Sunday Afternoon plus alternate Sharpie video

No offense to anyone but our forum has become less of what it once was. So in an attempt to encourage conversation here is how I spent my Corona Sunday afternoon:

I did my son’s 8 Shun/Henckel kitchen knives this weekend. They have never seen the WEPS. I am a 3+ year WEPS user and feel I have gotten pretty good at it. 100 grit thru films and light stropping (14 total). My end test is scalloping shiny magazine paper. A few things I learned are:

1. Fine tune your blade placement in the clamp by focusing on the curve and putting your thumb/o-ring on the rod (without a stone and without the AAG as it is in the way), and gently putting your thumb/o-ring against the blade, rotate the rod to watch how close your thumb/o-ring (fixed point) follows the knife curve. Its a little 2 hand tricky (the knife needs to be moved iteratively to find the sweet spot) but it does a good job honoring the geometry prospects of the WEPS vs. a factory bevel. Once the sweet spot is found I clamp the knife and the put on the AAG & key. I then document the location (I may slightly reorientate the blade to rest on the key and be centered in an AAG square). I double check the thumb/o-ring curve thing and move on. I no longer use the sharpie. It sounds like alot of back and forth but it really isn’t. I can make a video if someone wants.

2. Tape every knife to avoid those pesky surface scratches. I got one and I swear I have no idea how. Very disheartening to see one next to a mirror bevel. Pretty impossible to remove.

3. Clean your 100 grit stone which puts your burr on. I need to use it 20x longer than the other grits and I thought I was wearing it out til I cleaned it with a toothbrush and Bar Keepers Friend. The timing of the first burr varies alot with steel, angle and damage, I was running 10 mins doing 100 grit alternate side med-hard scrubbing strokes.

4. After the first burr creation I switched from counting strokes to timing strokes (phone stop watch). Just quick glances to the clock allows me to focus on consistent strokes more. After the first burr, I spent 30 seconds total doing alternate side edge trailing strokes focusing totally on smooth consistent full strokes listening to the sound instead on counting. Of course the number of strokes will vary a bit with knife length but I was getting about 25 strokes per side in 30 seconds. I then move right on to the next grit as there are 14 total including the 100. I also ONLY edge trailing heel to tip strokes for safety sake (except for 1 edge leading stroke to remove the 100 grit burr with the 200 grit stone and the 100 grit scrubbing). I do not need to take scallops out of my fingers and consistency matters.

5. I realized that the top and bottom of the diamond plates are rarely used as most of the abrasive action is in the center ¾ of the stone. I use the ends to smooth out any microchips / slight damage before raising my first 100 grit burr (scope needed). Worse damage needs a file or grinder but be careful not to put unintentional dips in the edge. I think this improves the process/final edge in lieu of depending on the 14 grits to “eventually” reach the bottom of a microchip. I was amazed at how many microchips were present on a well-used kitchen knife.

Note: I used my scope to double check all of this and am fully aware that there are many ways to skin a cat.
I would like to hear other hints from the rest of you.

• This topic was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Readheads.
• This topic was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Readheads.

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