Mike
newark de

Jan 03, 2011

Pros: Effectiveness

Cons: None

Gatco Edgemate

Used for pining shears cutlery & scissors

Cigam
South West Florida??

Nov 07, 2017

Pros: Effectiveness, Overall Quality, Ease of Use

Cons: None

Flexibly Precise

I have read some mixed reviews and quickly realized reading and following directions produces the best results. Thar being said I now have perfectly sharp pocket knifes, kitchen knifes, plane blades and even the blade on my drywall hammer. All this because I followed directions and the ease of use. I do recommend the Gatco System at this point although I can't attest to how it will hold up over time.

Garn
Fresno, CA

May 27, 2013

Pros: None

Cons: None

Ease of use works for me.

Five minutes of reading the easy to follow instructions printed on the lid and I got excellent results on my first try. I started with the kitchen knives first, 10" slicer, 8" chefs, 6" boner, and 3" paring, all came out as sharp as when they were new. The biggest trouble I had when sharpening knives was keeping the blade at a consistent angle to the stone. The blade holder has slots in it that eliminate that problem. I was impressed with the craftsmanship, design, and ease of use. I am going to order the grip for the holder which would have made use even easier, but it's not necessary for great results.

Colorado
Loveland, CO

Mar 31, 2010

Pros: Effectiveness

Cons: None

Great Knife sharpening system!

This is the best sharpening system that I have ever used! I don't have any negative feedback at all.

Tarheel Cook
Chapel Hill, NC

Oct 07, 2009

Pros: Ease of Use, Effectiveness

Cons: None

Puts a SCREAMING edge on knives within minutes

The Edgemate system put a forearm-shaving 15/11 compound bevel on my Forschner in about 10 minutes, and put the same edge on the much harder steel in my Henckels Cermax in about half an hour.

Janet H
Riverside, CA

Mar 27, 2017

Pros: Effectiveness, Durability, Overall Quality, Ease of Use

Cons: None

He's once again a knife-sharpening fool (lol)

This was an early birthday present for my husband. He had totally depleted his old GATCO System & was in dire need of new grits and oil. This knife-sharpening system is the best he has ever used & would challenge anyone to produce an equivalent. His knife collection is extensive and is quite a bargain for the price. For the first time ever he sharpened a serrated knife. Don't be surprised if I order another GATCO knife-sharpening system years from now when he wears out this one.

Fred
louisville, KY

Dec 24, 2009

Pros: Effectiveness, Durability, Overall Quality, Ease of Use

Cons: None

Sharpening System

The cutting area on the stones is sufficiently large enough to handle the knives that I use, and the additional slots to accommodate the different sharpening angles work well. I would have liked to a super fine hone included.

Juan P
España

Mar 24, 2010

Pros: Effectiveness

Cons: None

sencillo de usar , efectivo

sencillo de usar , efectivo,

Nick
Herndon, VA

Jan 05, 2010

Pros: Effectiveness, Overall Quality, Ease of Use

Cons: None

Fantastic System

I purchased this item for my Father In-Law. He has a kitchen full of dull and unsafe knives. He is also into woodworking. I wanted to get him the same sharpening kit I use so I can help him if he has issues. This is a FANTASTIC kit and they seem to be improving it. I use the same one and mine came with a plastic guide clamp set, this one is metal and very nice.

Katie
Niagara Falls, NY

Feb 13, 2013

Pros: Effectiveness, Durability, Overall Quality, Ease of Use

Cons: None

I purchased this system, along with the grip mount as a gift for my boyfriend. He is fairly new to knife sharpening but as an avid outdoorsman he wanted to learn and be able to sharpen his knives. He absolutely loves it!

Shree
Mumbai, India

May 22, 2010

Pros: Overall Quality

Cons: Ease of Use

Good sharpening system

I use the Gatco sharpening system with a Gatco Vertical Mount which gives a good hand grip and makes knife sharpening very easy. Good complete sharpening system gives satisfaction. What is not good is that it is not very well designed to sharpen small thin blades as the clamp provided does not hold thin width bladed knives. Further the acute angle of sharpening causes the honing rods to touch the clamp tightening screw.

Daryl M
Santa Barbara, Ca

Mar 02, 2014

Pros: Effectiveness, Durability, Overall Quality

Cons: Ease of Use

Still my go-to sharpener, but it's not perfect.

