I have a Winkler/Dynamis (Double Edge) knife. I haven’t purchased a WE yet, but I am close to. I don’t want to buy an expensive sharpening system that can’t sharpen all my knives.
Anyone have experience with sharpening dagger, double edge blades on the WE? Which WE would be best for such knives?
Thank you in advance for your time.
Welcome Steven, I can share that the WE130 model with the Gen 3 Vise is the most versatile W.E. model. It can sharpen the largest variety of size, style and blade shapes. That said, the Wicked Edge cannot clamp and sharpen every knife. Some knives require the assistance of an additional adapter, a modification or maybe some ingenuity on your part to figure out how best to clamp and sharpen your knife blade. It can take trial and error, practice and sometimes finagling to get it done.
I’d try to clamp it on the midline spine with the blade wrapped with a patch of real leather chamois towel or maybe a strip of foam tape as a shim to give the vise jaws a fllatter or better area for purchase.
I’m hoping a forum member with experience with these type of knives will chime in.
I did a YouTube search “sharpening double edge daggers on wicked edge” but came up dry.
Thank you very much for the reply! Hopefully, he’ll chime in.
I don’t own a dagger, but I believe that using chamois around the dagger would help. I used some pig skin that I use for lining holsters and sheaths with and it works great holding onto knives with. A photo is always helpful when you ask questions.
You can maybe use a Tormek SVM-00 small blade adapter also. I bought one and it works great. I used it for a small paring knife. Below is a photo of it. My pig skin is only 0.0265" thick. So the chamois may work better for a dagger if it is a little thicker. And just be careful clamping it in the vise. Or maybe try the Tormek. I would bet that it can be done. My Boker Plus Kalashnikov 74 Auto is a dagger type blade but the top edge is unsharpened. I polished the edges up great on it. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Oops! Sorry! I thought I attached it. Here it is.
Thank you for the fast reply and willingness to help.
I’m assuming you’re using a WE130 with the vise?
also, is that electrical tape that you’re using to secure the Tormek to the WE?
Oh, welcome to the forum, Steven. To answer your other question, I would go for the WE130. I bought the Pro Pack III when I bought mine. I chose it because it sits lower on the table and because I can do asymmetrical grinds with it. But which system is better for you depends on what you want and need. The WE130 is perfect for me.
Also, you will notice that I used blue painters tape with my Boker auto. The blade did slip a little in the clamp while sharpening and I had to keep an eye on it. But I’ll bet that if you use a piece of chamois leather like Marc teaches, the clamp will hold the blade much better. Right now I am using black pig skin but I’m going to get some leather chamois soon and get it a try.
I am using blue painters tape (masking tape) to help the clamp face grab the blade, and Tormek mounting bar, better. But as I said in the other post, the pig skin works better. And leather chamois works even better than the pig skin I would imagine. I’ll probably never use masking tape again.
Steven you may be able to clamp that knife on the opposite side’s blade just under the longitudinal center line. Then repeat when you sharpen the second side. Depending on how slanted the blade is with the blue tape, foam tape, moleskin foam or chamois, one of these should give you the extra hold you need.
The Wicked Edge is called a knife sharpener. I like to say it’s a hand operated tool. It’s really a very secure clamping stable vise with precision adjustable angle jigs to help us position our sharpening stones, so we “the knife sharpeners”, can hand sharpen our knives.
Like Robert said, “where there’s a will there’s a way”. Those who can think outside the box, who have a little creativity, ingenuity and mechanical ability, can use the W.E. sharpeners well. We just figure out how to make it do what we need it to do. If you can figure out how to clamp a knife steady and securely then you can sharpen it. We adapt to the task while using adapters like the W.E. low angle adapters and the Tormek small knife holders. Whatever it takes.
Wow! You guys are awesome!
I’m impressed on how willing y’all are to help.
It’s much appreciated.
The forum is supported by Wicked Edge but we are a totally separate entity. We are W.E. users wanting to help new users to figure it out. In turn we learn through helping.
Just so you know, W.E. does have great customer support, too.
The Pro Pack 3 is a bundle purchase. It’s the most well optioned and accessorized WE130 set-up. The WE130 alone is basically equipped with just enough included pieces to get you started. If you get into knife sharpening with the W.E. you’ll probably eventually purchase everything included in the Pro Pack 3 and more. Buy it all now or buy it separately, later?
You’re very welcome. Any time you need help or advice, just ask. And remember that photos always help.
Hello and welcome. I recently sharpened my Benchmade Mini Infidel OTF Dagger with a chisel grind in my WE130. I clamped the knife exactly on the mid-line and sharpened half of the blade at a time. Then when I went through my full progression and finished, I flipped it over, mounted it exactly as high on the other side and repeated the process. It came out great. I strongly recommend a combination of the advanced alignment guide and a digital angle gauge to create symmetrical bevels.
Thank you Marc! That makes a lot of sense.
Do you tape up or use leather chamois when it’s in the clamp?
I use a small rectangular patch cut from a real leather chamois towel. I fold or wrap it up around the knife spine and sides so it lays between the knife steel and the W.E. clamp jaws. It’s just held in place by the jaws. I also use blue painters tape applied to any place on a knife when I believe steal dust or sharpening stone debris may fall onto the knife steel to scratch or mar the knife’s finish. I’ll also cover the hinge mechanisms and liners to keep the debris out on folding knives.
I almost forgot to mention, the chamois compressed by the locked jaws does seem to help hold the knife clamped more securely. If the knife were to shift in the vise there is no metal-metal contact that could scratch the knife.
Here’s an older photo from years ago showing the chamois in the vise clamp around the knife:
