New WE owner/sharpener…. The more I learn 1/5

[Braden Wright]

“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know ” Einstein

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******************** Intro/Background *****************************************
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So I’m a proud/embarrassed owner of the WE. I only say embarrassed b/c if anytime someone sees the price people are like and this thing only sharpen knives and its manual, right? I just smile and nod.

Obviously there are cheaper systems or my dad always brought his knives into be sharpened and just honed himself. I don’t have as many needs for knives as many but I do a lot of BBQ/kitchen stuff and normally have an EDC with me. I always like my knives as sharp as possible (guess I didn’t really know what that meant). And since I was a wee little one I’ve had an obsession with butterfly knives which I never fully kicked.

I got this system over others b/c I was interested in learning about sharpening and all the fun science behind, I’m a big nerd so I really like all that stuff. When I started looking into the system and reading on this forum all the knowledge that was here really amazed me and I began to realize I know very little about sharpening. That gave me the push to get the WE, that said in a short time I’ve worked up to having (overkill I know):

100-1000 diamond
microfine ceramics (1.4/0.6 micron)
800/1k, 2k/3k, 5k/10k choseras
Blank Roo with 1/.5 micron diamond spray (thought about starting with leather but Roo was only $24 more so at this point)
Digital Angle Cube

I’ve done about 10 knives sharpening or so. I’ve used the diamond/ceramic stones the most, I bought some cheap kinves to pratice on, I also had the 2/3k choseras which I really like which lead me to getting the 800/1k and 5/10k’s which I’ved used a little and really like. I still haven’t lapped at all, will soon but wanted to get better with my technique on diamonds/water stones.

I’ve found a wealth of information on the forum but what I have learned here and my short time using WE have lead me to some question. All my questions have to do with I’m finally at the point where I feel I have my basic bearings and now would like to start to build some actual skill. Overall I’m very happy with the WE and I know its going to take time practicing to really get my knives to where I want them that said:

My biggest questions are around angle, geometry, level of finish and when to use what, and practice advice. Again a lot of what I’m doing is to try and learn and get better at sharpening so I don’t mind spending sometime and practicing just want to practice the right way (since practice makes permanent… only perfect practice makes perfect)

I broke the questions into separate posts b/c it was getting long and I thought it maybe easier to keep it organized that way. Thanks for all the info posted around the forum and any responses given.

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********************************* The Questions ******************************************
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(1) I was wondering what angles and geometry people use for different knives/tasks?

Background:
Whether people have examples or other resources or rule of thumb (don’t think I’ll be that lucky).

For instance I have a some benchmade pocket knives that I use for EDC type stuff, pretty lite use normally but I’m not sure what angle/geometry to try. I was thinking of something like 17 with a 2 degree microbevel to start with (that was just from looking around).

Also I have a couple global kitchen knives: chef, paring knives. With the chef knife I cut a lot of roasts, pork shoulder/belly, etc. I know paring knives the angle is normally thin but I wasn’t sure about where to start for the chef knife.

I was thinking of using V’s and Microbevels to start with. Microbevels seemed pretty popular so I was leaning towa”’rds starting there for most of my knives). My global knives are convex but from reading on the forum seems like a microbevel maybe the way to go on those (at least to start with) https://knife.wickededgeusa.com/forum/35-cooking/9167-sharpening-japanese-knives-global

[Zamfir]

Welcome to the rabbit hole! It is fun..takes lots of time reading, watching videos..but most important sharpening and doing.

Heck with micro bevels for now..see my other post..I am a fan of 17..no micro bevel for my kitchen knives..for now.

[Mr.Wizard]

(1) I was wondering what angles and geometry people use for different knives/tasks?

For instance I have a some benchmade pocket knives that I use for EDC type stuff, pretty lite use normally but I’m not sure what angle/geometry to try. I was thinking of something like 17 with a 2 degree microbevel to start with (that was just from looking around).

If these are your own knives you have the luxury of determining a good geometry through direct experimentation. Basically you start thinning out the knife with each sharpening until you observe edge damage in your hardest common use, then back off a bit to a slightly more robust geometry.

Cliff Stamp recently posted a video about this very thing:

[Braden Wright]

Good advice on waiting for the micro bevel til I become more comfortable… I haven’t tried it yet but I should probably sharpen my skills first.

[Braden Wright]

That was a really good video. I like the idea of getting some wood to widdle as sharpness test…. I think part of my issue with the finger tests/paper tests/etc was that I couldn’t after sharpening test the durability or how it would hold up but think I’m going to find some wood (I’ll probably start with something a little softer) and some hemp rope (heard that mentioned a few places) so I have a baseline for my knives. I definitely won’t need any thing sharper/more durable for what I’m doing

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