I just arrived at this forum. I’m a knifemaker from Sweden and have lately gotten more and more interested in really sharp edges. I’ve been using my VS/cooled belt grinders for sharpening, along with a washboard hand sanding system.
But I’d like to get a more exact angle so I just bought a Wicked Edge Field and Sport Pro with two extra glass plate handles for 3M lapping film.
I’ve only tried it on a couple of blades, but even though my both me and my stones are fresh at this I’m impressed at my first couple of edges. Really nice and easy to get it real sharp. I sharpened a drop point at 15 DPS. I started it by free hand at the 2x72 with AO120/AO220 grit and then in the WE up to 1000 diamond and stropped it at the same angle with 0,30 micron film. Amazingly sharp.
I have a couple of laser gyutos in the works that’s going to be interesting to sharpen, indeed.
Welcome to the forum. I know you will find many people actively monitoring this forum who are willing to help answer any questions you may have!. Most of us, including myself, learn something new every week. You can also find many great old posts and threads with tremendous information. Enjoy!
Welcome currenthill. There is a lot of good info on here and most of these guys are very helpful. They have taught me a lot and gave even more to think about.
I just used my new WEPS to sharpen one of my new Gyutos (O1/63 HRC), at 11 DPS, 200-1000 + stropping with 3M film.
It’s a learning curve, as with everything else. Today I learned to be more careful until muscle memory picks up the motions. I managed to get a couple of scratches when not paying enough attention to my strokes. Or maybe it’s best to protect the blade with tape?
I’m also trying to learn proper alignment of the blade in the fixture. Especially for the long blades, I initially took of a little to much at the tip. And I’m doing some experimentation with what kind of stroke I should use. I didn’t quite get the finish I wanted, I may have to be more meticulous at every grit. Just like when hand rubbing my blades.
But it’s sharp, really sharp. Managed to cut a free hanging hair.
I think I’m going to try a microbevel at 13 DPS on the next one, to attain better edge retention.
Yeah, this site doesn’t support signatures. I made a macro to insert signatures in posts for sites that don’t, but I find I hardly use it. Ok, just for once :
I was also a little bit disappointed in the finish I has achieving on the first few knives. I had spent hours watching youtube videos of people getting mirrored edges with their WE sharpeners and the best I could do was a hazy satin finish. The stones really did break with some use. I noticed that the finish improved dramatically on the 7th knife that I sharpened.
By the way, I just sliced a rather big amount of tomatoes, onions, garlic, cucumbers and other healthy candy. It was a real treat with the WEPS sharpened gyuto. The effortless smoothness when slicing right through the delicate skin of the tomatoes is absolutely soul cleansing.
A quick follow-up after sharpening many blades. I’m pretty much getting the results I want, but I still managed to get a couple of rather large scratches or scuff marks on my blades. I’m therefore taping them before sharpening now, but sometimes, for a quick touch up it would be nice to avoid the excessive taping procedure. Do you guys have any idea what I’m doing wrong to end up with these marks.
I didn’t have any detail pictures of what I mean, but on this one there’s one clearly visible.
I also made a holder for my stones, nothing fancy, but it suit my needs just fine.
This may or may not be the culprit of your scratches but it has been the cause of mine…I have found that the towel, rag or paper towel I am using to wipe off the knife as I am sharpening it may trap tiny metal filings. As I wipe down the knife it would impart little scratches to the knife blade. So change the towel or fold it often, to expose a new clean side or surface to wipe the blade to help prevent that from happening. Also if you tape your blade to protect it, the removed metal can fall and collect where the edge of the tape meets the blade, then as you’re wiping the blade during the sharpening process, the towel grabs this accumulation of tiny metal particles and pulls it across the blade sometimes scratching it. If there is trapped metal when you remove the tape after sharpening you can actually scratch the blade as you are handling the knife to remove this tape. I suggest you wipe with clean soft towel, wipe very gently and wipe very often.
I to have found the wiping medium to leave particles behind. I started cutting scot shop towels into 1 1/2" to 2" squares and spray with alcohol, I wipe twice, one side of the square then the other and throw it away. This has pretty much eliminated leaving particles behind. After I’m done sharpening I wipe with a clean micro-fiber towel very gently before I clean the blade.
The scratch seen in the photo of the fixed-blade knife wasn’t likely caused by loose particles. It happens when you accidentally hit the side of the blade with a corner of one of the stones. I don’t see any glass stones in your rack, but they are notorious for producing scratches like that. In this case, I would say that the cause was probably one of the diamond stones. Other than taking great care in your strokes, the only sure cure is protecting the faces of the blade with tape, as you described in one of your posts.
I was wondering if you taped the knife in the photo? Do you have a stop on the rods to prevent the stone from falling below the edge? I ask out of curiosity because I haven’t experienced a scratch perpendicular to the edge as the knife you picture. I wipe the blade horizontally and have stops on the rods to prevent the stone falling below the edge and scratching the blade.
Yes, I see what you mean. I believe I read about something similar in another thread here on this forum. The four handles to the right are all glass. I use them for 3M Lapping films. I think somebody even recommended rounding the glass edge.
And you’re probably right in your assumption that I accidently hit the side, based on the fact that I had more than one of these scratches on my blades when I just started using the WEPS.
So what I’ve concluded so far:
Tape the side on my blades for extra protection
Keep practising WEPS sharpening to minimize rookie movement mistakes
