UPDATE:
So I finally pulled the trigger on the WE Pro Pack I + angle cube and 1200/1600 superfine ceramic stones about 2 weeks ago. The ceramic stones are on back order until May, but even without them I’m getting some razor sharp edges. I have been practicing on some cheap kitchen knives and old pocket knives over the last few days.
A few things I have noticed so far:
– Most of the stones are very “toothy” out of the box. The 100/200 grit stones actually made some small chips in the edge on one of my old pocket knives. However, after sharpening eight or ten knives, they seem to have broken in a bit and don’t bite quite as hard. Reprofiling takes very little time with these stones.
– Strops also have a break in period. It was a very slow process with the first couple knives I stropped, but after reapplying the stropping compound and using them for a bit, they work much faster now.
Are any of you able to get a true mirror finish with the 1000 grit stones + 5 micron/3.5 micron strops? All of my knives have somewhat of a reflective edge, but definitely not a mirror polish. I usually finish the 1000 grit with very light strokes, then strop about 200 passes per side with the 5 micron, then 200 passes with the 3.5 micron. I can post some pics later if needed.
My Globals are still very sharp and don’t really need to be sharpened yet. I would also like to use the superfine stones on them, so I’ll just wait. Anyways, I’m really happy with my purchase. My only complaint is that I’ve run out of knives to sharpen 😛
