I got this knife sharpener from George at S.T.A.T.E.S who is the American dealer for TechStudio who makes the K01 K02 and K03 knife sharpening system's,I'm also going to say that dealing with George was great and you tell he is a very honest and trustworthy person and some I consider a friend,George started bringing in the TechStudio line of stuff because he could see from post's on the bladeforum that people were not wanting to have to import them from Russia directly and decided to become a dealer to help people out,also George lives in the states and has all of his life he has spent a lot of time in Canada at the Michelin Tire Plant in Nova Scotia as a Scientist. The first thing I must say about the K02 is that everything is very well and precisely made and you can tell it was made by people who are machinist's first and foremost,the fit and finish and how everything moves was just perfect and that's what you'll see other people saying about it on the bladeforum and youtube. That's a basic overview of the system and I'll go more into detail,that is the bag and stone's you get with the system you get a 120 220 400 600 and a 1000 grit stone they are also FEPA grit rated stones witch mean's the 1000 grit included with this system is a finer grit then a 1000 grit Shapton stone. Also the bag that the stones come in are also great and I liked the bag so much I ordered 4 more and they cost 10 bucks each I think,also George does not stock to many extra bag's yet as he is still feeling out what the market want's but he can order them for you if he is out of stock on them. Now I will go over a few thing's about setting up the K02,there were a few spot's in the manual that were not cover the best but over all the manual is very clear and easy to understand. The Crossbar is very easy to setup and the manual covers that pretty well so I'm not going to say anything about it but as you can see I have mine setup so that if I put it on either side the Angle Cube reads zero. Next is how to setup part of the K02 I don't has a name so we will call it the zeroing out block. If you notice how the Angle Cube is placed in the same direction on the back end of the K02 as it is when place on the zeroing out block,what you do is zero out the Angle Cube on the back end of the K02 like I have it sitting on it and make sure it's reading zero then move it to the front of the K02 and set it on the zeroing out block,next thing you need to do is adjust the left to right or Horizontal direction of the block they say in the manual if it is out by .3 degree's that's fine but I made sure to get everything on mine reading zero. The easiest way to adjust the horizontal on the zeroing out block is to remove the top center screw Blue locktite it then put it back in and tighten it just so you can move the zeroing out block side to side but not so loose it wants to move around to much this will make thing's easier,now zero out the Angle Cube at the back end of the K02 keeping in mind the direction you need to put it on and put it on the zeroing out block and hold the block by the side's and adjust it until it's reading zero then remove the Angle Cube and while still holding the block and tighten the center screw and re-check the block to make sure it's still reading reading zero. Adjusting the zeroing out blocks vertical this was the part they did not cover to much in the manual they don't show putting the Angle Cube on the K02 like I do in the pictures below and zeroing out the Angle Cube witch has lead a few to set theirs up by zeroing out the Angle Cube in the pictures above and not like the pictures below.Also when adjusting the vertical there are 2 screws on the bottom side and of the block and that is how you raise the front and back end of the block up and down,I also removed those screws as well and Blue Locktited them before tightening them down for good. The reason for going threw all that was mentioned above is so that when you sharpen and want to set your angle you'll grab the Angle Cube not included with the kit and zero it out on the zeroing out block in the same direction as I have it in the 3 pictures above,then once the Angle Cube has been zeroed out you place it on the guide rod where I have it placed in the picture above. Next we will look at the flipper mechanism and how to adjust it this part was really well thought out and works flawlessly,also it should be noted that the central shaft ride's on ball bearing's and so does the cross shaft part of the flipper those aren't wheel's those are ball bearing's that act as wheels also. See the wheel or knob whatever you want to call it that my finger is pointing to that's how you adjust the holding power so the crossbar does not flip around on you all the time. The ball bearing's that act as wheel's on the cross shaft are now left to right in the picture above. Now they are up and down and you can see the de-tent's they drop into when the crossbar at the front of the K02 is turned to rotate the knife. Now well look at how to adjust the angle at witch you want to sharpen at. See where my finger is pointing at the knob that's where you will make your big adjustment's and slide the mast up and down to do so.
See where my finger is pointing at now at the silver spline'd knob thing my finger is touching that's what you use to make your fine adjustment's then once your all done you snug down the round brass wheel shaped nut and that lock's in your adjustment to the spline'd knob. I also zero out the Angle Cube on the Zeroing out block then I put the Angle Cube on the Guide Rod's spot for use of an Angle Cube and then make all of my adjustment's.
Also in the pictures below where I'm pointing at are places where more ball bearing's were used to make this machine operate very smoothly,if you look at the aluminum part that's holding the black barrel peace that the guide rod goes threw there is a ball bearing on each side that let's the guide rod go up and down. The next spot I'm pointing at there is 1 or 2 ball bearing's in there that allows the head on the mast to rotate left and right.
