New to Knife Sharpening!

[StarkSharp]

Hello All! Covid19 has me looking for a creative new outlet, so I chose to expand my horizons into knife sharpening.  I unpacked my WE130 and will be mounting it to a base this weekend.  As I have NEVER sharpened anything EVER, this will truly be a new experience.  When ordering the WE130, I also ordered the safety guards, but am now turning to the WE Forum community for any advise, wisdom, and/or ideas for how to get started.  I have watched dozens of videos on knife sharpening with and without the WE systems, but know there is no substitute for practice, practice, practice!  I have read through many of your posts on this forum and have saved several of them as reference material and “how to’s”!  I just need a nudge in the “what do I do first” direction please.  Is there any prep work I need to do to the stones, should I just grab a knife and have at it, are there any things I should definitely NOT do?  My mindset is to ultimately develop my skills and knowledge so I can start a side-gig sharpening service.  Thank you in advance for any input.  I AM SO EXCITED!!!

[wickededge]

Welcome StarkSharp! The best advice if you’re just starting out is to practice on a cheap knife or two. You’ll need some time to get your technique going and your stones will need some time to get broken in. If you’re working on a cheap knife, you can feel confident to experiment and not worry about making mistakes.

-Clay

2 users thanked author for this post.

000Robert, StarkSharp

[airscapes]

StarkSharp wrote:

are there any things I should definitely NOT do?

Cut yourself comes to mind! 🙂

Other things to remember is there is no time limit.. the WE is a “Hand” sharpener, it just holds the stones at the fixed angle… It takes as long as it takes for the steel to be removed during each grit, so counting strokes is not really a useful or meaningful venture. Relax and have fun.

If you have not seen this video, it is very helpful when learning the different sharpening strokes and when to use them. https://youtu.be/-RrvnZRVc-I

1 user thanked author for this post.

StarkSharp

[Marc H]

StarkSharp, welcome.  It’s not hard to use a Wicked Edge, but it’s far from simple, either.  It takes quite a bit of practice to learn to use it well.  There is a pretty good break-in period to the sharpening stones before they start to come around and yield consistent results.  This takes most of us 8 or 10 knives worth of practice and stone use.  Always put safety first.  Watch your finger placement.  You’re working with an exposed knife edge.  I always sharpen with safety shields.

Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)

3 users thanked author for this post.

000Robert, wickededge, StarkSharp

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