Organic

The eight inch chef knife is on a pretty good deal over on Amazon at $29.99 right now. The price usually overs around the $40 mark. The knife is a nice value when it comes to blade performance compared to other European style knives but is a little odd in the hand because of the handle shape.

Wicked Edge used to sell the Naniwa Chosera stones but discontinued them shortly after they brought out the diamond lapping films. I asked about it and was told that they feel the lapping films produce similar results and require less mess. I haven’t tried whetstones of any kind, so I’ll defer to Marc’s expertise.

If you have a microscope or jeweler’s loupe I would recommend inspecting the edge to ensure that you’ve actually apexed the knife with the micro bevel. Stropping after the application of the micro bevel is also a good suggestion.

Regarding grit; the ceramic stones make a very nice micro bevel in my experience, but nearly any grit should work.

I have a gen 3 pro and am considering getting a WE130 to compliment it. The single lever action is nice (especially for knives that have already been profiled on the WE), but it does have some inherent limitations with specific regard to asymmetric grinds. The WE130 / Pro Pack 3 is the most versatile setup.

Man, I was way off (sarcasm alert!).

Alan,

Your mods are always very professional looking. Nice work!

Welcome Gene!

I’d say that looks like a very nice sharpening setup you’ve selected. The only thing that stands out to me as missing is an angle cube. Amazon has a good selection of them if the one that WE offers isn’t to your liking.

I recently purchased the 1.4 micron / 0.6 micron ceramics. Like you, I already have up to the 1500 grit diamonds and they give great results. I use the ceramic stones after the whole progression of diamonds. I have only used them on 2 knives thus far, but I like what they do and think they will become a regular part of my sharpening progression.…[Read more]

I would agree that it is probably a delicate edge if it is as acute as I think it is. My estimate is based on the fact that most Spyderco knives usually come from the factory with a 15-17 degree per side edge so you’d have to thin the blade pretty substantially in order to get bevels that wide. I suspect that Josh has a micro bevel on it to make…[Read more]

That’s a screengrab from Razor Edge Knives’ video on the new 2017 gen. 3 clamp, right? Josh is a member here so you could PM him. I would guess that is 10 degrees per side.

Call Wicked Edge and they will take care of you. Their customer service is superb. You’ll even talk to a real person with no menu runarounds.

You might be able to get a highly polished edge if you load your leather belt with a polishing compound and do several passes. I think it will be pretty hard to convert a 600 grit finish to a mirrored finish without any additional stones. My experience has been that the fastest way to get a mirrored edge is to go through a progression that ends…[Read more]

When I look at the thread I don’t see your business card so I’m not sure how to help.

Now that knife has a proper edge! While it may be hard to believe, your edges will get a lot better than that once the diamond plates have been broken in fully. You’ll see what I mean soon enough.

The board is made of cherry in the 18 x 12 x 1.5 size. I purchased it from an authorized third party retailer (www.houzz.com) because it was a great deal ($94) and it was made by a reputable shop in the US. I actually wanted a walnut board because I thought I preferred the way they look but was pleasantly surprised about how lovely the cherry…[Read more]

I purchased this end grain cutting board made by Jones Cutting Boards LLC:

I have noticed a big boost in edge retention on my knives as a result. I still use polycarbonate boards for poultry prep, but just about everything else is done on that end grain board now.

This is the knife with the 6 degree per side bevel, right? Knives with high hardness steels and thin edge geometries are prone to chipping. I have chipped my gyuto by accidentally lightly tapping the edge against a plastic bowl. It is not inconceivable that cutting a really robust hunk of bread could do that to a delicate edge.

I’ve read your post three times now and I still don’t think I understand what you’re asking. Every knife that you sharpen on the WE for the first time will need to be re-profiled to some extent. You can do your best to match the factory bevel angles to minimize the quantity of steel that is removed, but it will still need to be re-profiled to get…[Read more]

The angle marks on the wicked edge are calibrated for blades that sit something like 5/8 inches above the clamp (I always forget, so don’t quote me on that). The markings will be inaccurate for all other situations. This is why the angle cube is essential if you want to know what angle you are actually sharpening at.

Just because a manufacturer…[Read more]

I do share your concern. I spent about two hours on the progression which is quite a bit longer than I typically spend on a knife. I also used the 1.4 / 0.6 ceramic stones (also recently acquired) after the 1500 grit diamond rather than going directly to the strops. That could have made a difference as well.