Some help setting up my first WE system
- This topic has 13 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 09/22/2016 at 2:23 am by
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Welcome to the forum, Collector!
I think you may want all diamond stone from 100 grit – 1000 grit; it’s a great system. If you want to go on, you can go to strops, water stones or diamond films. SInce I’ve discovered the diamond films I want nothing else – they’re great.
Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge
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Collector; I have all the ceramic stones and once I identified the diamond film benefits (and used them), I no longer use the ceramics (They are “retired”-so to speak). I have tried the strops, however, I prefer the films over the leather strops with diamond paste. I, like many others on this forum, have started using the films “exclusively” after using the diamond stones up to 1000 grit . I would say the diamond pastes on the strops have value for making great convex edges. The flexibility of the leather seems to smooth well the multiple facets needed to make the perfect convex knife bevel (See Clays video on this site for details–https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhzIUNIFQjE ). I have purchased three sets of glass platens and use the following progression after the 1000 grit. This was the recommendation of TCMEYER in a earlier post on this forum. ON Glass 6/3, 1.5/1.0, 0.5/0.1 If you use the films in this progression after the 1000 grit, you will not be disappointed.
Eddie Kinlen
M1rror Edge Sharpening Service, LLC
+1(682)777-1622Anything on the site listed as “Pro” will come with these stones, I believe. 12 Diamond Stones, 2 each in 100, 200, 400, 600, 800, and 1000 Grit. It has been awhile since most of us looked at the differences in the offered packages. The angle cube is very helpful and the low angle adapter will probably help for some blades too. The only item I would consider not mentioned is either a high quality loupe or a USB Microscope for checking your edges as you progress. This is/was invaluable advice to me as it probably saved me hours in sharpening time “learning the hard way”.
Eddie Kinlen
M1rror Edge Sharpening Service, LLC
+1(682)777-1622The only item I would consider not mentioned is either a high quality loupe or a USB Microscope for checking your edges as you progress. This is was invaluable advice to me as it probably saved me hours a sharpening time “learning the hard way”.
Yup, I think Clay should offer the loupe on the site. It costs only a few dollars on one of these Chinese sites and it is pretty good, so WE can make a healthy margin
.Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge
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It depends on how you use them, but I’d say that on average a film last 10 sharpenings. Any other opinions?
Sure you can post a link to the microscope shop, but I’m not sure whether you want a USB-microscope (usually 200+ magnification, requires PC and generally not easy to use) or the one I referred to (60x magnification, no USB connection to PC, so no pics, but very easy to use).
Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge
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Apparently I posted the link to the simple microscope (or loupe) in another topic. Here it is: Loupe
Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge
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Diamond Lapping Film is a great option to refine and sharpen your edge at a very fine level. It’s also great if you are looking to achieve a spectacular polish on your knives. Each sheet comes with 10 pre-cut strips that are sized for Wicked Edge handles and each strip will last for approximately 5-8 sharpening sessions (So, one sheet will sharpen (on the low end) 50 knives) The films are peel-and-stick so they are very easy to apply to and remove from the glass or Aluminum platens. Note: The films on the WE can be cut by accident usually due to fatigue. Pressure while performing each pass is also a consideration. The harder you press, the shorter the life for each pre-cut strip. Light strokes are my preferred method to ensure I get the most out of each strip.
I personally have gone a little crazy on my optics (I have tried everything), however, I find this inexpensive pocket microscope from Carson perfect (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsL-kiLyngc) with the simple loupe posted by Mark above or something like this (See Attachment below)…It will meet most of your needs. I have purchased and used many different types of optical devices. I find a magnification between 30X and 50X is enough for most sharpening sessions.
Check back in we would love to hear about your results!
Eddie Kinlen
M1rror Edge Sharpening Service, LLC
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Collector: 6 micron abrasive is the equivalent of about 3,000 grit, so it’s really not that large of a difference. You could add an intermediate grit by including the 9 micron film, which is the equivalent of about 1,800 grit. But since Clay said he was getting good results jumping directly from 1000 grit to the 6 micron film, I haven’t found a need to use my 15 and 9 micron films. Maybe an intermediate grit would reduce the amount of stoning I do with the 6 micron film. Clearly, it’s seeing a lot more wear than my other films.
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