My first week with the WEPS

[JS]

Hi all, I go by the same name over on BF and Josh with Razor Edge suggested I create an account over here. I really like that the WE has it’s on dedicated forum so here I am. If someone can assist me with why I can’t find this forum on Tapatalk, that’d be great!

I’m not a sharpening newbie as I have a lot of experience with the Edge Pro (EP) and other systems, and was diligent enough to get very good results with them and produce hair-whittling edges and clear, mirrored edges with the various stones and strops that are out there now. I sharpen for myself and others, and there were just several things over time that irked me about the EP to the point that I had to sell it and go with the WE. I was hoping to attend Blade a couple weeks ago and meet Clay, seems like a super nice guy and I appreciate that he’s constantly improving the system and trying out different things and sharing with us. It didn’t work out that I could go, but next year I fully intend to stop by and say hello.

I want to thank Bob Nash for his outstanding customer service and quickly correcting a slight issue I had with my order without me even asking…another great guy.

As an experienced sharpener, but new to the WEPS, I wanted to post my findings and if you guys see any flaws or have any thoughts to my comments, I would be glad to hear them. I’ve had the system for about a week now, and to this point have done 6 knives all of the kitchen variety (4-10″) to work on getting my stones broken in and to work on my technique. I have these findings posted in a recent thread on BF, but I like that I’m in a group of dedicated WE users here that actually have something to add to the conversation.

I got the WE set up and sharpened a cheap steak knife just to get the feel of it. Being so used to waterstones and this being my first time working with diamonds, my observation was that going up to the WE 1k stone yielded a finish about equivalent to the EP 400 grit stone. I know the diamonds need breaking in, and they’re probably scratching deeper, but that was just my observation. I also understand that the EP “grit” scale is a little funny.

The clamp is nice although while sharpening a thin steak knife at ~15.5 degrees, the right hand stone would scrub the lower portion of the vise when in the low, beginning part of my sharpening motion. I worked around this by just starting the stone higher. I’m sure this is due to the left half of the vise being fixed while the right half moves in/out.

Only had time this weekend to sharpen a 2nd cheapie (same cheap set of steak knives) just trying to work on technique, break in the stones, and try out the strops and ceramics for the first time. The first knife I stopped at 1k, and it was a little rougher than I expected it to be, but I’m not doing a huge amount of refinement at each grit, maybe about 25-30 passes per side. Did the 2nd knife same way, got to the 1200/1600 ceramics and they perform pretty nicely then transitioned to the 5/3.5 strops. These left a decent amount of paste on the edge that I had to wipe several times to get off. I assume with subsequent sharpenings, it won’t do this. Paste was applied to the strops per included instructions. Again, didn’t spend a ton of time purposely working on getting scratches out, then went on to 1/0.5 CBN spray on roo to finish, again maybe just 50 passes per side. I wasn’t impressed with the aesthetic finish at all, but again, I wasn’t purposely aiming for that. The EP waterstones do leave a smoother finish, but I do understand that the WE stones need several more knives to get broken in so they don’t scratch as deep so I’ll be holding off for awhile before I do a knife that I really want a nice, aesthetic edge on. Basically after the EP 2k grit tape, you’ve got what most people call a mirror edge of course with some visible scratching remaining whereas this edge was more hazy with visible scratches left. I fully expect my finishes to get better as the stones break in and if I actually try to get the scratches out, but I will say this, that cheap steel was whittling hair nicely no matter the finish. As the stones break in more, I think I’ll really like this system.

Only major complaint thus far is the thumbscrews loosening while sharpening. I have the bar turned backwards for unlimited adjustment, and once, one of them completely loosened. I also don’t think I’ll be using that much paste when I have to reload the strops.

Update as of last night, 6/16:
I’ll say one thing I’ve already noticed about the system–it’s great for doing more sharpening per session than when I was using the EP. I did 4 knives tonight to 1k grit, all 6-10″ back to back to back really only stopping to unclamp at the end and really check my edge up close and do some slow phonebook paper slicing feeling for smoothness and consistent sound while slicing. Once you become accustomed to a certain level of sharpness you become OCD about if your paper slicing registers above a certain decibel level. Sick, I know.