I have owned and used the GATCO 10005 sharpening system for many years. It’s still my favorite, and I’ve tried just about everything short of the Edge Pro. It does have some drawbacks (I’ll get to those in a moment), but overall it’s dependable, sturdy, consistent, and can put a screaming sharp edge on your knives. There are some cons, though, and some little nuances that you should know about. First, if you go back later to re-sharpen a knife, it’s hard to guarantee that you will get exactly the same sharpening angle again. You’ll probably just have to start over. Then, there’s the clamp itself. It has a slot cut at its end, supposedly for pocket knives, and if you use that, you probably will get the same angle every time. Unfortunately, the slot isn’t recessed very far into the clamp, and it may be a little deep compared to the thickness of the knife you’re sharpening. The rod guide itself is very un-ergonomic. Using it as-is for any length of time will tire and gouge your hand. If you buy this system, you will definitely want to get the “Easy Grip Clamp Mount” to go with it. The last drawback is that the clamping screws and clamp edges get in the way of using the shallower (11° and 15°) slots. I solved the screw head height problem by buying some shorter socket-head cap screws and a socket wrench. Despite these things, this is still my go-to sharpener when I really want to guarantee that I’ll get a great edge. It is that dependable. Just be aware of the limitations and work-arounds, and I think you will probably like it, too.

Eric
PA

Dec 22, 2014

Pros: Effectiveness, Durability, Overall Quality, Ease of Use

Cons: None

Great Buy!

This is the best sharpener I have used to date! It puts an incredibly sharp edge on my knifes. I wish there were more angle options to chose from. I had to change a couple of angles on my favorite knives. It needs to include a honing stone to get a polished razors edge.

Garth
Miami Florida

Jan 26, 2010

Pros: Overall Quality

Cons: Ease of Use

Using the system for longer kitchen knives

I bought the Gatco Edgemate for sharpening my chefs knives, paring knife and other kitchen knives. I knew right away that this system would be a compromise for the longer knives. I devised in my mind a system where I would purchase an additional metal clamp to facilitate the sharpening. Using only one clamp for a long bladed knife would mean that you would have to move the clamp from one section to the next repeatedly. This would be an absurd way of approaching the process. By clamping two of the metal Gatco clamps I could switch from one guide to the next as I progressed along the knife's blade. I opted to do all my knives using a two angled system. My relief angle was 15 degrees and my final cutting edge was 19. This required that I regrind the original factory angle and using the Gatco system this took a long time indeed. I estimate that starting with the extra coarse block I would need about five minutes a side to recut the edge to 15 degrees. As I progressed to finer and finer grits each side took less and less time. Care must be taken to get the clamps just the right distance from the knife edge so that the stones don't touch. I also used a large bench vise to hold both clamps securely and then loosened the vise and flipped the assembly over to get the other side. You need to take your time.. 10 minutes total for just extra coarse and about the same for coarse. Medium was about 5 minutes a side and fine even less. Now I started grinding the 19 degree final edge so I needed to start with the extra coarse all over again. The total time was about 45 minutes or more for a complete regrinding for one knife! Care must be taken to get a burr on all the medium and fine hones. If you don't get a burr for the entire length you need to do more work. Long strokes with a slight sweeping along the blade I found was the best rather than a straight square stroke as suggested in the manual. I finished with a strop on cardboard and a light steeling to get rid of the slightest remnant of a burr. The final result is truly sharper and more long lasting than my previous work on a common stone or other systems I have tried. I now steel every day before using my knives and they have stayed sharp for two weeks without any dulling. Any future rehoning would only involve doing the final angle and I probably would only use the medium and fine hone to do it which would only be five or ten minutes at most. I'm satisfied with the system and for the money I spent I've learned a lot and now have greater respect for my knives and cutting technique in general. I could easily have spent double or triple for a more expensive system but I doubt the results would have been better. Don't expect to regrind your factory knives in a minute. Time and practice are needed for best results. Garth

Jaxpavan
Dayton, Ohio

Feb 16, 2011

Pros: Effectiveness, Ease of Use

Cons: None

My kitchen knives are sharp again.

Easy to use, ignore the angle marks, use a marker on the blade to get the correct angle, The clamp has difficulty holding thin, small blades. Very pleased, I'm sharpening everything in sight.

Jav
Gilroy, CA

Feb 03, 2010

Pros: Effectiveness, Overall Quality, Ease of Use

Cons: None

awesome

Use it to sharpen all the knifes in the house. Easy of use and storage.

Matt P
Grants Pass, Oregon

Mar 14, 2016

Pros: Effectiveness, Overall Quality

Cons: Ease of Use

Razors edge

Using the 11° angle I was able to put an edge so sharp on a cheap pocket knife that I was able to shave my face with it (if you want to try this, remember to strop the blade thoroughly every few strokes, a leather belt works very well). The down side is that anything bigger than a pocket knife will have to be done in sections, due to the size of the sharpener.

