Christopher Staples

[Christopher Staples]

just thought I would follow up on this

I won 1x knife sharpness test for boning knife

I made my first angle @ 6 deg using edge pro
( knife was pretty rubbish I could see it falling apart at this angle assuming the others lost by having angle to low )

then applied my primary edge using WEPS which was anywhere between 15 ~ 18 deg as different stones / material seemed to touch either the back or front of the edge so I had to keep changing the Angles so the edge was polished
went to 3.5 microns paste on glass with bare leather lightly touching it up before removing from vice

I lost the skinning knife assuming because everyone used extremely low angles as they were all hollow ground apart from mine

I used the same double edge method

@ 6 deg in the edge pro it even held the edge nicely and was extremely hair withering but decided to apply the final edge in the WEPS ( bad decision as the WEPS can only go to 15 deg ) and the comp was for least resistance and not durability

I am still wanting data and pretty annoyed that the skinning knife did not even place in the top 5 with mirror finishes

[Christopher Staples]

..
glass shop only charged $1 a stone for custom cut glass

..

well, of course! that’s the way to go,, Clay sells the Blank Paddles, I use my edge hot glue technique to fasten the glass shop plates. Besides mounting PSA or Spray 77 films, here is another tick you can try with them: 1.) apply (or not apply, your choice here) a small amount of sub micron pastes to the glass and use just a very few back strop finishing strops to straighten your edge. Works great!

[/quote]

well after waiting a few months for my WEPS I wasn’t going to take my chance with a knife sharpening comp @ work with $1k up for grabs

winner announced next month

ps , pretty sure my email to wicked edge asking how fast they could ship me a blank paddle has yet to still even be answered .. so glad I opted for demolishing my rough paddles

*edit*

well the winners were announced today out of 160 entries

after spending around 6 hrs per knife

I took home the 1st prize for boning knife but did not even make the top 5 list for skinning knife
which has got me annoyed that the WEPS could not go as low as I wanted as the knife came of my edge pro as the sharpest skinning knife I had ever done
but I wanted perfect mirror finish that only the WEPS was able to do

just thought I would follow up on this

I won 1x knife sharpness test for boning knife

I made my first angle @ 6 deg using edge pro
( knife was pretty rubbish I could see it falling apart at this angle assuming the others lost by having angle to low )

then applied my primary edge using WEPS which was anywhere between 15 ~ 18 deg as different stones / material seemed to touch either the back or front of the edge so I had to keep changing the Angles so the edge was polished
went to 3.5 microns paste on glass with bare leather lightly touching it up before removing from vice

I lost the skinning knife assuming because everyone used extremely low angles as they were all hollow ground apart from mine

I used the same double edge method

@ 6 deg in the edge pro it even held the edge nicely and was extremely hair withering but decided to apply the final edge in the WEPS ( bad decision as the WEPS can only go to 15 deg ) and the comp was for least resistance and not durability

I am still wanting data and pretty annoyed that the skinning knife did not even place in the top 5 with mirror finishes

[Christopher Staples]

now why didn’t I think about hot glue

would have been quicker then cutting all the double sided tape I used

glass is also better because the tape peels off and back on it easily

very happy over demolishing my cause stones
just a shame the very last paddle broke when forcing it apart

nothing araldite did not fix

how ever if i was to do it again I would heat up the paddle a bit so the tape hopefully lets go
and make the glass panels the same size as the paddle and hot glue them in also then the edge pro tape would fit perfectly with out cutting

how ever working just dandy as thin slithers of tape

[Christopher Staples]

#1 Locktite for the main jaw screw / glue the thing down so it stays stable
#2 springs for the screws on the angle bar ( stole some of dads carbie springs from his race kit)

[Christopher Staples]

I had the same issue with mine

used a caliper for verifying it

I will not get into how disappointed I had been with the system for the first week of trying to work out why every thing was blunt when I got onto the slicing table

I also noticed different stone kits had different thickness’s that changed the angles a bit

so I had no choice but to re burr for every grit I changed over to

until I made a micro angle adjustment that I use to recalibrate each stone with

much like what you have finally came up with along with your new ball joint design

