Fine Stage Electric:
Fine Stage Wicked Edge – 1 micron strop
Knife Measurements:
The Wicked Edge removed almost no metal since I was essentially matching and cleaning up the factory bevel. The electric unit removed more than .02″ of metal along most of the blade length. At the extreme, the electric unit would remove as much as .2″ of metal for every ten sharpenings, assuming the coarse stage was used each time. Use of the fine stage only would of course remove less metal at each iteration.
Methodology:
For the electric unit, I followed the factory directions to the letter and the total sharpening time was just under 5 minutes. For the Wicked Edge, I set the bevel at 16 degrees per side, appropriate to the knife, and started with my 600# diamonds and finished the first stage with the the 1600# ceramics. The total sharpening time was just over 5 minutes to this stage. I spent an additional 1 minute stropping at 1 micron.
The knife after the electric unit is not very sharp and slides easily along my thumbnail. The Wicked Edge sharpened knife bites in immediately. The difference is due both to the angle and the refinement of the edge. The electric unit only allows sharpening at 20 degrees, very contrary to how Shun builds their knives. With the Wicked Edge, making perfect 16 degree bevels is a cinch.
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