How long should a sharpening on the WEPS take?

[Leo James Mitchell]

I am going to pin this message so it does not disappear. There are many who have misunderstood the process for sharpening with Clay’s great tool, the WEPS. Please watch this video (see the link below) and understand that in most cases the majority of knives can be sharpened in 20 minutes or much less depending on the steel, the edge you are going for and the condition of the old edge. Normally each set of paddles will require 30 to 50 light sweeps with the paddles of each grit, again depending on the above factors.
Once you have sharpened the knife with the WEPS, touch up takes only a couple of minutes.

Now here is the biggest misunderstanding…you only have to raise the burr once on each side with the 100 grit paddles. When you have the scratches going right to the edge and have raised a burr on each side of the blade, that is it. Then you just progress through the various paddles/grits, using light sweeping strokes until you have used each set of diamond paddles. Then use the various strops in your kit and voila, you have a razor sharp edge in real world terms.

Cheers
Leo

[Mark76]

I am the living witness this technique actually works. Yesterday I spent 5 hours on a kitchen knife, trying to create a burr on both sides of the blade with every stone (100, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 and 1600 grit). It worked and the knife got wickedly sharp, but it cost me five hours.

Today I spent half an hour on a French pocket knife with hardly any edge. I created a burr on both sides of the blade using the 100 grit stone. Then I just did 50 sweeping motions on each side of the blade using consecutively smoother stones. I finished off with the same amount of sweeping motions using 5 micron and then 3.5 micron diamond stropping paste.

The result was a knife I couid shave my arm with and… a mirror edge!

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Jende Industries]

Excellent point, Leo!

If you spend the time, no matter how long it takes (and there is no prescribed amount of time) to get the burrs on the 100 grit paddles, the rest of the progression will be a relative breeze.

That is the key to successful sharpening. B)

[Marion]

It really does depend on the steel. The inexpensive 440ss pocket knives I carry sharpen in a matter of minutes. The BK2 took several hours to set the new bevel and I dropped back to the 50 grit stone to get there, but now it has a mirror edge on it.

[Jende Industries]

That is very true – you’re in for the long haul on s30v and s90v, even with the diamonds!!!!:whistle:

[Michael Lingard]

Depends on your idea of a long haul… I would define that as trying to reprofile S30V with the brown medium rods on your Spyderco Sharpmaker.

I did a slight reprofile on my M390 Milly the other day with my WEPS and it didn’t take too long. I wasn’t really paying attention to the clock, but it couldn’t have been more than half an hour… Or maybe it was an hour? Time flies when you are having fun.

[Dave Schur]

That is very true – you’re in for the long haul on s30v and s90v, even with the diamonds!!!!:whistle:

Yes, I found that I need about 150 strokes on the S90V. It took a while.

I’ve been putting off my new Spyderco Military in M390. I need to get around to that, I image it will take a while.

[Jon Sterrett]

When raising the burr on the 100 stones, you’re working only one side at a time, right? I have a Konosuke HD that I’ve been hesitant to take to the WEPS, as I feel like I’m still learning the exact method, and don’t want to risk messing up such an incredible knife. Instead, I’ve just been sticking to my comfort zone with the wet-stones.

[wickededge]

I typically color in the bevel with a Sharpie and then do alternating strokes w/ the 100# diamonds until the marker is gone. Then I switch to working on just one side until I raise a burr. If all the marker is gone, raising a burr shouldn’t take long. Once I’ve raised the burr along the entire length of the blade on one side, I switch to the other and work until I’ve gotten one from that side. After that, I go back to alternating strokes.

When raising the burr on the 100 stones, you’re working only one side at a time, right? I have a Konosuke HD that I’ve been hesitant to take to the WEPS, as I feel like I’m still learning the exact method, and don’t want to risk messing up such an incredible knife. Instead, I’ve just been sticking to my comfort zone with the wet-stones.

-Clay

[Author]

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