New Degree Bar Design

[wickededge]

Hey guys,

Please take a look at this photo and let me know your thoughts:

Hopefully it shows well enough that it’s a black degree bar with nice, bright engraving for much higher visibility. I don’t want to overstate it, but the difference in visibility of the numbers and lines in this bar vs. the standard style is literally night and day 🙂

The bar is 6061T6 Aluminum with black anodizing and the numbers engraved. Initial testing indicates that the material is more than strong enough to be used as designed. You probably couldn’t stand on it and hope to have it keep its shape but for all practical purposes, it is plenty strong. I’ve worked about moving the L-Brackets in and out repeatedly in an effort to wear off the anodized coating and haven’t been able to scratch it yet. My question is whether people would feel the move from stainless steel to aluminum is a downgrade even though visibility has been greatly increased.

Attachments:

• 20150401_133010.jpg

-Clay

[Steven N. Bolin]

I love it!! I actually played around in a similar manner with my PP1 degree bar. I spray painted it flat black then tried removing the paint from the engraved areas with an xacto knife, but I lost my patience and moved on. I believe It’s actually still painted.

You’re spot on with creating ” negative” effect in order to highlight the areas that we only need to be focusing on.

Thank you again, Clay!

[Zamfir]

YESS! That is freaky..I was just fighting with this the other night when going to my strops. I just thought my eyes were tired and I really had to pay attention when moving in the 2″lines” and what you are showing there would help a lot. nice.

[Josh]

That is awesome Clay! Personally I like steel better as i know there will be no issues… with that, even though you have tested it, I still have hesitation over the long haul whether the anodizing coat will hold up or if it will do something similar to the lower screw on the vise without the stainless insert. High visibility is awesome!

Why don’t you leave it up to the customers for the next month or two… leave it as an option and see what they choose? then you can take the majority opinion and go from there. The thing is that i know that even if it does have durability issues for quantity sharpeners then WE will take care of me 😀

[Steven N. Bolin]

IMHO it would be somewhat of a downgrade since, well, let’s face it, ongoing trends indicate we like our steel toys B) Although visibility is increased thanks to a unique product feature, I don’t think there’s enough incentive for me personally to switch structural materials permanently… But, hey, that’s just me.

You can always sell it as an accessory. For the right price, I’d definitely buy it… Just because.

[Mark76]

My question is whether people would feel the move from stainless steel to aluminum is a downgrade even though visibility has been greatly increased.

It’s definitely an upgrade.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Steven N. Bolin]

My question is whether people would feel the move from stainless steel to aluminum is a downgrade even though visibility has been greatly increased.

It’s definitely an upgrade.[/quote]

With ALL due respect… That claim is debatable 😉

[Mark76]

With ALL due respect… That claim is debatable 😉

Well, this is not a part of the WEPS that is subject to great stress, so I appreciate the improved functionality.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[JS]

I suppose the look would blend well with the black L brackets, riser block, and vise, but I have no issue with the standard bar and prefer steel if given the option. Using an angle cube, I don’t pay attention too much to the degree marks which may differ from others.

What about when diamond and metal dust accumulate on the bar? When it comes time to wipe off or clean the bar will it scratch up the anodizing? I’m not anal about cleaning my base and all and wait till I’ve done a few knives, and during that time a fair amount of dust will accumulate.

[wickededge]

What about when diamond and metal dust accumulate on the bar? When it comes time to wipe off or clean the bar will it scratch up the anodizing? I’m not anal about cleaning my base and all and wait till I’ve done a few knives, and during that time a fair amount of dust will accumulate.

Good question. We haven’t done much testing under real sharpening conditions yet though we’ve got some installed on machines. Once we’ve done a few hundred knives we’ll evaluate the wear. I hadn’t been thinking about the diamond particles, that’s a great point!

-Clay

[Pinkfloyd]

I have rotated my bar 180 Deg like I think some other users have done, don’t use the Deg markings. I use the Angle Cube. My preference would be to use Stainless Steel. Would like to see clamp offered in Stainless Steel also.

[JS]

What about when diamond and metal dust accumulate on the bar? When it comes time to wipe off or clean the bar will it scratch up the anodizing? I’m not anal about cleaning my base and all and wait till I’ve done a few knives, and during that time a fair amount of dust will accumulate.

Good question. We haven’t done much testing under real sharpening conditions yet though we’ve got some installed on machines. Once we’ve done a few hundred knives we’ll evaluate the wear. I hadn’t been thinking about the diamond particles, that’s a great point![/quote]
I was just trying to look at it from the average user’s perspective and not necessarily the enthusiast like we are. We that contribute here know about the tricks like using magnets and soapy sponges to mitigate dust even though I don’t use them.

It personally wouldn’t bother me if it scratched, I mean I have some nice large scratches at the top of my vise from stones accidentally scrubbing, but we all know there will be some out there to complain in online forums about how their coating scratched off or wore off.

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