sksharp
@sksharp
active 1 year, 10 months agoForum Replies Created
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I also own a WE60, pre purchased when it first came out for $150.00. With the deluxe case and an extra set of stones(800/1000) and 14/10 leather strop, it’s a pretty complete system for personal use on certain knives, but it has limitations. For portability and ease of set up there’s nothing close though. Perfect for hunting and vacation trips. You can even leave it in your vehicle so you always have it if you want, it takes up very little space.
A comparison of the 66 to the 130 is a better comparison I think. I think the 130 is more flexible, and with my Nanuk case that came with it, it’s portable but 50 or so pounds fully loaded and the size of a large suitcase with wheels. Not something most people are going to want to drag through the woods on vacations or hunting camps.
To the pleasure, sksharp
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There is a lot in your post. Providing your stones are all broke in, I find the higher(or finer) grits like 1500 take longer to break in than lower grit stones, diamond stones always have a “toothy” edge. The strops are a great way to get rid of the “tooth” on your edge. The edges I’ve made with expensive wet stones are the only ones that don’t need to be stropped, but stropping can help most any edge, if done correctly. There are also advantages in having a little tooth depending on use and knife material.
MarcH is correct, there is no substitute for consistency. Developing good habits in the beginning will save a lot of time trying to unlearn bad or sloppy habits later.
In order to minimize the # of strokes, it’s important to check angle with a cube with every grit change. With that being said the more stokes you use the less you have to check the angle but you wind up reseting the angle slightly with almost every grit demanding a lot of strokes. I check angle with cube on every grit change and I scrub the edge on every grit at the start. After profiling edge at the start, it only take a few passes to create a burr on both sides. then I do alternating strokes until satisfied. When you get to to fine grits you can check for a burr with toilet paper if you need to. Also I try to use diminishing pressure as I go through every grit change. Pressure can have a great effect on your edges. Every grit has limit to its results. While it is true a lot of stroke delivers generally better results, at some point you run into diminishing results. After a certain point, all the strokes in the world are not going to have a huge effect. You can, if you are like me, chase your tail looking for perfect edges. There is nothing wrong with that by the way but we all need to determine how much time you have or want to spend on each edge. Time is a strategy though if you have it. I’ve spent hours, hell 10, 12, 14 or more hours on 1 edge. After a few of those I determined, for myself, that much time on 1 knife wasn’t really making the edge a lot sharper but did make it prettier. My sharpest edges were not always my prettiest edges.
For “shaving” edge you have to use strops, in my humble opinion. Lapping films produce less teeth than diamond stones but still produce little teeth here and there but less than a stone. Stopping gets rid of teeth and can produce “toothless” edges. It has taken me much more time with the strops than with the stones to produce results I was looking for.
Keep in mind there is a lot more to sharpness than just the sharpener, stones, equipment ect. ect. The grind of the knife, thickness of blade, type of material are all factors in “sharpness” just name a few.
Hope some of the rant helps, To the pleasure, sksharp
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I have not been on this forum for some time now…so how is everyone? I have owned my WE130 for 6 or so years now and I added to it for the first year or 2. I now have all strops, all lapping films, almost all stropping compounds, scissor att. ect ect ect. Even have a set of expensive wet stones and I can say without reservation that I love all of it. Is it overkill for you? The base 130 system has less in it today than it used to and if I had to do it over I would absolutely do it the same way. The 130 is a great starting package and you will know soon what if anything you will want to add to it. You will do your Shuns and other knives proud with that system and with the knives you describe, the 130 will probably last you the rest of you life. I also have the WEGO and I love that for doing a lot of knives for others because it’s a quick setup and does a reasonably good job. For most folks it’s still the sharpest knives they own after I’m done. With the 130 however I can dial in the exact edge that I want to create and repeat it very easily. How much do you want to spend and how much are you going to use it? If you have the $ and want to spend it the WE130 is a GREAT sharpener. If you are on a budget and want a sharpener that does a good job the WEGO is awesome, especially with an extra set of stones and a strop say the 14/10 or 5/3.5. or my favorite strop the 4/2 emulsion strops in leather. Hope this helps you a little.
To the pleasure, sksharp
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I’ve had a GO since it came out and I use it 30% of the time or so(also have a 130). I check the tension on the screws on every stone just like I’m setting it up for the first stone. I use an angle cube and re-adjust the angle to the desired degree. Doing this I don’t have any issue with the screw loosening since I’m checking the tension on every stone.
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We’ll look forward to hearing from you in a month or so when you can pull away from your sharpener long enough. lol
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Hello Joe! Organic, MarcH, and TCMeyers are your go to’s for kitchen knives. I know MarcH has a lot of experience with high end kitchen knifes and is always willing to help. Look forward to your experiences and advise.
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