Anyway, I was basically able to do all 4 back to back without resting which was unheard of with my EP as I had to always stand beside the sink constantly rinsing the knife, and my back and feet would get crazy sore. I found sharpening with the WE enjoyable. The 100 grit isn’t the fastest at reprofiling, but once the edge is apexed, I enjoy getting a rhythm going, alternating my strokes and it’s much faster and sitting while working is great. Best thing is I didn’t have a pile of wet masking tape and paper towels to mess with and trying to scrub my stones or level them after a few knives. I also didn’t have to sharpen the long knives in sections like on the EP so it was much faster.

It seems after 5 knives or so, one of the joints on the arms became stiff where it’d kinda lock up when bringing the stone back towards me after a long stroke. This really slowed my rhythm on the last knife as I couldn’t rotate that arm back towards me as easily as the other arm. Seems this was due to friction between the arm and the inside of the blue piece. Tried to wash it out good and lube that area. We will see how it fares on the next knife.

Well guys, sorry for the longwinded post. Just wanted to say hello and throw in my first observations with the new system. It’s crazy because I actually look forward to sharpening now like it’s not a chore. I’m looking forward to doing some more after I get home.

[Gib Curry]

Hi all, I go by the same name over on BF and Josh with Razor Edge suggested I create an account over here.

If someone can assist me with why I can’t find this forum on Tapatalk, that’d be great!

Once you become accustomed to a certain level of sharpness you become OCD about if your paper slicing registers above a certain decibel level. Sick, I know.

It’s crazy because I actually look forward to sharpening now like it’s not a chore. I’m looking forward to doing some more after I get home.

Took a bunch of stuff out to make bullet points….

Welcome….

Josh is a good recommendation.

Bob’s service and skills are top notch.

I have the forum on Tapatalk. Can’t help you there.