Now let's talk about the different clamp's and how these clamp's are the best on the market and really do hold knife rock solid or sure,I also put masking tape on my knives where the clamp's are going to contact the blade. What's so great about the K02 clamp's is that they use a peace of spring steel between the fixing unit and the jaws of the clamp's witch allows the back end of the clamp to float unlike the Lansky or the Gatco system's,because the back end of the jaws can float so to say they can adjust more to the shape and taper of the blade where the Lansky and Gatco system's are just adding more pressure when you tighten their back screw but the jaws can not float to adjust to the shape of the blade and flatten out and add the pressure more evenly like the K02's Jaws. If you want to know how well the double clamp's hold all I say is I tried giving a firm pull on mine with a knife clamped in and it did not move at all,and if you were to go crazy and really crank down on the screws I think it would take a really strong and long pull to get the knife to slide out I think it would take a lot force as in pulling on the blade trying to force it to come out and not pulling it out. These are the standard double clamp's that comes with the K02. This the Single clamp that also comes with the K02.
These are the Conical clamp's I got as well that do not come with the kit,they are just modified standard double clamp's that use a bolt with a knob end and 2 cones. I also got the Single fillet clamp witch is on the left hand side of the picture,the fillet clamp let's you sharpen at lower angles then the standard ones do. I find that all of the clamp's I have used so far for the K02 have worked flawlessly,to use them properly you do not need to really crank them down,all you need to do is to snug up the 2 front screws until they start to hold the blade and again the do not need to be super tight,then snug up the rear screw and try and move the knife if it moves loosen the back screw only and try snugging up the 2 front screws just a bit more then snugging the rear again,it's not hard to do and very easy to catch onto so you can do it in one try every time. The Conical clamp's are very nice to use and also there is less stress on the screw for the cones and yet provides more clamping force if needed and is faster to adjust.
I also have on order with George a Table Attachment that let's you sharpen like an Edge Pro system a Scissor Attachment and the double fillet clamp's as well and reinforced spring's for all of my clamp's as well,I'm getting the reinforced spring's because I have some knives in ZDP-189 Maxamet and S110V witch I sometimes use just a bit more down pressure but not much more and the reinforced spring's take more down pressure before they deflect. Once I get the new item's in I will add them to this review George's order for October should becoming in around the 16th. Here is a link to George's website and the other item's I will be getting. https://www.statesllc.com/products/scissors-attachment https://www.statesllc.com/products/k02-double-filet-clamp https://www.statesllc.com/products/removable-table-k02-knife-plate-old-new-k02-and-k03 https://www.statesllc.com/products/reinforced-spring-k02-double-clamp https://www.statesllc.com/products/reinforced-spring-k02-single-clamp I also want to say that I do not work for George or TechStudio and did not get anything for free or at a discounted rate,I purchased this system and all of the accessories with my own cash,I'm just stating this because I do not want anyone to think I work for George who is the owner of statesllc or TechStudio and trying to push this system on anyone,I just purchased it found it to work extremely well and wanting to share my finding's with you guy's. Also I'm going to send a George a link to this thread and watch it and answer any question's that come up that I may no be able to answer.
Now on another note as I purchased my K02 WRANGLERSTAR edition I also started looking for sharpening stone's as some of you may know I have a 2 KME system's as well so all I can say is I spent a boatload on my K02 and different accessories so I figured why stop there it's only money LOL good thing I'm single or else I'd have to explain to the little woman why the next has suddenly shrunken. I was looking on ebay one day for stones that were made from CBN as I wanted something better to sharpen my Japanese Chef knife made from ZDP-189 and I did not to use diamond stones like DMT or KME Gold Series as they wear out faster then a normal stone,the problem with a diamond plate is that the diamonds being so hard hook or lodge into the edge of the blade and tear off over time. When I was looking on ebay or stones made from CBN I found a company in Russia called Gritomatic and I seen they care a ton of different stones when you go right to their website and I seen that they carried these stones called Venev Industrial Diamond stones,they have diamond's mixed right in with the some kind of grit whether it be Silicon Carbide or something like that but they look just like a normal sharpening stone other then you can see the diamonds sparkling back at you. The Venev diamonds stones wear at about the same rate as a Shapton Glass stone but man do they cut fast and when I say fast I mean really really fast like the metal is being blasted off of the edge.If you read about the Venev stones because they have diamonds in them the edge will not be as accurate as Shapton Glass stone so it say's on the Gritomatic website in the description and I flip flopped back and forth as to whether or not I should get them for that reason,all I can say is do not worry about it all to the naked eye and most likely under a Microscope you'll never see any difference. The Venev stones come in the following Grit's 150 240 400 800 1200 2000 I know what our thinking that's not very fine only going to a 2000 grit stone,now that being said keep in mind the Venev stones are rated by the FEPA system witch is a finer system then American stones are rated at,for example Venev 2000K stone is the same grit as a 15K water stone,the other thing to keep in mind about the Venev stones is even with the 2000K stone it will leave a scratch pattern that can be seen and it's not awful and that's where I'm sharpening some of knives at right now to see how they perform with a toothy edge,but there is an easy solution to solve the scratch pattern problem if you want a polished edge start off with the Venev stones and progress threw the grit's as far as you want then switch to a Shapton Glass 6k or 8k stone and the scratches will be gone in no time,I myself go threw all the Venev Grit's right up to 2000K and then use my Shapton 8000K then a Shapton 16K and then Suehiro 10K witch is more like a 15K and is better then the Shapton Glass 16K then I move to the Suehiro 20k witch is closer to a 25k for reason Suehiro tends to under rate the 10 15 and 20k stones they sell. The reason I use the Shapton Glass 16k then the Suehiro 10k although they are very close in grit the Shapton Glass 16k tends to remove a bit more metal and still polish a bit at the same time where as the Suehiro 10k does not remove as much metal and polish's more then anything.
