Gordon (Grim Granite) has posted a great video to his youtube channel about the new Wicked Edge Venture Series. In addition there’s been some great Q&A where Clay (@wickededge ) provided in-depth answers to questions about pricing (always a guaranteed topic to come up!), 3D printing and more.
The Ultimate Backpack Knife Sharpener | Wicked Edge Venture
Something truly “AMAZING” that wicked edge could do is sell the blueprint files for the 3D printer to 3D print these, and only have to purchase the diamond plates.
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That would be pretty cool, especially for those with 3D printers!
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@ClayAllisonNM
Clay here (from Wicked Edge). We prototyped with 3D printed parts and they worked well for testing the basic principles and creating a proof of concept, but they don’t work well for functional units. They have too much friction and don’t operate smoothly. We tested FDM, SLA, SLS and MJF prints with varying results but all below the threshold of a truly functional sharpener. With the injection molded parts, you get smooth, strong surfaces in materials that are engineered for the job. The Knife Guides are made from Delrin which is an excellent engineering resin as it’s strong and tough, thermally stable and has high natural lubricity. The handles are made from ABS and are tough, impact resistant and very stable thermally. 3D printed units from most filaments are not thermally stable enough and will warp if you leave them in your car on a hot day.
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@Lettoes1
@ClayAllisonNM an honor to hear from you! All this to say that I’m happy with my Gen4 Pro. I knew you had modeled with 3D printers, it has a 3D printer feel. I can agree that with the particular use case of this sharpener, heat would like be an issue. While I have you, are the 8" guide rods sufficient for the low angle/small knife clamps on my G4P or should I go up? I’d likely just get the 15s so I don’t have to get another set.
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@ClayAllisonNM
@Lettoes1 You’ll want longer guide rods with the Low Angle/Small Knife clamp. It raises the blade up about 4" and you’ll need the extra length to keep the stones from sliding off the rods.
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