Looking forward to sharpening and OCD about the sound of knife cutting paper? Welcome Home…. 🙂

~~~~
For Now,

Gib

Φ

"Everyday edge for the bevel headed"

"Things work out best for those who make the best out of the way things work out."

[JS]

Hi all, I go by the same name over on BF and Josh with Razor Edge suggested I create an account over here.

If someone can assist me with why I can’t find this forum on Tapatalk, that’d be great!

Once you become accustomed to a certain level of sharpness you become OCD about if your paper slicing registers above a certain decibel level. Sick, I know.

It’s crazy because I actually look forward to sharpening now like it’s not a chore. I’m looking forward to doing some more after I get home.

Took a bunch of stuff out to make bullet points….

Welcome….

Josh is a good recommendation.

Bob’s service and skills are top notch.

I have the forum on Tapatalk. Can’t help you there.

Looking forward to sharpening and OCD about the sound of knife cutting paper? Welcome Home…. :)[/quote]

Did you just do a search on Tapatalk for “Wicked Edge”? It brings up no results for forums, just random threads on the WE across various forums.

[JS]

Wow figured it out. It’s gotta be one word in the search “wickededge” to find it in tapatalk.

[Josh]

hey bro! Glad you made it! thanks for all the insight during your transition…

one quick question: did you use your EP to sharpen straight razors?

one quick point (can’t remember if I have made it elsewhere): when you transition to your strops lower it 2 dps. this will actually make your edge sharper.

you may have to take the “shoulders” off of your stock WEPS stones (the plastic shoulder I mean) otherwise you won’t be able to get into the choil area of knives such as those spyderco makes.

feel free to post up any questions!

oh, and if you ever get the chance to get the upgraded arms, you won’t be disappointed! I used to have the same problem as you with them backing out, so I went to a local nut and bolt store and got the same thread patterned screws. from then on out I just tightened them with an allen wrench. Since I have upgraded to the new arms it is much faster and this is a non issue for some reason.

[JS]

Thanks for having me! 🙂

I’ve seen some threads about people saying their angles were changing where the stone hit the edge just by their grip on the paddles. I think I’d seen in a video that some said they were holding the stones higher to make sure the stone is hitting the edge. I’ve seen some say they hold about 2/3 of the way up. I’ve been holding mine with my thumb in the top indentation and 3 or 4 fingers on the other side. What seems to be the best grip for accuracy?

I never did any straight razors on the EP.

[Josh]

I do it the same as you but others have reported the most consistency doing it with putting your thumb one groove down from the top.

Ok that’s good on the straights… you may have trouble if you decide to do them but you can pm me if you have questions.

ps. the pm part of the site is having issues right now so it won’t email you when you get them. only the thread notification works currently.

[JS]

I’ll have to try that grip and see how it works out. I’ve seen the trick that Clay does when sharpening straights, but I don’t have any of those anyway.

I don’t understand why there’s no option for push notifications for the WE forum on tapatalk like there is for bladeforums. That’s usually how I prefer to keep my notifications for PM’s and thread replies rather than by email.

[Josh]

I’ll have to try that grip and see how it works out. I’ve seen the trick that Clay does when sharpening straights, but I don’t have any of those anyway.

I don’t understand why there’s no option for push notifications for the WE forum on tapatalk like there is for bladeforums. That’s usually how I prefer to keep my notifications for PM’s and thread replies rather than by email.

yeah I agree… I use tapatalk a lot and there’s actually no option to even view your pm’s…

clay would you look into this?

[Josh]

hey jordan, per our email and you trying to figure out how to do the planer blades, check this thread out… some good ideas here.

let me know if you have any questions. for my mod you will need to do a little jerry rigging… you have to 1. mod your WEPS with the panavise mod and 2. build some type of wooden jig.

note that I am working with a local fabricator (as of yesterday) to have a scissor attachment made… I will let you know as soon as I find out a price on what they can do it for (via email).

[tcmeyer]

I made a very simple jig to sharpen planer blades for my Dewalt 12.5″. I used my radial-arm saw to cut two kerfs down a 12-16″ length of 2X4. I had measured the factory angle and found it to be 40 degrees, so I set the saw with my angle-cube to 41 degrees. Picked a saw blade whose kerf width matched the planer blade thickness. Slide the two blades into the two kerfs so that they are facing away from each other. If the kerf depth is the same for both cuts, the top edges of the blades should be almost exactly parallel to each other. Then I can run any stone, including my WE stones, along the edges of the blades, applying pressure as needed to clean up the edges. Works great but deep nicks still need a power grinder.

My brother and I have worked out a WE solution, but haven’t yet been motivated enough to actually make one. Basically, your stone is mounted on a pivot rod which is attached to a block with a linear bearing. The bearing moves parallel to the blade on a section of track. Essentially, this lets you move the pivot point along the blades. Since the planes are parallel, the sharpening angle would stay the same.

[Mark76]

Hi uofaengr, I’m a bit late, but welcome to the forum! And thanks for your extensive observations! You’ve already met some of the helpful bunch here, so don’t hesitate to post any question you may have.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[JS]

Josh and others, I definitely appreciate the help you’ve given. A couple questions here.

I was watching a video of someone newer to the WEPS, and he was saying his edges had gotten better since he had moved his grip to the top of the stones. He felt he wasn’t properly apexing his edge before. I’ve seen some posts where some say they get the best results with their thumb in the second indentation from the top. What’s everyone’s thoughts on this?

Also, has everyone noticed sharper edges when lowering your angle two degrees?

[Daniel maloon]

Hello U, interesting name,
What makes the sharpest edges is being consistent. The stones have play in them from top to bottom as pointed out by curtis to me long ago. Just passing along the knowledge. If holding the stones at the top makes it easier to repeat the same stroke as the previous grit then by all means use it. Whats more important Is experience, because the more you use this system the better tuned your abilities will become in regards to apexing the edge and refining it. There will be times in the future where holding the stones in different positions will yield different results that are wanted. Have fun and take your time.

[tcmeyer]

Hmmm… University of something that starts with an A. And an engineering type – perfect candidate for WE OCD.

Actually, I found that moving my grip down on the handles would help to avoid having the stone “rock” as it passed over the edge. But make sure that all of your pinkies are accounted for in terms of contact with the handles.

Some of my stones handles have a lot of slop to them. The SWAT fixtures help a lot in maintaining the right angles.

I’d like to make a fixture in which I could bore a 3/8″ diameter hole 1/2″ deep and exactly in the center between both stone faces. Any ideas? I’d want to use a plunge router. I’d then epoxy in a pair of bronze bushings is perfect alignment with the bores.

[Author]

Posts