Newb Dude

[Bill Dotson]

Hi, I’m Warthog. A big fan of tools and weapons of all kinds. I sharpen stuff, but never to that “Holy $h**! That’s sharp.” level. I bought the WE to improve my edges.

[tcmeyer]

Welcome aboard! Interesting user name… So how long have you had your WE and what sort of sharpening have you tried?

[Tim]

I am relatively new to the EE

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Mark76]

Welcome! I like the user name, too. I’ve got a knife with a handle made of warthog tusk (to stay on topic…) 😉

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[tcmeyer]

I’ve got a sister who’s never forgiven me for calling her “Warthog” when we were kids. I’d rather have the knife.

So Warthog, did you used to fly A-10’s or is it some self-esteem thing?

[Bill Dotson]

My screen name is derived from the A-10 Thunderbolt — affectionately known as the Warthog. No, I never drove a Hog. But I have been on the ground when seeing it fly overhead was a very welcome sight indeed.

Anyway, I just bought my WE and haven’t even been able to use it yet. Somehow in the transition to a different carrying case, I misplaced the alignment guide. I think I burned the box it was in with the rest of the cardboard the other day. Bummer. I’ve been trying to find one I can buy, but it seems a whole lot more difficult than you might think.

[tcmeyer]

I’m not sure which part exactly you are calling the “alignment guide.” Call Wicked Edge on Monday and I’m sure that they will help you out immediately. In every case I’ve followed here on the forum, the guys have raved about the excellent customer service they provide.

[Leo Barr]

I think that you will find all the information you require under resources at the top of this page it has a subsection – instructions I think you will find everything you need there . If not post a more specific question and someone will have the answer or is the part you are missing the template to mount the vice to a base?
There manual does not have much in it the rest is in the Wiki for WE http://www.wickededgeusa.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&Itemid=261 I hate to think a whole WE w/end is lost due to lack of info .

Leo Nav

[Bill Dotson]

Not a lack of info. A lack of what the instructions call the alignment guide. The ruler looking thing with 2 holes in it the the depth key holds to the mount while setting up a blade. I can’t believe I lost it.

[Leo Barr]

Ah now I understand to be honest I do not use mine plus if you are starting on some old knives it really won’t matter if there is a fair amount of blade curve up to the point then position the clamp about 2/3 of the way towards it if the knife is about right the bevel should be consistent throughout the entire length.
You should do at least a dozen junk knives to accustom yourself to the tool and to start breaking in the diamonds I am sure they will send you one next week by the time you get it you will be ready for refining everything so by then if you choose to use the guide your technique should be on the way to start doing slightly better knives or redoing your first knives .
Ideally you should be doing the nastiest Chinese knives to start off with or knives perhaps you partner has used for digging in the garden.

Leo Nav

[Robert Nash]

Call Wicked Edge on Monday and I’m sure that they will help you out immediately.

+1 – they’ll get you set up

[Bill Dotson]

Sounds great. I took your advice and put an old Rambo type cap knife on the WE. It came out better than I anticipated for my first try.

[Eamon Mc Gowan]

Yeah I have to agree don’t let that stop you from using the WE. Position the knife with about an inch of it in front of the clamp. This will be close enough to get you going. Then as Leo said at least 10 – 12 knives to break in the stones. The first two make knives just make sure you do not care about them! And then scrub away with the stones.
Then when you get your guide you can come back and refine your technique.
This set up actually works best when you have some wear and tear on the stones! The diamonds really need to break in. Then you will no doubt get those Holy Sh88 edges you dream about!
Oh and by the way welcome to a great forum. The fellows on here are very helpful and are very willing to answer your questions. Don’t think your questions are to dumb to ask? We all had to start out with out first knives too. But not to worry the learning curve is really quick!
And most importantly remember to always have fun!! :woohoo:

[tcmeyer]

I misplaced my alignment guide a while back when I moved my sharpening station, and promptly forgot what it was called. I haven’t missed it enough to do an earnest search for it, as its only use is to help you repeat the same sharpening position for each knife when they come back for the next service. But that’s not much help unless you’re keeping a record or log-book for each knife.

If you check out the Knife Database under the Resource pull-down menu, you’ll see that most of the guys have recorded a position on the alignment guide for each knife. Being an old, scatter-brained, disorganized, walking human trash basket, I’ve chosen to forgo good sense and rather to key on some fixed, identifiable feature of the blade. For folding knives (80-90% of my sharpening), I always put the blade spine flat on the pins in the upper position and always with the bolster up against the vise. I just did a Case Old Timer which was my dad’s, given to me on Easter by my soon-to-be 96-year-old mother. The shape and length of the blade didn’t seem to fit my normal formula, so I indexed it with the top of the clip even with the far edge of the vise. For my Spyderco Delica, I align the forward edge of the thumbhole with the front edge of the vise.

The Old Timer and the Spyderco are both examples of something you’ll come across on this forum: FFG – Full Flat Ground, meaning that the primary grind angle extends all the way to the spine. The sectional view of such blades is that of a triangle. This will present a problem the first time it pops up for you as there are no parallel faces to clamp on, but there are several ways to deal with it. I choose to clamp the blade flat against the left jaw face, and swing the right jaw face out until it is parallel to the other side of the blade. This method leans the Old Timer 3.0 degrees to the left, and you need to adjust your stone angles accordingly. This will be only one example of the beautiful flexibility of the WE system you have to look forward to.

Remember that having a secure purchase on the blade is crucial. Some use bits of chamois. I use about one sq. inch of a blue Scott paper Shop Towel.

Have great fun!

[Bill Dotson]

Thanks everyone for this info. You’ve got me up and going, even without the guide. I will probably still try to get one, but I’ve already used it on 3 knives. The last one a large, inexpensive chefs knife. The results on this knife were incredible. Thanks again.

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