Are you here because you are on the fence?

[craftyhack]

Hi All,
Perhaps there may be a few of you reading this post because you are researching buying a Wicked Edge vs. the “other” angle sharpening system. I say that because I was here doing the same thing a few months ago, and spent months doing research because I am OCD :D. Refer to this post to see some reasons I picked the WE PPI(I): http://www.wickededgeusa.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&func=view&catid=13&id=5212&limit=6&limitstart=42&Itemid=63#5730 , which includes a video from a completely independent user (as am I, completely unaffiliated with either company, I am a computer geek by trade).

Also, one other thing to consider if the cost difference is a big factor in your decision. In life, there is only ONE commodity you can NEVER get back, and that is TIME, NOT MONEY. If you are a collector or hard user of edged devices, if you use edged instruments in your profession, etc., and are looking at self sharpening systems because you are tired of paying too much for sharpening services that aren’t that great (some times even giving you back scratched blades with edges not much different than what you gave them, been there, done that, NOT HAPPY), then consider this. Money is always something you can earn more of, save up more of, etc. You can NEVER get your time back. Opportunity cost is something I consider with everything I commit my time to (read Wikipedia on opportunity cost if you are unsure of what that is, is is a key economic concept, defined as understanding what your are giving up when allocating resources to A instead of X, Y, or Z). And if you do consistently use external sharpening services, then either way the system you choose will pay itself off, it is just a matter of how long that will take to happen, taking system cost out of the equation anyway.

Between the WE and “the other system” there are several crucial differences that relate to how much time it will take you to resharpen your own implements.

Other system(just a couple of examples):
One side at a time
Wet system, meaning taping the blade PRECISELY to as not to scratch to non bevel portions, and protecting the action, and of course continuously stopping to clean up to goop and respraying
No built in way to ensure knife is at the same height and therefore angle from one sharpening to the next, which can turn a 30 second touchup into a who knows how long reprofile depending on the damage done to the original bevel if the angle was different.

This system:
More expensive, but then there is more to it, and you are getting TWO of each stone because you can do both sides without remounting the knife. And of course none of those problems above.

Bottom line, after I watched hour after hour after hour of demonstration of both systems, it became clear to me that this one was much easier to use to get better results (bonus, who likes getting frustrated? I saw quite a bit of that with those using “the other” system, including experienced users, on YT), but more importantly you save TIME for other things in your life, on every demonstration I watched, it was orders of magnitude faster to sharped with the WE system. Especially watching as Clay demonstrates on several knives, but my favorite demonstration was Clay taking the kitchen knife to a file, showing it couldn’t barely TEAR paper, much less cut, and about 45 second later(I took out all of the time Clay spent educating, showing diff techniques, etc., I have seen him work a knife, and I would estimate 45sec-1min if he were just touching up that blade), cutting beautifully again, I must have watched that one 10 times, totally awesome! That(ease of use and time savings) is what ultimately made me decide that WE was right for me.

Please note that I haven’t yet received my PPII, and when I do and have had some time with it I will update my post with my thoughts, but I have no doubts I will be happy given the research I have done (which I consider time well spent as “hobby time”, I enjoyed learning so much about knives as I researched). On a side note, because I am new to angle sharpening systems (vs. using an Ark Whetstone like my dad taught me 30 years or so ago), I purchased several CHEAP blades from Amazon to practice different sharpening tasks on on, starting with just a touch-up using the same bevel angle (using the marker trick to figure the angle out), then re-profiling a bevel to a new angle, then a new type of grind (from chisel to something else, etc.), then trying a double bevel, etc., a few times before I turn loose on my expensive knives. These are what I bought, specifically because they are pretty thick so I can get quite a few sessions out of them and have a lot of latitude on how I can “change them up”: a few of these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UPOG28 and a few of these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00178CS4K, and got a nice firestarter and some paracord with each one to boot (and I did try the firestarters, they work great).

More to come…

Good luck on your research!

[Ken Buzbee]

Your journey, both prior and since beginning your WEPS quest, sounds very similar to my own. Excellent analysis and I agree with your conclusions. Additionally, I think you did a terrific job conveying it.

Ken

[craftyhack]

PLEASE DELETE THIS DOUBLE POST

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