Without reading all the WP thread will the Edge Faux with replacement stones down the track do the job without any modification or adjustment being required?
If it was a choice of $35 plus stones plus mucking around or $180 with no mucking around I may pick the latter.
Whilst you seem to have found/formulated an opinion let me say that it's really kind of a subjective thing BUT generally I'd say for the average user the included OEM/faux stones are up to the task.
Replacement ones will just do a better job and do it faster. But much like shaving the BIGGEST FACTOR with sharpening and even using this very fool proof system is the users technique and that will absolutely only come with practice and also an understanding of what you're attempting to do and the knives/materials you're using e.g knowing if your knives are good/rubbish, what they're to be used for etc.
I'd recommend anyone to try the OEM ones for a while and then upgrade if you feel the need (buying the stones from EP themselves is cost-effective & sure to give great results while the value route is buying the blank stones from places like Congress Tools & mounting them yourself on Al blanks from Bunnings).
The ONE big fault that the OEM stones have is that the lowest grit stone (180 IIRC) is really poor and when you want to reprofile &/or remove a significant amount of metal it struggles to get the job done. Can be a tad frustrating as 3rd party stones will do a MUCH better job at this. The higher grit ones are so-so but don't embarrass themselves like the 180grit one. But like I said technique is 90%+ of it so focus on this and see how you go.
MOst folks will use it a bunch in the first few months and then just a few times a yr thereafter so going bananas on plates etc (and you can spend a LOT on these...a REAL LOT) might prove to be a tad silly.
A lot of the sharpening crowd are into it for showoff-youtube type tricks (dropping plastic bag onto knife to have it cut it in half etc)......sounds great in principle but is more for show than practical use as hard to maintain such an edge....is like taking a dragster to do your shopping!
PS I touched up my knives yesterday......mainly just used the 1200grit stones I have and did the Wusthofs at 18degrees and the Artifex at 15 degrees. Because these were done a few months ago and are well cared for they didn't need much done to them. Lovely to cook with again, you use them the first time and you go,"Wow" when it slices through that bigass carrot like its a hot knife through butter.
