I ordered my wicked edge pro pack from Howes knife shop yesterday and it should be here tomorrow! I can’t wait to try it out. Just thought I would say hi!
Well that’s fast! Welcome aboard, I know you’ll love it… there’s a lot of great info on these forums in addition to help. If you have any questions, look no further :). I also love the on-going research that occurs here, such as Clay’s microscopic research and BasslakeDan’s edge testing research… Hope you enjoy it and learn as much here as I have!
post pics of your first mirror edge if you get time 
Thanks! And most likely I will get it out of the box, set it up, and put a knife in the clamp as soon as I get it. Also I will look around on these forums for info and other cool stuff about the WE and after I sharpen some knives I will post pics! I am only 14 and have a few good knives but I will start sharpening on my beater knives just for practice/getting through the learning curve and I will move up from there!
Welcome Mark! 14 eh! Wow, what a coincidence, that is the age my friend and I got out first war surplus Fairbairn-Sykes commando knives. You could get them in 1949 for about 3 dollars each! That started me on my love of knives for the next 63 years. 
You are really going to love your WEPS. Take your time and be sure you raise that all important burr along the whole length of both sides of the edge with the 100 grit paddles each time you sharpen a knife for the first time withe WEPS…after that remember to brush the blade gently with the rest of the paddles and strops.A lot of pressure is not only unnecessary, but it is counterproductive. You will get sharp knives that will please you a lot.
Best of luck my young friend and remember, there are people here to advise you whenever you are stumped.
Very best regards
Leo
Cool, thanks for the tip. I have only been into knives since last October but have bought a few good quality knives (mostly spyderco). At first I was trying to decide in between a wicked edge and an edge pro, I chose the edge pro with chosera stones and I am getting really nice, hair whittling edges. Still, though, I wanted to try the WEPS because there were some things that I felt were better on the WEPS, so I got one!
Welcome Mark! I’m a newb here myself.
I have a good selection of Spyderco knives myself (though I’m sure not as many as some).
My first “good” knife was/is a Spyderco Pacific Salt that I got for use when fishing here in Florida. That has been the best knife ever! Would you believe I’ve had it about 5 years or so now and have never sharpened it! And it’ll still cut through a 1/2" anchor rope like its nothing! LOL I know this because I’ve had to leave a few anchors on the bottom in the last 5 years.
Anyway, I can’t wait to put a whole new razor sharp edge on it when my WEPS arrives on Tuesday.
Good luck!
nice, the only knife in the salt series I have is the ladybug hawkbill SE salt, great little knife. I have 2 beater spydercos, a delica 4 with saber ground vg-10 and a manix 2 but the Delica is the one I use for experimenting with sharpening, so that is what I will use first along with some of my cheap knives.
Hi Mark - Welcome - and please don’t hesitate to throw out ideas and questions, we are all here to learn from one another and help where we can!
And - Leo didn’t use his “light as a summer breeze” - but he is right, keep it light after your coarse plates and have fun!
Didn’t I?!!! Tsk! I meant to but this old brain just isn’t hitting on all 8 cylinders! LOL! Yup! Brush those edges with the finer grits as light as a summer breeze!
There, now I feel better! :cheer:
Leo
{quote=“BobNash” post=3606][quote quote=“MarkAlexander” post=3589]I ordered my wicked edge pro pack from Howes knife shop yesterday and it should be here tomorrow! I can’t wait to try it out. Just thought I would say hi![/quote]
Hi Mark - Welcome - and please don’t hesitate to throw out ideas and questions, we are all here to learn from one another and help where we can!
And - Leo didn’t use his “light as a summer breeze” - but he is right, keep it light after your coarse plates and have fun![/quote]D
ok, so i have sharpened 5-6 knives and they aren’t getting very sharp… they will kinda shave hair and will cut phonebook paper ok but not near as well as when sharpened on my EP and I am doing the “light as a summer breeze” thing with the 400-3.5 strops…
[quote quote=“leomitch” post=3613]Didn’t I?!!! Tsk! I meant to but this old brain just isn’t hitting on all 8 cylinders! LOL! Yup! Brush those edges with the finer grits as light as a summer breeze!
There, now I feel better! :cheer:
Leo[/quote]
Whew, I feel better now too! :silly:
There are a couple things that could be happening - two most likely:
First, and this doesn’t happen with everyone but it can be very pronounced for some people, and from your description this sounds like what might be happening to you - your diamond plates are brand new and will take time to break in, so you’ll get sharp but not super sharp - cuts paper but no curves and maybe a snag or two. I don’t know if you have worked with diamond plates before so you probably haven’t experienced this effect. You are probably noticing quite a bit of diamond powder coming off onto your mounting base as you work. As the stones smooth, this powder will lessen and you’ll get a more refined edge. The break in time can vary from a few knives to a lot of knives (as other users will probably attest). I didn’t personally notice this effect much at all, but some of my customers have gone as many as 20 knives. I’d make sure not to rush through any of the grits as you work, just take your time on each grit and don’t progress until you don’t feel any real resistance points to the plate on the blade (at least to this point, you can go longer too to really make sure you remove most of the scratches from the previous grit). It is possible to speed the break in time some by lightly rubbing your plates together. Also, as you retouch your knives, using your recorded settings, you’ll continue to refine your edges, working out small chips and the like.
Second option is that you aren’t quite getting out to the cutting edge with your stones. The key to getting screaming sharp is making sure you get a good solid burr raised from both sides along the full length of the blade at the coarsest grit you use.
If you need tips on this process on the WE I’m happy to post more on that, but it really sounds like breaking in your stones is going to be the key
Hope that helps some! Glad you are getting a chance to work with it right away!
Wow! Thanks! Yea I’ve never worked with diamond stones just waterstones with the edge pro and yes there is a lot of dust coming off of the stones so I think all I need is a break-in and I should be good! Thanks
Thought this was worth repeating. Also, a little more time with the leather should help clean up the edge.
cbw
AND a gentle touch with the stones.
If you use too much pressure with the lower grits, you just have more work to get rid of the scratches when you move up. I used to grind pretty hard when doing my profiling with the 100 and 200 grit stones (it is called impatience, especially with harder steels). It then took lots of time to get the scratches out. Using lighter strokes with the course grits, well it take longer to get a burr, but you save time in the long run.
Phil
So how’s it coming along Mark? Any progress?
oh yea, here is my post on Chef knives to go forum:
(Talking to Clay Allison)
“Post subject: Re: My adventures with a Wicked Edge”
“Really awesome machine! I just got my pro pack yesterday and since then I have been figuring it out (pretty simple) and sharpening. The stones took about 10 knives to really break in well enough to where I got satisfying edges. After that, they keep getting better! I have gotten hair whittling edges on CPM-M4, VG-10, and ZDP-189 since the stones have broken in. Also, congrats on the Accessory of the year at Blade show”
The CPM-M4 is a Spyderco Gayle Bradley, the VG-10 is a Delica and so is the ZDP just in case you wanted to know. And since then I have sharpened 154-CM on a Spyderco Manix2 and whatever the steel is on one of the really cheap Wusthof knives, all hair whittling! I love it!
Thanks
here are a few edges!B) not really mirrors but getting better as I use the diamond stones and the more they break in.
the cheap Wusthof:
ZDP-189 Delica:
Gayle Bradley:
¡Bravo! Nice work Mark, thank you for sharing those photos.
thanks! and also thanks for making the AWESOME sharpening system!