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

[Christopher Staples]

just make us some flat glass paddles to sell and let us crazies hunt down our own polish tape

I defiantly would rather spend $10 for a pile of 6000 grit throw away polish tape then having to by a few full stones to clean after each use

I just pulled of my 50 / 60 grit stones
( when I say pulled I mean used hammer / screw driver to force them off )
and swapped them over for a few glass tops for my edge pro polish tape to go onto
glass shop only charged $1 a stone for custom cut glass

actually went the stingy way and just cut the polish tape down the middle and mounted them on the sides closest to the butt so the bare glass leads halfway before it hits the tape but does not seem to effect it

now about to order some full size 3m sheets 215.9mm x 279mm
( some being 50x minimum order per grit )

Grit Micron Color
400 30µ Green
600 15µ Gray
1200 9µ Blue
4000 3µ Pink
6000 2µ Aqua
8000 1µ Light-Green

[Christopher Staples]

http://www.anago.co.nz/

unsure what they use but they test our knifes @ work

[Christopher Staples]

ball joint is definatly the way to go ( been working on something for myself )

what you currently have keeps locking up on me

damn annoying

but I think its because the bottom pins are to lose the joints just keep collapsing on each other making them interlock

Christopher,
If you use a *little* bit of lube on the joints it helps this lockup significantly. I add a bit of very light oil, let it sit for a minute, work the joint in all dimensions for a bit, then wipe out any excess.
Works wonders!

Phil

I was going to do oil them but decided not to because it seemed that it was because the bottom latch moves too much and keeps wanting to fall over to the left / right

after adding oil I now see how it HELPS ( but not solves the problem ) it helps buy allowing the hinges to not bite into each other so instead of grinding against each other they slide a little

as for the new Arms I hope they are longer as I keep pulling the stones of the arms when doing my 11~14 inch *BF* butcher knifes …

another thing was when I first got the WEPS I found the angle fasteners thread is way to long ..
no resistance to stop them from loosening
( which they did about every 20 pass’s )
in the end I added springs to them and have not come UN-loose since

maybe even a bigger threaded bolt for the main clamp would be good
( mine kept coming loose and ended up gluing it down / using lock thread glue )

of cause their as also the stone holder mod shaving off what I guess is a finger guard so I can sharpen the entire blade

[Christopher Staples]

revives thread

how goes this shipment backlog for this yr >?

how many more need to be processed?

[Christopher Staples]

also true

mine look moist and have a gloss / shine to them

the others …

but any how
I rather have the mechanical aid takes less time to sharpen them
and I know exactly how my knife will behave every time

I actually can not wait until my wicked edge arrives
( if the order will ever get shipped honestly how many are on back order still)
as it should allow every different knife to have the exact edge every time

currently using an edge pro , so the edge geometry changes every time the knife is relocated

*edit*

Wait a minute!!!! You’re using the Edge Pro #320 stone? :pinch:

That changes the context of the “#300” grit edge just a little! :cheer:

No I use 600 edge on my 1/4 knife and 1k on my slicing

I refuse to use the sharpening gear work provides its main reason I have an edge pro its all in a carry case and I use a fridge shelf tray to sit the the EP with suction cup up on the sink in the locker room .. works sweat I just keep the tap running above it

the others are using the 200/300 stones at work in fact I think the highest stone work has is around 400 which is a diamond that everyone seems to stay clear off .. they say it strips their edges off

any how stuff using up 80% of your smoko break on a 50:50 chance you even manage to make it sharper or not 😛
their stones are a complete mess especially when you have like 4 new starters a day ruining them

I only give mine a light rub over at the end of the day and maybe a re profile every 3 mnths when I notice the 2ndary edge getting 50%

[Christopher Staples]

also agree coarser can be better

ever tried cutting an tomatoes with polished blade it just does not work

infact I am pretty sure I am the only person at work that still tries to keep mirror finishes

every one else runs their blades quickly over 200 – 300 grit stones to roughen them up after they sharpened them

I run double edges I polish the 2ndary edge and then use 400 – 600 grit on the primary edge
( 1000 grit .. few cuts .. damn dull )

Boning Room use

how ever a polished blade does not seem to snap as much … guessing less fractures

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