There is no magic knife sharpening secret Sharpening is simple. Like many simple skills it is not easy to master. All you need do is
1) Use the same number of strokes on each side to keep the blade centered. Except chisel grinds
2) Use the correct angle for the intended use of the knife and the material it is made of.
3) The primary number one rule is you must hold the blade at the exact same angle the entire length of the blade every single stroke. Every time you sharpen that knife. A change in angle will mean that you are not sharpening the edge at all or are dulling the blade The more precisely that you hold the blade at the correct angle the sharper your blade will be. I can do that well enough create and maintain a paper cutting edge. Cleanly feather the edge of paper. But I like highly polished finger print shaving, hair splitting edges. Knives that skin with clean strokes, fillet with one smooth slice. Cleaning cutting a ripe tomatoes in two mid air and cut a newspaper page with its own weight by simply placing the newspaper of the blade. Many can sharpen blades like that by hand. In forty odd years I have never been able to hone my skills to that level.
As has been said machines take off too much material and risk damaging the temper of your blades. Fixed sharpening systems only sharpen at one angle about as well as I can sharpen by hand. Systems like Lansky and Gatco offer variable sharpening angles and everything from course to fine stones. They provide good results over all, as long as you remember where you placed the clamp on the blade and of course the angle setting you used. But because they clamp the blade in one position there are variations in the blades angle and width with the widest and most acute being at the tip of the blade. Some parts of the blade will be sharper or duller than others.
According to the literature Ben Dale put twenty years of research and knife sharpening experience into designing the
Edge Pro. However he got to the design the
Edge Pro sharpens very much the way you would without a system. The advantage is that the
Edge Pro absolutely assures that every single stroke is at the exact angle you've set the full length of the blade. Each and every stroke exact, perfectly matching the last. So you create and maintain a perfect blade each and every time. I think that the
Edge Pro has conditioned my muscle memory to better hand sharpen in the field. Because the settings are so exact touch ups take minimal material off of your blade extending your blades life to provide a life time of razor sharp service.
I have spent some pretty good money over the years trying other systems with varied results. So, for those starting to sharpen you'll save a ton of money in the long run with an
Edge Pro because it is the only system you will ever have to buy. I think it may help you with learning hand sharpening too. A skill everyone should have a least the basic knowledge of. For those who like me that don't seem to have the knack but still like hair popping finger print shaving knives the
Edge Pro is the last system that you will ever have to buy. There is a reason professional knife sharpeners use it, nothing else gives as consistently excellent results as the
Edge Pro
Probably not the answer you wanted but it really is the answer that will save you the most money AND give you the sharpest knives possible.