Microtech edge angle
- This topic has 3 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 04/29/2019 at 6:24 pm by
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Derek, I would wait till your sharpening stones are well broken in before attempting to sharpen that knife. I always start a new knife with the marker and a wide angle at least 20º to determine the “Sweet spot” clamping position. I use a very fine grit in an attempt to remove just the marker and very little steel. Be sure to works the entire length of the knife blade, from heel to tip, to help fine tune the knife’s “sweet spot” clamping position. It may require tilting the knife in the vise, tip up or tip down, to achieve the best clamping position.
After I determine the “sweet spot” clamping position, I record this position in my sharpening log. Then the next step is to continue with using the marker, reapplying it as necessary, with this same clamping position, to now determine what the knife’s existing bevel angles are. For this step I also start at a wide angle setting of at least 20º and work down the guide rod angle settings till I’m removing the marker from the entire bevel height; shoulder to knife edge. (Sometimes I find I need to go wider in angles to match the bevel angles). I do each knife side independently because the bevel angles may be different from side to side. The angles you determine will help you to decide what angle you want to profile this knife to…only when your stones are finally fully broken-in.
Derek since you’re using the WE100 with-out the micro-angle adjustment feature, it will be very hard to match, exactly, your knive’s existing bevel angles. Here’s a work-around for that. If you remove the mini”L” bracket knurled knob locking screws from the front side locking position where they screw down into the positioning detents in the square angle bar and screw the knurled knob thumb screws into the rear threaded holes in the mini”L”brackets. The screws will not have the positioning detents to lock into, just the flat bar. This will allow for you to slide the mini”L”brackets freely and lock their positions wherever you choose. This will allow for a wider range of angle selection then just those angles designated with the detents in the front of the square bar.
If you determine you like the results of the work-around. I suggest you un-mount your WE100 from your base. Then disassemble the square angle bar, flip it around so the detents are orientated to the rear, then reassemble and re-mount your WE100. This will make access to the flat square bar from the front to allow for the free selection of gross angle positions. By slightly sliding the micro”L”bracket along the square bar you’ll have unlimited selection of angle positioning, similar to that afforded by the WE120 model, with the micro-angle adjustment feature. This will do you till the time you decide you may want to invest more in the system and upgrade your model.
Marc
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By slightly sliding the micro”L”bracket along the square bar you’ll have unlimited selection of angle positioning, similar to that afforded by the WE120 model, with the micro-angle adjustment feature. This will do you till the time you decide you may want to invest more in the system and upgrade your model.
Derek, if you do not have the angle cube, you will quickly realize you really need it. Those preset are just approximation and only valid if the knife edge is exactly 5/8″ above the vice. But you can get away without it if you are just trying to match the existing angle as explained above. If not matching and without the cube, the detents get you close.
I started without the cube and ordered it after a couple of knives. After getting it and messing with the micro adjusters a few time I turned the bar around on the WE120, as it is faster and just as accurate to use the main lock screw without detents as it is to mess with the micro adjusters. The thumb screws also do not come loose during sharpening like they do when screwed into the detent holes.
Go ask your neighbors for their dull knives, they will be very happy and you can break your stones in on their knives and get more practice before attempting your good knives.
Good luck and have fun
Thanks for the tip on moving the knob for the L brackets, will save me for now from upgrading to the micro adjustable arms, which I’m sure I will add soon. Bit the bullet and sharpened my benchmade 940 tonight and had great success, bevel set at 20 degrees and matched up well with the factory grind. 1500 stone will be here tomorrow and cant wait to see how those perform. Gonna wait a while before I sharpen a $300 microtech ,not too concerned about my benchmades bc if I totally screw up i can send it to them for blade replacement for $25. Amazed at the results i am getting so far compared to my edge pro
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