Oops, how did I just make these scratches?
- This topic has 41 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 03/28/2022 at 3:52 pm by
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So how did you find out the paddles hit the vice at 18 degrees? Did you clamp the knife without the LAA and set your stones to 18 with the cube and then realize you were hitting the vice.. maybe hitting the side of the knife at the same time? These scratches don’t look like sharpening scratches they looks like the stone sliding around like it does when setting an angle and you are trying to see if the stones are hitting the vice due to the odd sound it makes…
Just a guess as I have done similar but it was a worn out 60+ year old parring knife that had been Grandmas..
Expedia,
It looks like the stones are able to hit the side of the blade below the shoulder when the knife is mounted in the LAA. You might try to check it by putting some tape over the surface of the stone and then resting the stone against the blade to see if it’s hitting the side rather than sitting on the edge. Some people use a stop collar to prevent the stone from sliding all the way down the guide rod when sharpening very tall blades or when using the LAA. I sometimes will wrap a rubber band around the guide rod to act as a stop collar for the same reason.
-Clay
I’m a relative newbie, however when I started out, I encountered the same problem. Without realizing it, occasionally the bottom end of my stroke was traveling below the bevel. This meant that the top of my stone was going below the bevel. In the above scratch pattern on the side of the blade, you can see the how the stone traveled down below the edge, then the stroke bottoms, then travels back up to the bevel.
I still do this occasionally, but with tape and awareness of the issue, I’m improving. Hope this helps.
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Thanks Clay I might touch base with Josh (but he’s usually backed up with work which is a good thing for him) or just go the new blade route. You nailed the issue as you can see from my pics. I was taught to try and use the whole stone surface which helps to wear them more evenly so the top of the stne was slipping below onto the bevel.
My solution (a little late now) was to use a plastic spacer like the extra ones of different lengths that come with a bracket to hang your tv on the wall with. I always use a rubber grommet on the rods, so the paddles don’t bottom out onto the ball joint. But you might think about including two spacers (or charge extra) when someone buys an LAA and a disclaimer that suggests to use a spacer on your rods when sharpening smaller blades so the padde top does not fall onto the bevel. With kitchen knives, since they are usually a higher blade this has never been an issue over the year that I’ve owned the system. Most of the time when I do a small parer I’ve been using the Tormec adapter.
Luckily for me, this was not one of my Damascus blades as those are over $300 to replace. I have well over 100 edges done on my WE Pro unit and I’m really disappointed that this happened to a $475 CRK that I’ve added to my collection only two days ago! Hopefully, others will find this thread before they ruin a blade using an LAA without using a spacer or a rubber band when doing a small folder.
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Thanks for the pictures @Expidia and for the suggestion of the bushings /w the LAA. Do reach out to Josh in case he can help more quickly. It might also be worth trying to buff them out yourself. Worst case, it won’t work or will make it look worse, but you were already prepared to replace the blade anyway, so it couldn’t hurt to try.
-Clay
If it is a knife you really want to protect from any accidents, I’d recommend covering the knife steel sides with some kind of tape. Blue painters tape works fairly well. Nothing replaces proper careful sharpening technique and experience. I do employ stone stops, both upper and lower, to limit the stones travel to across the knife edge, only. I remove the upper stops when using edge trailing strokes, that is up and off strokes, such as when stropping or using Diamond Lapping Films, (DLFs).
Marc
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Ok…I may be stating the obvious here, but if you’re new to WE, like me, I was advised to start with some practice blades. I went to a thrift store and picked up some really cheap kitchen knives of different sizes and practiced on those. It was a big help and taught me some basics. Also, it helped with the break-in of the stones.
Nope not new. Probably 100-150 WE edges or re- freshened edges under my belt on the WE.
This thread should serve as a warning to all that if you get complacent like I did you could ruin expensive knives very easily by the stones falling below the edge and scratching the sides. Do yourselves a favor and pick up two plastic spacers at HD, Lowes or you local hardware store. Like I said they should come with the low angle adapter accessory, in my opinion.
Another tip I found when using the spacers with the LAA is how to remember to use them! Sure enough when I was taking the serrations off my long thin bread knife I put a few light scratches near the tip and realized I forgot to put the spacers on the rods. Luckily they are light and will buff out with my Dremel and its polishing attachment.
But my tip is to keep the spacers, allen wrenches and the LAA all in a small zip lock . . . so you can remember to put the spacers on the rods before using the LAA.
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