NotSharpEnuff

Can you disassemble the knife and then clamp on the flat section where the pivot is located?

I believe that cow and kangaroo leather both have an inherent grit to them because of the silicates used to treat the leather.

The fun is soon to begin! Focus on developing a consistent technique and work on your junk knives first.

If you are doing a 70:30 edge as shown in the drawing then both units are capable of that. The angles are identical on either side but the blade is intentionally sharpened so that the ratio of bevel sizes is 7:3. You simply need to spend more time working the side with the larger bevel.

That said, if you are trying to do different angles on…[Read more]

9.7 micron, 7.1 micron, and 5.0 micron respectively.

See page 2 of this thread: 2200 / 3000 stones.

What did you ultimately decide to go with?

Here’s my take: If you love sharpening as a hobby unto itself then go all in and get the WE130 or even the pro pack 3 if you can comfortably afford it. The self centering clamp design makes getting a blade clamped as simple as the flip of a lever.

If you’re just interested in keeping things sharp for utility sake (and you view sharpening as a…[Read more]

If you’re considering a replacement and you are still thinking it will be mostly used for vegetables then I suggest considering some of the Japanese blades. They’re a bit more brittle than European style knives (because they are thin and hard) but they perform beautifully.

Keep us posted on this when you’ve done the sharpening and sharpness testing (perhaps in a new thread?). I’m interested to see how it turns out.

I would go with the 1500 / 2200. The 1500 is so efficient that it can take the 1000 grit edge to essentially the same level of refinement as the 1200 / 1600 combination does.

As to the comments about the 1.4 / 0.6 micron ceramics; I still like those and enjoy using them very much. Using them after the 3000 grit gives a pretty good mirrored finish.

Man, that is a killer BESS score. It must be like a laser beam on a handle.

So you’re saying you’ve had to remove all of that steel just in the last year (assuming that the blade was level with the bolster when new) because it has had damage like that repeatedly? I’d say it is time to add that one to the landfill and start over with a quality blade. It’s shameful that Henckles would put their branding on that sad excuse…[Read more]

If the knife is treated well (not using a glass or stone cutting surface) and they look like this then I agree that the heat treatment is poor.

17 degrees per side will be fine. You don’t need to go all the way to 3000 grit. I’d doubt that the factory edge is much more than 800 grit. A well applied 1600 grit edge at 17 dps will make be a very good edge.

Stropping technique is something that every user has to discover on their own. When I first started I was following the wisdom from the forum and reducing the angle by 2 degrees per side while using light pressure. The results were disappointing and I gave up on strops for a few months. When I decided to give them another try I figured there was…[Read more]

I do think your edges will benefit from having one set of strops. I would also recommend the 4 / 2 micron strop pack if you’re only getting one set. This is not to say that the edge right off of the stones won’t be great also. The Wicked Edge will get your kitchen knives consistently sharp every time so I know you’re going to be happy with the results.