J. Mcadams
Kettle Falls, WA

Jun 12, 2011

Pros: Effectiveness, Durability, Overall Quality, Ease of Use

Cons: None

Not my first one

Smaller knives tend to fall out of the clamp. But you just put them back in. It is easy to use. Had one before. There is a limit to the size and the angle you can use.

Joe Paz M.
Buenos Aires Argentina

Aug 10, 2011

Pros: Effectiveness, Overall Quality, Ease of Use

Cons: None

Excelent product

Very usefull, easy handling and use

Sebastian S.
Brazil

Sep 21, 2011

Pros: Effectiveness, Durability

Cons: Overall Quality, Ease of Use

Good choice

Very good device. The principle of working is very good, but for people who have good knowledge about sharpening. High quality edges.

Gordon Le
Elkins Park, PA

May 28, 2013

Pros: None

Cons: None

Can work well, but has an obvious design flaw

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned this before, however, anyone who understands basic geometry will understand that the Edgemate has an obvious design flaw: The angle at which you sharpen the blade will depend on how high or low the blade sits in the clamp. Because the markings at the base of the clamp are not calibrated to any particular blade height, the actual sharpening angle will vary depending not only on the sharpening stone angle you select, but also on the width of the blade and how deeply you set it in the clamp. If you insert the sharpening stones into the same slots every time but change how deeply you set the blade in the clamp, you'll get a different sharpening angle. There is roughly an inch of space between the top of the clamp and the top tightening screw. There is also 5-5/8" between the outermost slots, so there's a pretty large margin for error here. Another problem other reviewers have noted is that the Edgemate does a poor job of gripping small blades and does not have the correct geometry for sharping blades much wider than the base of the clamp. All that said, this product is still capable of producing razor sharp edges at consistent angles; you just have to be sure that your blade is neither too large or too small and that you insert it into the clamp at exactly the same depth every time. This may require more attention to detail than some folks are capable of. On the other hand, it allows a lot more control and consistency that you can get with freehand systems. You pay your money and make your choice. Just be sure you know what you're choosing.

Matt
NC

Mar 28, 2011

Pros: Ease of Use

Cons: Effectiveness

does not work on recurve blades

i like the system just wished it worked on more than straight blades

Nator
Mo

Nov 30, 2023

Pros: Ease of Use

Cons: Durability, Effectiveness

Good not great sharpening system

This is for the Gatco Edgemate 5-Stone Professional Knife Sharpening System 10005. It will get the job done and provide a very sharp edge. Drawbacks: 1) The stones seem to loose material quickly. After sharpening about 5 knives, I can visually notice some loss of stone material where the stone has been taken across the blade. If you plan to sharpen a lot of knives, you may want to purchase extra stones in the grits you use the most. 2) If your knife blade is not very tall (like a small pocket knife), you have to insert it into the clamp far enough to secure it leaving a small amount exposed. For this type of knife, it is impossible to sharpen a blade down on the lowest degree angle (11 degrees) because the stone rubs against the clamp holder and hits the back clamp screw. If you have a tall blade that protrudes a good distance out from the clamp, then you can use the 11 degree slot. 3) You get an extra coarse 80 grit (black), coarse 120 grit (yellow), medium 220grit (green), fine 400 grit (red) and serrated hone (blue) with the set. I suggest getting the ultimate finishing stone 1200 grit (sky blue) stone too. So, my 3rd drawback is there is no stone between the red 400 grit and the sky blue 1200 grit. Going from 400 grit to 1200 grit is too much of a difference. There needs to be a 600 or 800 grit option. The 400 grit leaves the blade edge a little too rough for my liking. Upon research, there used to be a 600 grit stone offered but has been discontinued...why? Note to: Gatco-please offer a 600 or 800 grit stone option to better fill the gap between the 400 and 1200 grits. This kit will sharpen your knives but it's not a "Professional" sharpening kit due to the drawbacks mentioned, in my opinion.

William S
texas

Nov 17, 2015

Pros: None

Cons: None

don't buy

for people who cant use a stone . Over complicated , slow just useless

Robert
, USA

Feb 04, 2021

Pros: None

Cons: None

Ok for softer steels

This kit is ok for softer steels(Aus 8 and below). Mine had a problem with the coarse stone which was defective, it had a high ledge on it and was not level. Manufacturer did replace that stone. Overall I was disappointed with this sharpening kit. The stones developed an odd mold on them also(Yes it was mold, not steel). Never seen that before. I used the included honing oil so no reason why it would have developed the mold/film. The clamp they have is nice though. I threw the entire kit away. Their diamond kit may be a lot better.