John Batinovich

[John Batinovich]

Most Bark Rivers sport a convex grind; the four I own do. I didn’t think the WEPS was the best platform for sharpening this type of grind. I’d love to hear if anyone here does use it for these knives.

[John Batinovich]

14° is about the most acute I can go, and I do so on most of my commonly used blades, Paramilitary 2, Dragonfly, a Sebenza 25, Endura, Delica and a few Benchmades. I tried going to 13° on the PM 2’s because I like Spyderco’s version of S30V and I know it can handle that angle, but when I mount the blade the moveable-side stone always ends up rubbing on something, the mount itself or the screw tip.

But 14° on the PM 2 or Endura, etc, makes the knife a slicing machine, so I’m happy with being able to get that. I agree that a wider blade (from spine to edge) or one mounted higher in the clamps gives you the ability to sharpen to a more acute angle. The new arms are worth the upgrade if only because the angle can be so precisely set.

[John Batinovich]

I don’t find that I can get significantly more acute angles with the new ball joint arms and vise riser.

Can anyone else comment?

I’ve found the same thing.

[John Batinovich]

I thought I’d post a follow-up to the issue I was having with getting uneven bevels. I watched one of Clay’s sharpening videos,the one were he sharpens a Benchmade 940 Osborne then push-cuts a telephone book with it. In the video, he talks about sometimes having to grind through to the other side of the bevel to get an even edge geometry.

I’ve been using the Sharpie trick and I took this to mean sometimes grinding away the ink on each side of an edge that has uneven geometry can result in one bevel being larger than the other. By getting to the apex on one side by grinding through to the other, in these situations, you should end up with a proper edge geometry.

I have a new Sebenza 25 I recently sharpened due to a mediocre factory edge. Trying to match the existing bevel, I ended up sharpening to 22°. It was sharp, but not slicing quite like I wanted and the bevels weren’t even, so I decided to reprofile to 17°, 34° inclusive. Using the Sharpie/loupe again, I paid close attention to how even the bevels were as I went along. While I didn’t have to grind all the way through from one side to the other, I did have to do more work on the one side opposite the side with the remaining ink. As a result, I was able to get some pretty even bevels and a nice sharp edge. I say pretty even because I’m still not completely satisfied, but they are as even as any other knife I’ve done so far.

I’ve had the WEPS not quite a month, and there certainly is a learning curve, especially for a sharpening neophyte like me. But I am getting more comfortable and I am enjoying the sharpening. It’s a very engrossing activity. If anyone has any comments or opinions on what I posted, I’d appreciate the feedback.

B)

[John Batinovich]

I’ve go about 10 Spydies and love them all, but far and away my favorite is the Paramilitary 2. I’ve usually got it with me as part of my EDC gear, along with a smaller pocket knife (or 2), and it continues to prove itself as an excellent all-around performer. My second favorite would have to be the Delica 4, but that’s a tough choice. The Dragonfly, Endura 4 and Sage 1 are right in the running.

[John Batinovich]

Thanks for that info, razoredgeknives. I’m at work right now, but I will watch the entire video later. I like the USB microscope or Radio Shack loupe idea. I have a nice 10X loupe, but it can be cumbersome to use when the knife is mounted in the machine.

I’m interested in learning more about which tool you used and the manner in which you ground off the sides of your stones. I like the idea of doing this, but since all my gear is new, I’m reticent to go ahead and make the move. Appreciate the info.

[John Batinovich]

That is too cool. 😆

[John Batinovich]

I didn’t see your thread here the first time around, but I’m glad to hear you’re getting great results! I do a lot of those little pen knives at flea markets and community sales, I tend to just clamp them as high up as I can, use a slightly higher angle than I’m used to (usually 22-25 degrees) and go a bit slow. My clamps are plenty chewed up from dealing with these little buggers, maybe at some point I’ll blacken them up with some touch up finish I use on AR-15 receivers :silly:

That’s some good info. I have quite a few smaller blades that I like to EDC, and the smaller ones have proven to be a challenge to sharpen. I think I’ve just been too stubborn in wanting to get a more acute angle than is feasible. I’ll try a higher angle the next time.

[John Batinovich]

Thanks Jose, I’ll give that a shot. The Para 2 is one of my favorite knives and the S30V takes an amazing edge, it’s just that last little bit that’s bugging me. 😛

[John Batinovich]

This thread is apropos to my situation, which is not even a month of owning the pro pack 1. I’ve also experienced the excess paste on the strop thing, but I did not know to try scraping off the excess and letting them dry. My experience so far with the WE strops is less than impressive. I get much better results sharpening to 1000 grit then stropping with my portable Stropman strop. Pretty dramatic difference, actually.

Working with the WE strops often results in an edge that is less sharp than it was after the 1000 grit stones. I’m working with some very light pressure also. I’ll try to incoporate the info in this thread and see if it helps.

As an aside, I’ve no interest at this point in obtaining mirror edges, just razor sharp ones. All of this has been a big learning experience, but I can pretty consistently get really sharp edges right now. I’m just not satisfied. I want edges where the bevels are perfectly even (an ongoing bugaboo of mine) and impressively sharp. It’s funny though, I’ve been hounding the guys I work with to give me their knives so I can get more practice, and they always seem really happy with the edges even though I’m not completely satisfied. Go figure.

One thing I’m very happy about is having this website as a resource. All the experienced people here are really helpful.

Thanks for the info!

[John Batinovich]

Say hey, Jose,

I’m not quite clear about what you’re suggesting. Are you changing the angle of the entire knife in the clamp? Since the stone is hitting the forward-most part of the finger choil, it’s not clear in my mind how that would work. If you could clarify, I’d appreciate it.

Thanks!

John

[John Batinovich]

Thanks Kyle. I’m not quite ready to go the Chosera route, but I’ll keep it in mind.

[John Batinovich]

I do have the regular arms. Do the arms you have work the same, with the dimples, etc? The picture on the website show the bearings they use, and shows the allen wrench being used on the arm itself, but outside of that I’m not sure how they differ from the regular arms.

[John Batinovich]

Hi Geocyclist,

It’s funny you mentioned the deal about the left side of vice being fixed. I found a video on youtube today that explained that very thing, and it makes a lot more sense now. The video suggested compensating, depending on the knife, by moving the arm out a degree on the movable side, using the angle cube to confirm the settings, of course.

I’ve been working on keeping pressure equal with both arms and seem to be getting better. At first my left arm felt really clumsy, but it’s more coordinated after 10 knives or so. I had considered turning the machine around, but having the blade tip facing me was a little unnerving. lol

Do you use the dimpled, preset side of the rail to set the arms, or turn the arms around and use the flat side and the angle cube?

[John Batinovich]

Hi Ken,

Yes, “improving” eyesight is yet another benefit of getting a little older. Doing it by feel sounds great. I’ve given up for now trying to work the stones like Clay does. 😛

Bill, I also zero the cube out on the base before every sharpening session. It usually stays at zero from the previous time out, but sometimes it does require zeroing. One thing I have noticed is that once I get the stones set with the cube, they are rarely at the same point on the rail. It’s one reason I started turning the arms around and relying solely on the cube to set the angles. It’s a very handly little tool and I can see using for other tasks as well.

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