Bear in mind that the basic kit is the 140, 300, 600, and 1500 stones.
The KME is what is called a "rod and stone" system. Stones are 1 inch wide, 4 inches long, and 0.2 inches thick.
The jaws have 2 reference lines. The line near the edge of the clamps is what you use to align a small knife blade. Use the second line (further back) for a big blade. Pinch the jaws just behind the blade and use the knob inside the clamp to tighten. The knob at the far back is a "push to open" adjustment -- it adjusts the pressure on the "flip" action of the clamp.
Standard ajustment range is 17 to 30 degrees. Note that the clamp flips to allow you to get to both sides of the blade without unclamping the knife.
I use a sharpie to figure out the sharpening angle, then start with the 140 stone. The crucial thing is to grind all the way to the edge with each grit.
There is not need to bear down or add pressure. Just let the weight of the tool and stone do the work. Let time and diamonds do the work, don't try to muscle it.
When I flip the knife I find a 20 degree angle. And I have to work a long time to get to the edge at the heel. My guess is the problem at the heel is something Benchmade did. I used the 100 grit to reduce the out of geometry heel section.
As for the different angles, I can't tell at this stage of my ability whether Benchmade did this or if I have the blade clamped wrong. I am going with what the knife has and changing the sharpener angle when I flip the knife.
I go only through 600, just to see how I feel about this edge. I am gratified that I have a burr that I can feel. One side of the blade "feels sharp" (the side with the burr) and the other side does not. I do a big of freehand burr removal with the 600 stone and now both sides feel sharp. I can shave curls off of a sheet of paper.
If the knife truly is 17/20, then I should probably reprofile it to 17/17.
As a novice and with less than 30 minutes invested, I have the edge on this Loco a lot sharper than what Benchmade shipped out.
This is a full flat grind blade. It was made at Taichung, Taiwan. I clamp it using the back edge as the reference to line up with the jaws.
The first side is at 17, and I use 300 grit on it. The second side is 20, or maybe 21. I set the sharpener to 20 degrees and take some time to get the sharpening to the edge. I drop back to 140 grit to do this minimal repofiling.
The 20 degree bevel looks narrower than the 17 degree bevel, as it would be if it was really ground at a steeper angle.
Once this is done, it takes no time at all to go through 300, 600, and 1500. I do a last flip with 1500 and use a few strokes to remove the burr.
This knife is very sharp now.
I sharpened another Mule made at Taichung (the PMA11) and found the same 17/20. The size of the bevel is obviously different.
VG XEOS is a "premium stainless" designed as an upgrade to the famous VG-10 steel. I see it being used on fancy japanese kitchen knives.
Both sides seem to be at 15. I sharpen with the KME at 17, start at 300 grit and do minimal work, quickly moving through 600 and 1500. This yields a very sharp edge.
Having this one be a symmetrical 15/15 makes me think that the first two knives really were sharpened assymetrically and should be reprofiled.
The knife was made in Seki City, Japan. I sharpened both sides at 17 degrees. The might actually have been just a bit shallower, but this worked fine. The knife was in good shape so I started with 600 and finished with 1500, paying attention to remove a burr.
Here is a second knife from Seki City with a nice symmetrical grind. I need to check some knives from Spyderco Golden.
Tom's Knife Info / tom@mmto.org