Steve

[Steve]

I have no idea where the sliver came from. I don’t see any similar damage on the screw threads and the internal threads on the vise still seem to work. My initial guess was that it was some remnant from the initial cutting of the threads, but I honestly have no clue.

[Steve]

I have played around with angles from 15 to 20 on the Ka-Bar. I’m able to hit the apex with many of them, but in the process I’m also wearing on the blade coating. I assume that diamond stones would slice through painters tape without much problem. Any suggestions for how to effectively protect the blade coating while sharpening?

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000Robert

[Steve]

Armed with the knowledge that the screw should indeed come out, I worked the screw back and forth with a liberal application of WD-40 and it eventually came out, along with a long sliver of metal (photo attached). No idea what caused that, but the old screw is out, a new 1” screw is in, and the blade is locked into place as it should be. Thank you all for the help.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by Steve.

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000Robert

[Steve]

Thank you again for the help. The primary reason that I chose the WE120 over the WE130 was that I have several 1/4″ blades and wanted the flexibility in size that you mentioned.  The instructions for the WE120 say that the lower screw can be removed.  However, mine moves back and forth just fine, but does not seem to want to come out of the vise, almost like it is some type of captive screw. I seem to recall that the lower screw was already installed in the vise when I got it, but cannot be sure that was the case. Can anyone confirm that a WE120 purchased in early 2021 should have a removable lower screw? I’ve worked this screw back and forth with WD-40, but it hits the same spot each time and won’t come out any further, as if it is designed not to come out. I don’t want to damage anything if the design has been changed, so figured I’d ask before putting more torque into my efforts.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by Steve.

[Steve]

I greatly appreciate all of your help. It turns out that the inexpensive Ontario knife I was using as my first try at this style of knife had extremely uneven factory bevels. One side was around 40 dps and the other closer to 10 dps. That was contributing to odd results on the Sharpie test and I landed on the “downward-facing-knife yoga” clamping position I photographed. A pic of the factory bevel is included for your amusement.

When I moved onto my proper Ka-Bar things became much more clear and I’m passing a Sharpie test at 18 dps in a position that is similar to the photo posted by tcmeyer. I am, however, still struggling with the issue of getting the knife to clamp securely into the vise. My (very cheap) digital calipers show the spine as .16 inches wide at a clamping point just forward of the fuller when taped with painters tape. However, when clamped, the lower screw of my WE120 vise is too short to reach the other jaw, so only the top screw is providing any tension. My lower screw does not seem to remove, and my best measurement of its length is the 3/4” as described in the owner’s manual. Is there something incorrect about my clamping technique that is causing this? The knife is not secure in the vise as is and I can’t maintain a consistent mounting angle. A photo of the mounted Ka-Bar showing the gap in the lower screw is attached. As always, any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by Steve.

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000Robert

[Steve]

Thank you not only for the help, but also for the outstanding story. I am clearly making some foundational mistakes with the Sharpie test. When I place the knife as you have it, I hit the apex on the straight part of the blade just fine at 20 degrees, but as I go from the belly to the tip, the stone comes way down into the shoulder, leaving the apex untouched. To compensate, I keep moving the blade further back in the vise and increasing the forward tilt on the blade until I end up with the position in my earlier photo. That hits the apex at all points, but is clearly not the correct approach. Rather than moving the blade back and tilting it down as I have been, what other adjustments should I be making to hit the apex? Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

[Steve]

Rather than starting a new thread on the same knife, I figured I would post here. Aside from the issues related to the heel, I’m having a hard time mounting this knife in my WE120. First, I struggle with the position of mounting this style of knife. Using the Sharpie method, I keep coming up with a position that is very far forward and highly angled. I’ll post a picture with an Ontario SP-1 (a cheaper knife in a similar style) in the position where I get the best result.

The second problem I am having is getting the clamp to hold the knife in this position. With most of the weight near the handle, it just wants to rotate toward level and the clamp is not able to stop it from moving. When I lock in  FFG kitchen knives I can pick the WE120 up by the knife handle it is so well locked in. With this style of knife, I have much less success. If I try to pick the sharpener up by the knife handle, the knife just moves.  I’ve tried bare metal, painters tape, and electrical tape with the same result. I’ve cranked down on the clamp screws as much as I can with the provided hex key and would not want to go further for fear of bending the vise. Any advice on how to approach this style of knife is greatly appreciated.

