Gen3 angle trueness

[ScreenKiller]

Hi everyone !

So i’ve been considering buying a generation 3. for sharpening.

Alot of people recommended a angle cube. but is it really neccesary for the gen 3?

is 18 degree per side on the machine really 18 degree? i know stone thickness and height might change it.

How big of a angle difference can the height of the blade be?

Also if your not aiming for a specific angle. it shouldn’t matter right?

 

Another question is. When do you know to go to the next stone ? (grit wise)

 

Thanks everybody !

[dulledge]

ScreenKiller wrote:

When do you know to go to the next stone ? (grit wise)

When to switch to next grit?

[Alan]

I sharpened a mezzaluna blade about a month ago. If you’re not familiar with this blade it is very tall, such as that of a cleaver.  I mounted it in my WE Gen 3 Pro, and set the front angle lever to 27 degrees, the highest there is marked.  Angle cube showed the true angle to be 24 degrees.

There are so many different types and shapes of knives that it would impossible for the front angle lever to always be accurate on all knives.  Sometimes it is, but lots of times it is not.

What the lever is really designed to do (I didn’t design it, so my thought here) is to get you in the “ballpark”, that is, to get you close to what you want.  Then, use the angle cube to see and make what adjustments necessary for the exact angle you desire.

So, IMHO, yes, you need an angle cube to really know what angle you’re sharpening at.

 

Alan

[Organic]

If you only care about reproducible angles and matching factory angles, then you don’t need an angle cube. If you want to know what the angle is, an angle cube is required.

[tcmeyer]

Agreed.  On all points.  The angle reading on the bar is meant to be fairly accurate for an edge mounted at about 5/8″ above the top of the vise.  If you are not driven to repeat a particular angle, it’s not really important whether an edge is sharpened to 19 or 21 degrees per side when your general target is 20.  If you keep a record of the mounting position (height and horizontal position), the angle reading at the bar is sufficient.  If you want to do several bevels as when making a convex edge, or when attempting precision bevels, the Angle Cube is a valuable tool.

[378pete]

Alan wrote:

I sharpened a mezzaluna blade about a month ago. If you’re not familiar with this blade it is very tall, such as that of a cleaver. I mounted it in my WE Gen 3 Pro, and set the front angle lever to 27 degrees, the highest there is marked. Angle cube showed the true angle to be 24 degrees. There are so many different types and shapes of knives that it would impossible for the front angle lever to always be accurate on all knives. Sometimes it is, but lots of times it is not. What the lever is really designed to do (I didn’t design it, so my thought here) is to get you in the “ballpark”, that is, to get you close to what you want. Then, use the angle cube to see and make what adjustments necessary for the exact angle you desire. So, IMHO, yes, you need an angle cube to really know what angle you’re sharpening at.

I agree with Alan. Eventuality it will be part of the routine.

[Mark76]

I have very little experience with the Gen 3, but is it possible to set different angles for different sites of the knife? How do you do this, since there is only 1 angle setting bar?

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Organic]

I think if you wanted to have different angles on either side of a blade on the gen. 3 you would need to switch between them by moving the angle bar for each grit. I haven’t done it, but I think it should work just fine.

[Author]

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