Knife Support

[Bill Kirkley]

I wonder why they don’t have a vertical support for both ends of the knife. A turnbuckle would work well to support and level the knife before clamping it. Keeping the support under both ends would eliminate any tendency to tilt during sharpening. I notice they have a support rod for the end of thin knives but I think it would be great for all long knives.

I plan to work on this on my own. I would be interested in reasons not to do it.

[Lance Waller]

There’s a guy on the forums here “Voodoodaddy” who makes em. You can send him a message.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Attachments:

• ImageUploadedByTapatalk1423853779.930924.jpg
• ImageUploadedByTapatalk1423853787.882463.jpg

[Gregg776]

Bill,
Two supports should be adequate for most knives to keep them straight and prevent most oscillations as the paddles are used. What is really needed is to have the ability to move the paddle pivots front to back along the knife to find the best compromise of paddle arc to knife curve. Such a device would also be great for long knives. I have a couple of sketches of things to try along this line, but haven’t made any prototypes yet.

What I’m presently trying to do is make a track for the vise that bridges over the bar that holds the paddle rods; which is not that hard until I start to figure how to move two knife supports along one plane while keeping the relative alignment of the paddles and make it thin enough right to left that the width of my bridge doesn’t affect the ability to obtain a narrow sharpening angle.

Here is a picture of my present secondary knife support.
In reality the Wicked Edge System is a work in progress and all of the feedback by real users on this forum has spawned some amazing upgrades. But even so it is the best all around sharpening system available. It is a very versatile system that lends itself to all sorts of modifications. Just spend some free time reading through the forum for all sorts of innovative ideas and advice, you won’t be disappointed. Feel free to make your own mods and post pictures.

Attachments:

• Auxclamp1.JPG

[Bill Kirkley]

Iwaller1980: Voodoodaddy’s support is interesting. Thanks!

Gregg776: I am thinking along the lines you are but was thinking about supporting the knife at both ends so it would stay in position when the vise is loosened.

I bought a piece of 10 X 3 X 3/8 aluminum and plan to machine a square hole in it so the blue base of the devise will just fit in it. There will be a slot for the square rods to sit in. This configuration should hold the aluminum plate securely in place.

I then will make something to hold adjustable rods that sit vertical to support the knife. The aluminum base will give me a means of tracking the supports. Once you adjust both rods, the height and tilt of the knife will be unchanged and you could move knife/rod configuration back and forth and then clamp it.

That is the plan, I have a lot going on but will post photos when I finish.

[Gregg776]

Bill,
I dusted off an old sketch and redrew it using a ruler to make it a little more legible. Feel free to use anything you can. The thought was to use an aluminum channel about the width of the WE riser block and support it from some plastic blocks at both ends so that the 5/16″ square bar that holds the rod pivots would go underneath and be supported at both ends rather than the center [maybe a fitted plastic block in the center to support it and dampen any motion]. Hopefully I can figure out how to make the ends of the bar move up and down so I can put my angle cube on the bar and compensate for a knife not clamping vertically. My best prototype method of making the channel immobile was to just make a couple of bars that would screw down with allen fasteners using the existing hex wrenches.
Tapped holes along the channel would allow a wide variety of mounting locations for the Ram Mount system ball and socket items I already use.
I am lucky that a friend gave me a large chunk of micarta for a base and I can drill and tap anywhere I like; otherwise I would probably find a large chunk of aluminum.

Attachments:

• WickedEdgeMod_2.jpg

[Bill Kirkley]

Gregg

Remember the square bar has a hole in the middle. You can get a square piece of aluminum and cut a slot and mount the bar to it with a screw and leave the ends free like the original configuration.

Instead of channel, consider a piece of flat bar. I can get a piece of flat bar 1/2 X 3 X 10 inches for just $7.00 at Metal Supermarket here in town. To get it online would likely be more due to shipping.

I attached an alternate way to be able to move the configuration back and forth.

The thing I like about my idea is I will not have to change the Wicked Edge device at all. I will just be adding to it.

Attachments:

• WickedEdgeMod1.JPG

[Gregg776]

Bill,
I already have a stick of 5/16″ key-stock that I bought at Fastenal for about $3 to use with no holes in the middle. I have turned the bar around and don’t use the detents; I don’t want to make any irreversible changes that may affect my going back to the original. I already have some 1/8″ thick extruded aluminum channel and was thinking of making the first set of blocks out of hardwood for cost and ease of making them on my table saw until I’m sure of the design v.s begging friends to use their milling machines. I prefer the hold down straps over the slots you have drawn because they will take up less room and will not cause torsional weaknesses. Also the slots may interfere with the use of the Ram Mount ball and socket auxiliary support items whereas if the surface is free, I can drill and tap almost anywhere.

It’s still a work in progress and I find it fun to build things. What I really want to do is to make a steel vise that is as tall as the WE with the riser block and the low angle extension only about 50% wider and using 4 clamp screws to allow a better grip on tapered [handle to tip] blades. I’m thinking leaf springs would torsion enough to accommodate most blades and the arc of the spring may be helpful to concentrate the clamping forces.
Good luck with your modifications.
–Gregg

[Bill Kirkley]

Gregg

I reread your posts and see what you are doing. I thought you were fixing the key stock and moving the channel back and forth. I see you plan to move the key stock along the length of the knife. I think in the long run that will be a great configuration. Much easier to use than what I had in mind.

I can’t wait to see the finished produce!

[Aaron kimpton]

Bill,
Two supports should be adequate for most knives to keep them straight and prevent most oscillations as the paddles are used. What is really needed is to have the ability to move the paddle pivots front to back along the knife to find the best compromise of paddle arc to knife curve. Such a device would also be great for long knives. I have a couple of sketches of things to try along this line, but haven’t made any prototypes yet.

What I’m presently trying to do is make a track for the vise that bridges over the bar that holds the paddle rods; which is not that hard until I start to figure how to move two knife supports along one plane while keeping the relative alignment of the paddles and make it thin enough right to left that the width of my bridge doesn’t affect the ability to obtain a narrow sharpening angle.

Here is a picture of my present secondary knife support.
In reality the Wicked Edge System is a work in progress and all of the feedback by real users on this forum has spawned some amazing upgrades. But even so it is the best all around sharpening system available. It is a very versatile system that lends itself to all sorts of modifications. Just spend some free time reading through the forum for all sorts of innovative ideas and advice, you won’t be disappointed. Feel free to make your own mods and post pictures.

I like that a lot. Sharpening a sword would be so much easier.

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