Wicked Edge Sharp Knives
@wicked-edge-sharp-knives
active 3 years, 4 months agoForum Replies Created
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As you know, the Ken Onion edition of the Worksharp is a belt sander. When I do use the Ken Onion, I use it with the Ken Onion Belt attachment. The niche where it fits is for sharpening things like hatchets, axes and survival type knives where quite a bit of metal needs to be removed. In other words, I like the Ken Onion belt attachment when I want to quickly put a slight beveled grind on the blade. The slight bevel is just an outcome of the deflection of the belt against the knife….. sort of like a leather strop. I know a beveled edge can be done with the WEP as I have done it a few times. However, the belt sharpener is much quicker. With the Ken Onion belt attachment – while there is an alignment reference guide – you are sharpening free hand. So, less precision and it is easy to remove lots of metal quickly. I found that with both the basic Worksharp and the Ken Onion edition, when inserting the knife into the angle guides, they kind of have a sweet spot for the size of the knife they will work on – not too thick, not to small, etc. The Tormec does not put a beveled grind on the blade. Some my argue it puts a hollow grind on the blade because of the round wheel. However, for all practical purposes, where the blade meets the stone, it is a flat grind. I do not care for the Tormec axe/hatchet holder. So, that is my two cents. The WEP sees about 90% of my sharpened tools. I especially like the ability to put on a primary and secondary bevel and that kind of precision can only be done in a repeatable way on the WEP. Now, I am experimenting with using the Tormec for the primary bevel and the WEP for the secondary bevel when I encounter a knife needing a resharpen for the first time. Also, I plan on experimenting with the Tormec on some of my good knives once the secondary bevel eventually wears done from resharpening to the point that the secondary bevel performed on the WEP is gone.
Hi Mark76, I have many sharpening devices. I own a Tormec T8. The Tormec is favored by me when: I am sharpening large knives that are made of poorly heat treated steel that are very hard, small knives with poor steel that take a long time to sharpen that don’t take an edge very well, and knives that are abused by family members and need frequent attention. The Tormec will also sharpen scissors, hedge trimmers, etc. The Tormec is not precise enough to apply primary and secondary bevels. The Tormec will put a good workman like edge on a knife very quickly. However, the Wicked Edge is capable of precision ultra sharp repeatable results like no other.
I have too many. I have gone down the river you speak of. I have stones, lansky, apex, tormec, electric sharpeners, Ken Onion belt sharper and the WEP. I was never great at getting consistent results on the stones. Lansky was a step forward and Apex was a big step beyond the basic Lanskey. Electric slot sharpeners were pretty disappointing. The Apex was quite good but the WEP was and still is the best high end option. I like the belt sharpener for axes and hatchets. The Tormec T8 is great for many things, even knives. The Tormec works great on knives that are made of steels that are hard to sharpen that would otherwise be throw-away. However, the WEP on knives, offers precision, repeatability and the ability to do things like precision micro-bevels. For knives, the WEP has no peer if one wants something beyond a workmans’s edge.
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I made a similar post a few months ago. I was never able to get an acceptable micro-bevel using 200 grit. I had great success when I switched to 600 grit on my knives with harder steel and 800 grit on my knives with softer steel. I am using about ten alternating strokes per side (20 total). My strokes for the micro bevel are downward (from heel to tip). I then back off two degrees from the microbevel angle and strop lightly with the same number of strokes (upward from heel to tip). This has been so successful for me that every knife I sharpen gets the microbevel treatment. Touch up is a breeze. I look at my records to see how the knife was previously mounted. Then I use the same grit I used to create the microbevel. However, for touch ups, I start with about five strokes per side (upward from heel to tip to straighten the edge) and then do about five strokes per side downward from heel to tip. Then, I use the stropping process. I have touched up the microbevel on my EDC knife about eight times and still have only eaten into about 40% of the primary bevel. I have used micro bevels fro 3 to 5 degrees greater than the primary bevel with success. I like big differentials between primary and secondary bevel when the cutting tool will be used roughly – like a cleaver or survival knife. I hope this advice is of some value to you
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Thanks! You always seem to have great posts…. I usually learn something new. I also appreciate the links you embed. You and others make this forum worth reading and posting.
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Hi RazorEdgeKnives. I just want to send you a quick thank you. It has probably been nearly two years since you gave me some feedback. You helped me move to the next level in sharpening. I am now pretty darn good. Still, lots to learn but I credit you for letting me know I could do better. You kind of enlarged the envelope of what I could expect to be in terms of knife sharpening. I hope you are doing well and reaching even higher in your expertise of using the WEP system. THANKS for helping to turn me from a low level WEP pedestrian user to someone who is now a proven believer in the system. I now have a kitchen, drawer, pocket and many friends with some scary sharp knives.
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