This is how they came packaged and I must also mention I got Silicon Carbide Powder's and a peace of glass for cleaning and flattening my stones,also the box that they came in was not just taped but also Konstantin the owner of Gritomatic used plastic bailing strap's to go around the box so it would not break open very well done and good job never I have I had anything shipped so well and with so much thought and care taken into making sure the box would not open up,also that may have been done because of the extra weight of the Silicon Carbide Powder is very heavy. Also I got the CBN stones as well and they do remove the metal on hard steels like the ones I have already mentioned fairly well and better then a Shapton stone but there is only 2mm thick of the CBN now it does seem to wear very very well but I like the Venev stones better because they are thicker cut faster and the scratch pattern is easily removed.Also I asked about the CBN stones on the bladeforums and if anyone had used them and nobody said anything so I waited and Konstantin said anyone who was willing to buy them and try them and review would get a 30% refund whether or not the review was good or bad and I think you guy's have figured out how I like to spend money I jumped at the offer and got a dusount for the CBN stones only and nothing else,the Silicon Carbide Powder and Venev stones I paid full retail. Also it should be noted that Konstantin the owner of Gritomatic knows his stuff and I emailed him many times asking him different thing's about the product's he sold that I had not seen before and he always gave me an honest and straight forward answer to any question I asked him don't be afraid to deal with Konstantin from Gritomatic I found him to be very trustworthy and that's why I'm going to be ordering 2 full set's of the Venev diamond stones and as well as trying out some new CBN stones he is waiting on,the new CBN are a metallic bond where as the ones in this review are an organic bond and the metallic bond will be a bit slower cutting but they are thicker. The one thing I need to mention about the CBN stones in this review is that Konstantin told me that the only CBN stone he got any complaint's about not wearing very well was from his Russian customers witch was the 80 grit witch I can understand with any brand of stone the lower the grit the faster the wear rate as I can attest to. Also Kanstantin pretty much always has stock for the Venev stones so don't worry if it say's they are out of stock just contact him and ask directly and he will get back to you quickly. https://www.gritomatic.com/collections/edge-pro-stones/products/venev-bonded-diamond-for-edge-pro https://www.gritomatic.com/collections/edge-pro-stones/products/poltava-cbn-for-edge-pro
I'm sure most of you know this just by looking at the pictures the K02 use's Edge Pro format stones so any stone for the Edge Pro will work with the K02.
I meant to mention this before and forgot to,with the K02 they recommend using oil on all the moving part's and they not just mean on ball bearing's they are also talking about oiling the threads of all of threads you are going to use a lot like the screws on the clamp's and even on the back mast where you make the final adjustment as that can unthreaded all the way.If you think about it it makes sense that if you oil the screws there won't be metal to metal contact and they should last longer. I myself prefer a light grease such as GoJuice this stuff is really slick and thin and is rate 0000 witch menas it's really thin and it stay's in place really well I got mine from armseast and I got the oil and grease to use on my flipper knifes and that's what I carry the most,the grease and oil make even the smoothest opening knife open even smoother and faster this stuff is just grate for flipper's. The other thing I'm going to do is use froglube on all of the black part's of the clamp's and spring steel as this stuff works amazingly well at stopping rust from forming. They are out of stock on the grease right now. http://www.armseast.ca/alg_defense/alg_defense_go_juice_lubricant_4oz_bottle/ https://www.amazon.ca/Frog-Lube-Liq...&qid=1505626300&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=frogube
If anyone is considering buying a K02 I also recommend the Angle Cube in this review,it fit's onto the back end of the K02 better then any other one I have used,there are other brand's out there that look like the one I use but they are slow to react to any moment's. This is about the best deal you will find for the one I prefer. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-Bevel-...096312?hash=item54445b7138:g:ehUAAOxyyjpRwSII
