Older WE System

[Ian Minton]

Hi Gang,

I purchased an older WE System and I could use some help.

It seems as if ALL my settings are funky.

The right arm will be at 17.5 or 18 degrees and in order to have an even bevel the left arm will be set at 15 degrees. What coo you think I could be doing wrong? Could it be the thickness of the knives that I’ve been sharpening?

I have a tons of different blades that I’ve been practicing on: All of our kitchen knives, my old Benchmades and Spyderco’s too… None of my good knives, just old beaters.

Believe it or not I’m very good at this, it just takes practice. I’m just thrown off by the inconsistency in the degrees on the arms- and one of the Benchmades that I was working on last night the left arm was set at 15 and the stones were eating in to the side of the centerpiece that holds the knife in place. The right arm was fine- set at 17.5 I think, but the left was at 15 and just hitting the corner of the jig…

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks Gang!

[tcmeyer]

I don’t think I really understood that last paragraph, but it’s common for knives to have a wider bevel on one side that the other. It’s caused either by being sharpened at different angles (very common in factory knives), or by the apex being off-center or both. Use an angle cube to confirm the angles of your handles, then work on the side with the narrow bevel until they are approximately the same width. At that point, the apex should be pretty much back to center.

[Nick Middleton]

Hi Gang,

I purchased an older WE System and I could use some help.

It seems as if ALL my settings are funky.

The right arm will be at 17.5 or 18 degrees and in order to have an even bevel the left arm will be set at 15 degrees. What coo you think I could be doing wrong? Could it be the thickness of the knives that I’ve been sharpening?

I have a tons of different blades that I’ve been practicing on: All of our kitchen knives, my old Benchmades and Spyderco’s too… None of my good knives, just old beaters.

Believe it or not I’m very good at this, it just takes practice. I’m just thrown off by the inconsistency in the degrees on the arms- and one of the Benchmades that I was working on last night the left arm was set at 15 and the stones were eating in to the side of the centerpiece that holds the knife in place. The right arm was fine- set at 17.5 I think, but the left was at 15 and just hitting the corner of the jig…

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks Gang!

It sounds like the nature of the base model WE. The right arm will always be off by about the amount you mentioned. It gets magnified by thicker blades. What happens is the left clamp-jaw is fixed and the right clamp-jaw moves in proportion to blade thickness. Unfortunately, the markings on the right arm don’t move with it to compensate. Like mentioned before: get an angle cube and just ignore the markings.

[CliffCurry]

Aloha Ian & welcome to the forum. I also purchased a used older model & gradually upgraded as I progressed…the process of modifying the machine has been as much fun as learning to sharpen for me.

The marking on the base rod are really only good for rough estimates as Nick & TC explained above. The angle cube & a sharpie marker are your best friends. Admittedly I won’t spend the time to match the angles precisely to a 1/10th degree on both sides, but I could if the perfection moved me. 😛

Many have taken the base rod & flipped it over in a way that also provides a smooth surface for the thumb screw to tighten down on with out it jumping into the divots.

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[Ian Minton]

Thank you so much for the responses gang, you’ve been very very helpful!

Is there an upgrade that anybody would recommend that I can purchase to alleviate this challenge that I’m facing?

[Lance Waller]

Yep! I flipped my around as well. Gives u infinite adjustments.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lance Waller]

You can also buy the Low Angle Adapter which will let you mount your knife higher which in turn lets you raise your angle on the arms and get them away from the vise. You definitely need the Angle Cube though. I never even use the markings on the bar anyway.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ian Minton]

I’m not using an Angle Cube, but I have several iPhone apps that I’ve measured against each other to gauge accuracy and I’m getting correct readings as best I can tell in tenths.

I want to thank you all for the attention you’re offering me. I am enjoying this forum very much.

[Mark76]

Anyone who uses an angle meter app on an Android Phone? I read a lot about such apps on the iPhone, but not on an Android Phone. I wonder whether they have different hardware that makes it harder to measure angles.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

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