I got my Wicked Edge Sharpener about a month ago. I found it did not hold long heavy knives very well. I came to this forum and found a lot of great ideas. Many use multiple vises. Gregg776 said he thought what was needed was a way to move the paddles along the blade.
I incorporated these ideas into the design shown below. I chose an overall length of 24 inches. The length did not add much to the cost. I figured better too long than too short.
I attached the rails through oversized holes so they can be adjusted to zero out the paddle angle over their length. The paddles can move over a length of 22 inches.
I decided to go with three fixed vises. This allows for ridged clamping of a range of blades up to about 24 inches in length. The two end vises are mounted through a slot so they can move back and forth to accommodate for blade taper.
Now I need to start sharpening some blades to work out any kinks in the design.
[quote quote=“Bill Kirkley” post=22086]I got my Wicked Edge Sharpener about a month ago. I found it did not hold long heavy knives very well. I came to this forum and found a lot of great ideas. Many use multiple vises. Gregg776 said he thought what was needed was a way to move the paddles along the blade.
I incorporated these ideas into the design shown below. I chose an overall length of 24 inches. The length did not add much to the cost. I figured better too long than too short.
I attached the rails through oversized holes so they can be adjusted to zero out the paddle angle over their length. The paddles can move over a length of 22 inches.
I decided to go with three fixed vises. This allows for ridged clamping of a range of blades up to about 24 inches in length. The two end vised are mounted through a slot so they can move back and forth to accommodate for blade taper.
Now I need to start sharpening some blades to work out any kinks in the design.[/quote]
Bill,
The ideas and mods on this forum are awe inspiring, but I believe you should be nominated as Wicked Edge Mod King of the year for actually making your totally unique mod while most of the rest of us were just toying with our vague ideas.
–Gregg
Thanks guys! Designing and making gadgets is my first love. Years ago I built a salt water aquarium and its filtration system. My wife said I didn’t care about the fish, all I wanted was perfect water!
I have sharpened four knives and the sharpener works great! I sharpened several kitchen knives up to the 600 stone and they seemed quite sharp. Is there any reason to go to higher stones?
The knives were a short paring knife, an 8 inch blade on a longer (not sure what) knife. and the 11.5 inch blade on a dagger I made. ( I am learning bladesmithing, and as you can see have a ways to go!) The rail system worked great for the longer knives.
I was able to get a 12.5 degree angle on the wider paring knife. The narrower Not Sure What It Is knife only got to 16.2 degrees without hitting the vise.
Bill, this is amazing in its extension of the basic WE mount. I have only 2-3 long knives for slicing and your clamping system would help tremendously. Hats off to a great design and effective execution. And welcome to the forum…you clearly have a great deal to contribute for all of our benefit!
Thanks guys. I am not all OCD about sharpening like some of you guys! :-). I only sharpen a few knives every few months. So the old style vises work for me.
