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That’s from Clay’s original blog before this site (that still has some other great info)…

http://sharpeningtechniques.blogspot.com/

cbw

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I remember my first mirror edge, better than my first marriage. 😀

Now everyone’s waiting for the “gotcha” follow up….

cbw

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Hi – I’ve tried sharpening my Umnum on the Sharpmaker and the curved front/tip area of the blade isn’t getting as sharp as the middle to back portion of the blade.

I haven’t yet watched your video (I will tonight) but I’m wondering is this because I’m setting up the knife incorrectly?

On the Sharpmaker??

If you meant Wicked Edge… definitely watch the video… he addresses how the knife is sharpened from the factory, and how to set it up properly for whatever result you want. Don’t think it can be explained any better than what’s in the video.

cbw

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Definitely shows the metal “crunchability” of the 50g stone! 😀

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Hey guys, I don’t have any PSA sheets or don’t use sandpaper, but why are you looking for glass or plexiglass backings? I understand it is a little flatter than aluminium, but so much that it matters in practice? Wouldn’t an aluminium strip backing work as well?

My .02, having used both, yup it matters. Flat aluminum is surprisingly not that, flat,,, and flattening it isn’t as much fun as you’d think. 😉

cbw

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Hi Clay,

I took the measurements with a caliper with the set screws in on both sides at 20 degrees. When measuring the right side it came out to 1.06 (where .01 = 1/64 of an inch) On the left side the measurement came out to 1.09.

That would certainly be enough to make the right angle at least somewhat steeper than the left but while 3/64 of an inch difference seems like it might be the issue, I am not sure if it’s enough to be contributing to what I am seeing or not.

Thanks!

If I measured/calculated right, this should only be about 1/3 deg. difference, not the 1+ deg. difference you said you’re getting.

One other thing you could try, is to mount a knife, measure the angle, then turn the WE around and remount the knife,,, see if the error “switches sides”, or stays the same. This will help show if the error is in the WE or not. I’d try this with a knife with flat sides, so you’re less likely to introduce a mounting error.

cbw

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mods

1st being gluing down the main jaw
( seriously aluminum is no good for screwing things into its just to soft )

2nd adding spring to the angle adjustment screws
( kept coming loose after about 20 pass’s )

3rd making longer thicker rods with ball joints and having protective boot
( to much play in the rods and jig was useless for larger knifes ie. machetes )

4th making new jaws
(same height just not aluminum so they are stronger and thinner allowing lower angles)
/
new base as the angles where not asymmetrical aluminum might have stretched or drilled in wrong spots?

5th finalizing making micro adjustment as the different stones were throwing angle off
( our ball joint system sits on a rack and pinion system that is adjusted by a worm gear )

6th making another knife holder steadying pole with clamp and height adjustment

the original pole was higher then the level of the knife keys and gap was to shallow for any of my knifes to even for their tip to go into

its hard getting dad to build something that you want until you waste a heap of money on something that needs improving … he likes his KISS theory to much

so far with all the modifications we have almost rebuilt the entire jig in fact the only part that is still being used is the angle bar because math hurts my head to much 😛

all in all love the WEPS more then my edge pro even tho its been completely remade apart from the stones

Wow,,,, woud love to see some pics if you could post some!

cbw

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I have also tried using an iPhone app or two to determine angle on the last few that I have sharpened. It does show an angle variance on either side when a knife is mounted but short of changing the angle on the right side to be more than that of the left (i.e. 19 on the left and 20+ on the right) I am not sure how to address the differences. Again, this is consistent regardless of the knife or the type of grind.

How much difference was there in the measurements?

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what would the recommenced angle for their boning / skinning knifes be

I have been using 17 deg , tried using 18 deg and it felt blunt as .. went back to 17 and felt good again but no durability of cause

from the knife wiki most Hardness around 56 are around 20 deg with a few listed around what I am using now

Are you saying that the edge fails at 17 degrees?

