Gen 3 question on uneven ground blades
- This topic has 6 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 10/10/2019 at 12:36 pm by
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Pat, yes that is a shortcoming of the Gen 3 Pro model. A work- around that may help is accessorize with a micro-angle adjuster mod offered by Ed K, forum member “NotSharpEnuff”. This modification increases the angle adjustment range for each side’s individual angle adjustment on the Gen 3 Pro. It may help with some uneven bevel knives, if the angle don’t differ too greatly from side to side. That is more than a few or several degrees from one side to the other. If you have a lot of need to sharpen these kind of knives the WE130 would be the sharpener model of choice.
Marc
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I have the mod that Marc is describing for the Gen 3 Pro and I can get as much as five degrees difference from side to side. Basically, it replaces the existing micro-adjustments with extra-long screws.
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Pat,
MarcH is correct in that the angle adjuster mod gives you a lot more range in the fine adjust.
tcmeyer is correct that the original implementation of the mod gave ~5 degrees of adjustment.
However, in my current angle adjust mod for the Gen 3 Pro, I get almost 4 degrees of adjustment. The reason for the difference is the threaded rod length. In order for Gen 3 users to NOT have to remove the vise to install the adjusters, I shortened the threaded rod to 2.5″. In the original mod package, the threaded rod was 3″ and would not fit between the vise and the stanchion.
I still make 3″ angle adjuster mod kits but have been sending the 2.5″ set to Gen 3 Pro users.
You might notice in the pics that my vise is elevated compared to the standard Gen 3 Pro. Since I do mostly pocket knives I would lose about 1/2 inch of usable diamond paddle. So, I printed several riser blocks for the Gen 3 Pro. The one in the picture is 1.125″ but I also have 1.5″ and 1.75″ blocks I can use.
Ed K.
Pat, if you find a balance between the Gen 3 Pros central lever angle adjuster’s position and each side’s individual angle adjuster, when using the mods, I’m sure you’ll be able to adjust for the different angles seen on each side of a uneven bevel or asymmetrically ground knife, for most situations; 60/40 and 70/30 uneven bevels. The exception would be a chisel grind or a 90/10 uneven bevel. Here is a photo of a variety of these bevels used in knife making:
All we can do is deal with the knives as best as we can. Again, there are some knives we may come across that may be better sharpened with a different model W.E. sharpener, then the Gen 3 Pro, or a whole different knife sharpener or knife sharpening technique that won’t involve the W.E at all.
Defining these grinds, let only having a conversation on how to sharpen these grinds is a whole separate long and involved discussion by itself. I’ve not found a simple explanation for what the nomenclature or named description is intended to mean that actually matches the physical characteristics of the bevels that I find when sharpening one of these knives. The sharpening method described for free hand sharpening on flat sharpening stones makes no sense when trying to apply this method to the Wicked edge. I simply attempt to match the bevel angles form side to side as they were originally applied and then sharpen these knives as I would any other beveled knife.
An example I can share is the last uneven bevel knife I sharpened was described as a 70/30 bevel, right handed, knife. I determined after matching the bevels using the sharpie method that the right side of the knife, (edge down), was 20° and the left side bevel was 14° . The only way when playing with these two angles that I could find any association was the 14° more acute angled side is 70% of the 20° more obtuse side bevel. This has no relationship to any of the explanations I’ve found that describe the meaning of this nomenclature for “uneven bevel knives”, and how your supposed to sharpen these.
Marc
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Thanks Marc….that image is rather helpful and I think that a WE can handle them all, within reason. I failed to mention I am also a Gen 2 owner and just got a new vice replaced due to bending, so I believe I have all the tools I need, absent welcomed mods to the Gen 3 to come, to sharpen just about anything. Mainly, I need to hone my skills and get more paddles, in terms of strops and lapping films as right now, I am maxed at the 1500/2200 grit level.
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