Newbie WE130 owner question

[0zarks2]

Hello everyone,

Glad to finally have a new we130. I’ve done a few knives with it so far with pretty good results. However, my question is about the ball joint arms. Using a digital angle gauge (one from the kit), I’ve been sharpening at 20 degrees. But, on my fine adjustment, 1 ball joint is screwed all the way in and the other backed all the way out. Is that normal? I wouldn’t think so. I could understand a little variance but that seems like too much. It makes dialing it in a little hard. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

[Marc H]

Welcome to the Wicked Edge Forum and Community Ozarks2.

Let me say this first off, the numbers engraved in the square bar are for reference only.  They are not calibrated to match every size and shape knife.  If you are using them as a reference point to start where you set the mini “L” brackets and also using the Digital Angle cube you may not see what your expecting.  You should use one or the other.  For instance if you set the brackets, both at 20º as a starting point, or even 21º, based on the numbers on the square bar, then when you use the digital cube to set and fine tune the angle using the micro-adjustment screws to achieve your 20.0º you may see what you’re experiencing.  If you take the arm that’s backed all the way out and ignore matching the readings on the square bar and move it one detent farther out you’ll be able to adjust the screw in to be more like the other side.  The same goes for the side all-the-way in, if you move this side closer one detent you’ll need to move the screw more out.  (Of course, this depends on your semantics,  that is your use of all-the way-in and all-the way out.  I’m taking all-the way out to mean the screw is backed in tight against the “L” bracket to give you the largest angle and all-the way in to mean the screw is screwed in closer to the knife to lower the angle as much as you can.  If your meaning it opposite to this then reverse the direction of the “L” bracket accordingly to regain length to the adjustment screw threads.)   IGNORE THE NUMBERS ON THE BAR.

I recommend you set your angles by setting the screws midway between in and out.  This gives you adjustment room to micro-adjust the angle arms lower or micro-adjust the angle arms higher.  Whichever is needed to achieve your desired setting.  Then with both the left and right side screws mid-point loosen the “L” bracket so they slides freely.  Place a stone on each rod arm. Then affix the digital angle cube magnetically to one stone.  Lean the stone over against the clamped knife and slide the “L” bracket closer or farther to the knife.  Whichever is needed to achieve you desire angle reading.  When you reach your angle tighten up the locking screws to secure the position of the “L” brackets.  Pick the detent that allows you to have adjustment capability both screw-in and screw-out.  Do this the same on both side “L” brackets.  Ignore the numbers inscribed in the square bar.  If you run out of adjustment screw length in one direction or the other, move the “L” bracket in or out to the next adjacent detent to allow you to regain the use of the adjustment screw, in both directions, in and out.  The ability to adjust in both directions to achieve your desired angle with the digital cube is all that matters.

If your knife is clamped straight and vertical you should be able to lock the “L” brackets in position to allow you to adjust your angle to your desired setting on both sides.  Don’t worry about which detents each bracket is locked in and what the angle number reads.  This is a tool.  Operate the tool to do what you need it to do for you.  Go by the Zeroed digital angle cube’s readings and nothing else.  If you  do this I believe you’ll see your adjustment screws will be pretty similar in their positions.

 

Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)

[0zarks2]

Thanks Marc! That’s actually what I did when I first started playing with it. I think I’ve got it dialed in pretty good now. I spent quite a bit money on this sharpener and wonder if I wouldn’t have been better served with the gen 3 for faster adjustments. Time will tell. Again I really appreciate you taking the time to write out your response.

Shannon

[Marc H]

Shannon the ability to adjust each side separately is slower and more cumbersome but it allows you to use your WE130 sharpener to sharpen uneven grinds and uneven beveled knives or tools.  Many high end chef’s knives are sometimes 60/40 grinds or 70/30 grinds.  Boning knives are sometimes 90/10 grinds or considered single bevels.  The Gen 3 Pro is a very fine precise and fast model to use being able to make the angle adjustments with the simple side of a lever but it’s limited to sharpening knives with the same, or very close to the same bevel angles and symmetrically ground knives.

Here are some examples of asymmetrically ground or uneven ground edges:

Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)

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David, Pinkfloyd

[Organic]

Marc H wrote:

The Gen 3 Pro is a very fine precise and fast model to use being able to make the angle adjustments with the simple side of a lever but it’s limited to sharpening knives with the same, or very close to the same bevel angles and symmetrically ground knives. Here are some examples of asymmetrically ground or uneven ground edges

You can sharpen knives with uneven bevels on the gen. 3 pro, but you would have to move the lever arm each time you switch which side of the blade you are working. While possible, it is a serious handicap compared to the other models where you can set both angles independently through their whole working range. The WE130 is the most versatile setup.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Marc H, Pinkfloyd

[Marc H]

Organic wrote:

You can sharpen knives with uneven bevels on the Gen. 3 Pro, but you would have to move the lever arm each time you switch which side of the blade you are working.  While possible, it is a serious handicap compared to the other models where you can set both angles independently through their whole working range. The WE130 is the most versatile setup.

For those of us, most of us that use alternating left-right-left-right strokes that doesn’t resolve the issue.  Yes I agree, that’s a very logical solution, I had not considered that, but you can still only work one side of the knife at a time with that method.

I have a Gen 3 Pro, also.  It is the easiest, simplest, fastest adjusting WEPS model for even grind 50/50 bevels.  Just clamp and go.  Slide the lever for your gross angle and your done. A couple of clicks and your ready to strop.  If you want to do convex grinds, It can’t be beat.  For that edge there is no match.

Every model has their +/- attributes.   The WE130 I still think although not the quickest or the easiest, it does give you the most versatility and bang for the buck.  Every model is a highly precise tool.  It’s up to use users to learn how to maximize it’s effectiveness, to find work-arounds, to get the most out of each model.

Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)

• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by Marc H.

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Organic

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