Different angle on each side

[Craig]

Every knife I have sharpened so far. Which is 4, have come out with a different bevel on each side, one is fatter than the other, and on some left side will miss some up towards the choil and other side won’t. So now I’m sharpening a knife, I checked angle on both sides, it’s basically the same, 28,29, but left side if a real high grind and right side cuts way further down the blade, I made sure blade is in there the same on both sides, it’s not twisted or anything.   Any advice?

[Marc H]

Welcome to the forum Craig.  Please share with us which model W. E. Sharpener you are using.

The situation you are describing sounds like the blade lean seen with the “Standard Vises”.

 

 

 

Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)

[Craig]

Sorry I have the pro pack 1, just bought it past week.   I have been trying to check my angle of the knife, by laying my angle finder on the side of the whole clamp. Comes out the same but I know that’s not being too exact

[Marc H]

The WE100 uses the Standard Vise.  It is comprised of two triangles.  The left side triangle is fixed and stationary while the right side triangle floats and is connected with a horizontal screw to the left side.  Most knives are shaped like a tall narrow triangle.  When the knife is clamped in the standard vice, with the blade up, the knife side that rests against the left side of the vice fits flat against it and leans or cants the knife to the left, as the right side vise is drawn closer to hold and secure the knife between the two vise sides.  This blade lean is seen in the sharpened knife edge as taller bevels on the left and shorter bevels on the right side.

Read this old forum thread, completely.  It will help you to understand the issue you are experiencing.  Your vise model, WE100, is the most basic function model, and it doesn’t have the micro-fine angle adjustment feature.

The best I can suggest to you to correct the angle settings, in order to correct for the blade lean with your model, is to decrease the left side angle setting one degree and increase your angle setting one degree on the right guide rod.  So if your setting the angles off your Square angle bar markings. if you want a 20 degrees bevel angle, set the left rod at 19 and the right rod at 21.  These leaning errors you see correspond to each knife and the corresponding error correction will change with the individual knife geometry.  Try the one degree correction first.  If the bevels still appear to be uneven in height, you may need to use a 2 degree each side correction factor.

Craig, the second issue you described with the knife tip and the heel not being reached with the sharpening stone is a knife placement issue in the vise.  The position that should give you the most complete edge contact across the entire knife’s length is called “the sweet spot”.  For that I suggest you read the top thread on the forum.  It will help you to learn how to better position your knives for sharpening efficiency and blade coverage.

Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)

• This reply was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by Marc H.

2 users thanked author for this post.

NotSharpEnuff, Organic

[Marc H]

Craig I’d also like to share a helpful suggest often made by my W.E. Forum buddy, Organic, to read the “Knowledge Base”.  There are numerous helpful articles for the beginner to be found there.  

Here’s another good one.

Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)

1 user thanked author for this post.

Organic

[Organic]

If you determine that the issue is not caused by the blade leaning in the clamp then you may need to pay more attention to how much you are working each side. If you work the right side more than the left side then it will have a wider bevel even if the bevel angles are identical. The bevel widths can be evened out by working on the small side exclusively until the two bevels become even.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Marc H

[airscapes]

Organic wrote:

If you determine that the issue is not caused by the blade leaning in the clamp

Hey can you tell us a good way to determine if it is the camp?  Will shining a flash light though the jaws and getting down on that level to look at the light passing around the knife and vise make it obvious?  What too look for?  Angle cube on side of knife( assuming tall enough knife?  Whats the best method?

[Marc H]

All knives that are ground like a triangle that slope in to the tip from the spine up will cant or lean left in the Standard Vises.  Only a knife ground with parallel/vertical sides above the spine or a parallel vertical patch in the center of the knife’s sides, (like a double edged knife) where its is positioned and clamped in the vise, will not lean.   That being said, most knives lean.

Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)

[jrk]

I’ve been researching this topic lately …again.

I have the Field And Sport Pro, and this came with the latest vice from what I can gather…single clamp arm in front, tension adjuster in rear, split jaws, etc.  I get blade lean on FFG knives consistently…where they lean to the left about a degree.  I’ve taken measurements several different ways using an angle cube…zero’d at base and checked each side of blade and zero’d at based and checked each arm.

I’ve read to many conflicting comments regarding…some say this should not happen with the new vices, some say this happens even with new vices and to ignore or accommodate and others have alluded to the jaws on the new vice needing disassembly and reversal.

I spent the money on this particular unit under the impression that the newer vices did not have this issue, and that FFG knives, as well as non-FFG knives should present vertical with no lean.  I’d like a formal response from WE as to whether my purchase impression was correct or not correct.

 

[Marc H]

To get a response from Wicked Edge I suggest you submit a service ticket or call them up.  W.E. doesn’t necessarily keep current or stay involved with issues dealt with in this forum.

Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)

[jrk]

Thanks Marc.

[Author]

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