but the Axminster seems to have some improvement. I got rid of my Tormek which i found very slow.

The main purpose of it would be to regrind the primary bevel and sharpen a secondary bevel on mostly PMV11 blades. Final honing will be done on fine sandpaper and leather strop.

I have been using mostly diamond stones and scary sharp + leather strop, pretty happy with it, but i find the diamond stone not so good when you need to remove nicks on a blade. Took me ages this morning on an Atoma 140 and PMV11 blade to regrind the primary bevel.

Anyway, if someone has some feedback to share, i would be more than happy to read about it !

Cheers
Chris

Like a lot of hobby woodworkers I've tried virtually every sharpening method going (more for the fun of the learning curve rather than to chase perfection) and can say from experience of the Sorby Pro-Edge and Axminster Ultimate Edge that the Ultimate Edge will do exactly what you want and do it better than the Sorby. The Sorby is a brilliantly engineered and manufacture machine but it does have a number of shortcomings which are addressed by the Axminster unit (belt direction, fixed tool rest that references the chisel off its front edge rather than the back and fixed speed). The Axminster unit can, through the use of the honing guide, can give you a ready to use chisel with the finer grit and trizact belts or, it you want to use the diamond plates etc. for honing then the Axminster bevel guide gives you that option with precise angle setting capability.

If you do a search for the Axminster Ultimate Edge I, and others, did previously post some feedback about it so that will be of use to you.

Something to consider is that there are a number of accessories for the Axminster unit that I would consider essential to get the best out of it so factor this into your budget if you go down this route.

 

[Noho12C]

Thanks ! The Axminster seems indeed to overcome some shortcomings on the Sorby. I don't do wood turning (not yet at least) so the accessories should be limited at the moment. Mainly the one for chisels and blades, plus maybe the one for skew blades.

(I search for post related to the proedge but didn't find anything.. need to have a second look)

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