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[Steve]

Thank you very much for the tips. They helped a lot. My post was perhaps not worded well. I do have the advanced alignment guide, but I still find that when I have the blade taped to protect its finish, taking it out and putting it back again can take several minutes and I’m not convinced that it is always exactly where it was due to possible variance from the painters tape. I want to develop a sense of what is working and what isn’t as I experiment with different grits and final polishing, so just wanted to eliminate possible remounting variance from that equation.  My setup is still exactly the same and I have worked through many cheap test knives. I’m just now feeling comfortable enough to play around with some of my actual knives and want to improve my understanding as I do. I figure there is no better teacher than experience, but wanted to get some tips on how to proceed with this part of my journey. Thank you for all the tips. I’ll do the paper test after each step and keep working until I have a better understanding of how each grit changes the feel of the edge as well as it’s appearance under the microscope.

[Steve]

Thank you very much. I’m struggling with trying to figure out that most effective way to finish the sharpening process. I’ve gotten to the point where I feel like I am hitting the apex, checking with a scope as you mentioned. But I still have not figured out what “done” looks like. I’m starting to think, as you mentioned, that many of the knives I am sharpening would be better served by an edge that has only been worked through 800 or 1000 grit stones rather than working it to a mirror finish with finer stones and strops. I’m not sure if more polished equates to sharper. I’ve read several threads about adding microbevels to the edge to add a bit of a tooth to the apex of the edge. I am trying to work through what works, but taking the knife out of the WE to test it on a sheet of paper or anything else is not very efficient if I want to put it back in  the WE and try something else. I’m trying to make the testing process a bit more efficient, but not sure what might work or what others do to help figure out when their edge has reached an optimal level of polishing. Thanks for the help.

[Steve]

I am trying to play around with microbevels and the sharpness I get with different grits and angles. As I try different things, if I take the knife out of the WE and then am not thrilled with the result, I spend a fair bit of time getting it mounted again in the WE to try something else. Does anyone have a good process they would be willing to share on how they test the sharpness of the knife while it is still mounted in the WE? Not sure if a paper push test or something else might work or what a good indication of relative sharpness might be as I play around with different ways to finish the edge. Thanks for your time!

[Steve]

I am using a USB microscope and confirmed where the marker is being removed. I will try blue and red to see if that changes the observation.

I bought a bunch of the cheapest kitchen knives I could find to practice and some of them have been great examples of problems with mismatched bevel angles, etc. So when I had this issue the first time I just reprofiled the knife and moved on. But now that it happened again I’m trying to understand it. The convex edge makes sense and I appreciate the insight. If it happens again I will take a few screenshots with the microscope and post them. I’ve already flattened this one out with the 100 stones.

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000Robert, Marc H

[Steve]

I have continued practicing on a variety of cheap knives and learn more with each one that I do. I have now had two knives where I am having a hard time determining the angle. I’ve followed the process outlined in the link below to use a marker and test where the stone contacts the bevel. I think that I understand the process as far as it goes. However, on two (admittedly very cheap) knives the stone removed the marker in the middle of the bevel, leaving plenty of black marker both above and below the area the stone is hitting. I’m not sure why that happens or how to adjust the angle when it does. Any thoughts on what I am doing incorrectly or what part of this process I misunderstood?  Thank you for the help.

https://wickededgeusa.com/pages/how-to-find-your-angle

[Steve]

I played around with your suggestions today, and (as always) it was great advice. I was under the impression that the objective was to always clamp the knife with the spine parallel to the two pins in the depth key. I had been wondering how this would work with knives (such as the Ka-Bar USMC fighting knife) that have a much more pronounced curve to the tip. Rotating the knife did allow me to be able to clamp it more toward the center, while still reaching the apex near the tip. Thanks again!

[Steve]

In getting the additional photos you requested and reading your response, I’ve figured out what the issue is. I was incorrect when I said I bottomed out before slipping off the edge. At the heel of the blade, that statement was not true and I am clearly doing so.

I feel like the knife is mounted too far forward. I ended up here based on a Sharpie test. The test strokes at the tip were not reaching the edge and we’re hitting lower on the shoulder. I kept pulling back a little at a time until the stone reached the edge, leaving me at the position seen in the photo.  Did I do something wrong to end up clamped there?

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[Steve]

I’ve started on another test knife. This one is an 8” chef’s knife, and I’ve run into some trouble. The angle from the manufacturer edge seems to be 14.5 per side. I tested with a marker along the edge to find the sweet spot, which was about 2” from the tip as best as I could tell. I started with the 100 grit diamond stone (I’m breaking in my stones) and noticed that I am severely scratching the sides of the knife. I tried painters tape, but the stones just cut through it.  I’m not slipping below the knife edge with the stone on the downstroke (I bottom out on a rubber axle boot I am using before the stone goes that low).  I’m using the standard length arms. Have a reached a blade length where I will need to clamp this knife twice and sharpen it in sections? Does the blade need set deeper into the clamp (I used the lower set of guide holes, but did not go down to the screw). Any advice is greatly appreciated. It’s not a big deal on this test knife, but I certainly don’t want to do this kind of damage on one of my better knives. 😉

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