Having some problems

Kyle,

Not sure how technical you are, but this may help in case the videos do not get you the understanding of “why?”

Something you may or may not think about is the grind of your knife…that controls how you end up on the WE.

Most knifes are thicker toward the tip, so the bevel angle is higher than back toward the heel where the steel is thinner; therefore, changing the angle of sharpening from heel to tip keeps the bevel width, which is what most folks are trying to achieve, constant from heel to tip. If you were to seek to sharpen to the same angle the whole length of the edge, the bevel will increase in width from heel to tip as you would have to shave away more steel at the tip due to the increased steel thickness at that part of the blade.

If you are seeking an even bevel width from heel to tip, the WE gets you there by having the knife clamped in the vice at a constant position and the arms/paddles move, vs the knife moving over a constant angle such as with the Spyderco Sharpmaker or other fixed position sharpener. As the WE paddles move over the knife edge, the angle changes slightly to go with the curve of the edge which keeps the bevel width constant, if you put it in the vice to achieve this.

With all the above being said, when I sharpen a knife, as the videos show, I will first “sharpie” both sides, then do a swipe with 1000 grit to minimize any edge or bevel damage to see where the sharpie is being removed.

If you notice the sharpie is being removed closer toward the edge as you move from heel to tip, then you have to raise the tip a bit while keeping the heel in the same position, which will lower the angle at the tip and bring it more into line with the heel. Do the opposite if the sharpie is removed lower toward the tip than the heel.

This assumes you are clamping the knife at about the middle of the blade and not too far toward the heel or tip (this is for most nonFFG knives).

The above shows the amount of flexibility you have with the WE, but you have to learn how to work it to your advantage, understanding what causes the angles to increase/decrease along the edge as you position the knife.

Frankly, an even bevel width is usually sought after for two reasons: 1) a thicker steel at the tip keeps it stronger since it is a good idea to have the puncturing end of the knife thicker; 2) aesthetics, because if you truly sharpen the heel and the tip at the exact same angle, then you will result in a wide bevel the closer you get to the tip since the tip is thicker steel, than at the heel.

There are exceptions to the above (full recurves, etc…), but this is the technical explanation behind why the videos teach what they do.

Once you figure out how to manipulate the blade position in the vice to get what you want, then to sharpen how you have to to even up both sides, then you can adjust your approach to handle asym grinds/bevels, recurves, etc….

Let us know if you have more questions.

(to the experts, if I am misspoken and in error in any of the above, please chime in)

The angle cube should not change more than a couple tenths of a degree max, else you may not have the knife well clamped in the vice or your arms are moving or something isn’t tightened down well. Else, your angle cube may be out of sorts and a new one is in order.

When I use the angle cube, if I am within 1 degree total between sides (say L is 20 and R is 20.5), I am good. If a degree or more, than I will move one side in or out, to get it within that degree.

Additionally, I really recommend the extended rods from Oldawan tools, which go with the upgraded ball joint arms. I got 3 inch longer arms and I really have much more flexibility in my strokes without having to be concerned with the paddles coming off the arms on some strokes.

It’s a common problem with a a handful of causes (if not more?). The first thing that came to my mind upon seeing your Spyderco is that it’s a ffg. If I’m way off, please excuse me as I’m just kinda glancing thru this topic.

Again, here’s Josh laying down some truth for all us newbies. Hope this helps.

WEPS – How to adjust for blade cant in vise:

Sounds like you are measuring at different points of the blade…you should only measure at one point of the blade and let that determine what angle you want to sharpen at. Watch the above video from Josh at how he measures…that should clear it up.

It sounds like you are setting the arms based on the angle marks on the base rod and then measuring with an angle cube to find a reading that is inconsistent with what the base rod says. The base rod is more or less a guide to get you in the general area and are calibrated based on a certain blade height in the vise. If you get a knife with a really tall blade, you may have the arms set at 17 on the base rod when actually the angle is 15 according to the angle cube. In short, ignore the marks on the arms.

The right side is usually not consistent with the left side due to the left side of the vise being fixed. There were some videos made a couple years ago showing that if you aren’t using an angle cube to move the right side arm outwards 1 degree to make the angles match. This was just a general rule of thumb as people were complaining a lot about always having a bigger bevel on that side than the left. If you lock a really thick blade in the vise, you may find the right side arm has to be kicked out 2 or 3 degrees to measure the same angle as the left.

As far as where on the blade to measure, I always lay the stone on the blade making sure to keep it lined up with the side of the vise and will sorta pinch the side of the vise to create a guide to keep the stone between. Yes the angle may change slightly at different points on the blade but this is my reference point and where I measure at every grit change so that things stay consistent. I also put the cube on the same place on the stone every time always lined up with the topmost edge of the stone. These are just methods I use to try and reduce as much variability as possible.

You don’t have to measure between every grit change, but I have enough variability in my stones, sometimes up to probably 0.8 degrees, that I like to keep it as close to perfect as possible which each grit. And that’s the beauty of the micro adjust arms because with experience I know that a quarter turn (90 degree turn) of the screw yields a change of 0.1 degree and a half turn (180 degree turn) changes the angle 0.2 degrees. I can put the cube on and see the angle and I know exactly how many turns of the screw will put me really really close to perfect. Yes it takes longer, but I’m in no hurry. Everyone has their own philosophy of why they do what with this system, but this is just my experience and YMMV.

The reason it makes sense is because the steel at the tip is thicker than the heel.

So pretty much i take one measurment and make sure that i stay consistant with that original angle measurement through out the process? So i dont have to take a bunch of different measurements through the length of the blade to make sure both sides are at the same degree? Evan if towards the heel is say 20 degrees and then towards the tip is say 18? As long as that original spot stays consistant on both sides i should get an evan bevel? It just doesnt make sense how if my angle is anywhere from 1-3 degrees off between the heel and the tip how it will come out evan. I just watched his video and that did help me understand how the ffg blades can throw everything off. And that explains why the native 5 i did came out uneven.