Welcome aboard Steven!
I think you’re looking to become a member of our OCB support group here at WickedEdgeUSA! So far, you’re hitting all the marks, but as you say, it’s a real learning curve. You’re already as far along as I was after six months.
But as long as you’ve opened the floor…
I’ve got a couple of the angle cubes and the “I-gaging AngleCube” as sold here and elsewhere is the best. Magnets on three sides and has “hold” and “zero” buttons.
I think everybody slashes their leather strops right off the bat. Not to worry. Unless the flap is sliced off, it’ll usually still work. I still used mine for at least two years.
Don’t get obsessed with the offset from the fixed jaw. The fact is that the edge will have the same included angle regardless of the blade centerline. The graduations on the crossbar are only for reference – almost all of the knives you do will show different angles. What is of value, however, are the detent positions. For most work, use your angle cube to set your detent position, then set the opposite rod to the same setting. Don’t get wrapped up in the geometry. We waste a lot of energy discussing it here. But we probably ain’t gonna stop.
Again, welcome aboard. Stay with us here on the forum. This is a great bunch on contributors with very few bones to pick. You won’t find too many forums that can say that. We even have a couple of gents from the other side of the pond. All that and you get the straight answers from the man himself.
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