My .02… part of the answer depends on what you use the knife for… so what works for one may not necessarily for work for another. But, assuming that you don’t like it at 18 deg. but it fails at 17 deg., you can try a couple of things:

Make sure that you’re getting a clean edge, and that you don’t have a bur or wire edge that is failing. If the edge fails in one or two cuts, this could be the reason (again depending on what you’re using it for).

You can actually try an even lower secondary bevel… at 15 or 16 deg., then put on a primary edge at 17-18 deg. Having a lower secondary bevel may improve the overall performance. Do as little as possible to set the primary edge, you don’t want it very large at all.

Apologies if I didn’t understand your post.

cbw

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My suggestion would be not to store them in a plastic case. I would think these stones have a lot of nooks and crannies,,,, and probably aren’t as dry as you think…. and any moisture is now trapped. As a test, you could follow your procedure, box them up, stick them in the sunlight, and see if any moisture shows up on the plastic.

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Searched but didn’t find anything. Anyone sharpened shears w/the WEPS? The thought of doing my 10″ers to a razor edge makes me and by bushes happy 🙂 Pics of ultra sharp shears would be great!

I’m a Noob, so please inform if gardening shears are not applicable to this system, as I don’t see any info on them… or any probs w/that.

Thanks.

I haven’t sharpened any on the WE, but you don’t want to sharpen scissors or shears to a high polish,,, they’ll actually cut worse. Scissors use the edge to grip the material being cut. Between a 320-600g finish works great.

cbw

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On other forums people recommend Bartender’s stuff…

It’s Barkeepers friend… http://www.barkeepersfriend.com I use it… works really well.

BTW, I don’t think anyone’s mentioned leather… a waterless non abrasive hand cleaner with a conditioner like lanolin or aloe vera does a great job of cleaning and revitalizing leather. Haven’t done the WE strops yet… but have done some full size strops, and they come out as good as new. Just make sure it’s non abrasive.

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I purchased this kit on my last visit to Wicked Edge. Here’s my quick take on it…

As usual, quality build, should last a long time. The arm/joint design works smooth. Angles are in 2 degree increments 12-30 deg., and were within .5 degree on a few knives I checked during sharpening. No problem getting consistent, even bevels. On the knives I tried (3-4 inch pocket and hunting style), the lowest I could go was 16 deg. without hitting the clamp. Since this was lower than the bevel on the knives, I didn’t spin any time dwelling on this to see if I could go lower. Instead of the key/depth gauge setup on the original WE, this version has a small notch or shelf cut on the inside of the clamp you can use as a guide.

While I understand the C-clamp (to keep it all in a compact kit), after a couple of uses, I abandoned it, and used a 6″ quick release clamp. (I actually abandoned the C-clamp when I couldn’t tighten it down on my kitchen counter… I didn’t have enough clearance to easily turn it.) I set it up in various places (kitchen counter, dining room table, workbench) and other than the C-clamp problem, there were no other issues. I also bolted it to the top of a toolbox (there’s a hole drilled in the bottom of the base), and used it there… no problem. It’s quick and easy to setup… slide the arms on, and get started.

You can get a nice workable edge off the 600g stones, but I added a small ceramic rod that fit in the kit. The rod works great for cleaning up the edge, and removing any burr if a stubborn knife is encountered. But even without it, I could get an edge that would shave arm hair, or slice paper… no problem.

All in all, with the exception of being able to set a more precise angle, I could see little difference in use between this and the original WE. The jaws are designed a little different, which may translate into not being able to set as low an angle on this model, but I didn’t actually check this so can’t say for sure. And there’s no “knife brace” to assist in sharpening thin/flexible knives. But it put great edges on the knives I tried!!

Good stuff!

cbw

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AWESOME!!!!!

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I’d make sure not to rush through any of the grits as you work, just take your time on each grit and don’t progress until you don’t feel any real resistance points to the plate on the blade (at least to this point, you can go longer too to really make sure you remove most of the scratches from the previous grit).

Thought this was worth repeating. Also, a little more time with the leather should help clean up the edge.

cbw

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