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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Any negative reviews on wicked edge??
- Thread starter Jake5713
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From what I've read and watched, even without the new arms the WEPS is still the most precise sharpener on the market. I doubt you'll have any troubles, but I'll let you know on Wednesday
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Mine has the old arms, and I've not had any trouble. You just flip the arms around if you don't want to use the preset angles so that the lock screws ride on the side without the detents.
I typically use an angle cube, but every so often I'll do a quick edge using the divots. I just use the 100/200 stones on the primary bevel, then step the angle out a degree or two and switch to the 800/1K paddles and hit just the edge lightly (usually until I can see a fully-apexed microbevel with a 10x loupe), then strop. It's not a good-looking edge, and the performance probably suffers a bit for the rough finish on the main bevel, but it is very usable, and VERY quick.
I typically use an angle cube, but every so often I'll do a quick edge using the divots. I just use the 100/200 stones on the primary bevel, then step the angle out a degree or two and switch to the 800/1K paddles and hit just the edge lightly (usually until I can see a fully-apexed microbevel with a 10x loupe), then strop. It's not a good-looking edge, and the performance probably suffers a bit for the rough finish on the main bevel, but it is very usable, and VERY quick.
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I'll probably use it normally and use the angle cube to verify exact angle
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If you're going for matching down to within fractions of a degree, the stock detents likely are not going to be precise enough. The factory plates are like enough that you can get away with it, usually, but if you add in aftermarket stones/strops/plates/whatever, the thickness of the paddle changes from stock, and you don't end up with the same angle. That's where being able to make tiny little adjustments helps out quite a bit. 
It will hold the angle you set very consistently. Some blade styles that do not have parallel surfaces to clamp on give some challenge to mount perfectly vertical. Example: full flat ground knives with a distal taper like most Spyderco. You can get them vertical by using either a piece of chamoix or some double sided foam tape on the clamps to act as a space filler.
The one side of the clamp is fixed so the knife will not be perfectly centered when mounted. This is more noticeable with very thick blades obviously and it's a very slight change of 1-2 degrees. However, if you are slightly OCD like most knife knuts you will notice the bevel is a little bigger on one side. The solution to this, like mentioned above is to use an accurate angle cube and flip your arms around so they don't notch into the pre drilled divots and then set your angles exactly where you want them. The new style arms fix this issue because they have small screw adjustments to make micro adjustments with the angle cube.
It is an expensive system, but if you can't sharpen by hand it will hold the angles really well and you can achieve scary sharp edges quickly with little experience. The big learning curve is figuring out how to mount different styles and grinds of blades. Don't expect perfection, but I really don't think there is any similar system out there that does the same things better. The Edge Pro works well too, but from what people have told me it has it's own unique problems and issues that you have to work around as well.
The one side of the clamp is fixed so the knife will not be perfectly centered when mounted. This is more noticeable with very thick blades obviously and it's a very slight change of 1-2 degrees. However, if you are slightly OCD like most knife knuts you will notice the bevel is a little bigger on one side. The solution to this, like mentioned above is to use an accurate angle cube and flip your arms around so they don't notch into the pre drilled divots and then set your angles exactly where you want them. The new style arms fix this issue because they have small screw adjustments to make micro adjustments with the angle cube.
It is an expensive system, but if you can't sharpen by hand it will hold the angles really well and you can achieve scary sharp edges quickly with little experience. The big learning curve is figuring out how to mount different styles and grinds of blades. Don't expect perfection, but I really don't think there is any similar system out there that does the same things better. The Edge Pro works well too, but from what people have told me it has it's own unique problems and issues that you have to work around as well.
Steel130
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And that doesn't even start to cover the multitude of waterstone options, aftermarket diamond plates, the merits of mono vs poly diamond, CBN versus diamond, stropping substrates and the relative grit of the substrate itself... Plus the increased magnification and methods of testing edges with that degree of refinement.
THEN you get into the guys who prefer a rougher finished edge for the 'bite' it adds to the slicing cut!
Just gets more and more interesting the farther down you go!
Ken Schwartz actually cuts the stones for Wicked Edge as well. I have personally chatted with Ken and he is a stand up guy. I am actually going to be trying his nano cloth strops and CBN spray, very excited!
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Yup, Ken's an AWESOME guy. I've worked with him a fair bit, both stones for my WEPS and EP, as well as stropping stuff.
One of his specialties is Japanese natural waterstones. His knowledge there makes my head hurt.
One of his specialties is Japanese natural waterstones. His knowledge there makes my head hurt.
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Just thought I'd post that my WEPS came today and I'm loving it so far. My 800/1k stones and two strops are coming tomorrow. I have some .25 micron diamond spray and .125 micron cbn spray coming in and I'll be ordering a roo strop soon. I also have the paper from 1k-2.5k coming.
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I'm debating if I need the additional sandpaper/stones or not or if I can get away with spending more time on the 5 micron strops as I found a propack 1 for under 400$
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Well, my reasoning is that since it takes a while for the stones to break in completely, the paper with help refine the edge in the mean time. If you've been to Clay's website and viewed the forums, you have probably seen when leather is used, it burnishes the top layer of metal which sorta of flattens the deep grooves left in the steel. This works to our advantage until we get to the sub micron level where the leather's abrasive qualities actually show up on an other wise clean edge. That's why I'm getting the kangaroo strop as it doesn't have the same abrasive properties of leather.
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everytime you post my wallet cries a little
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Lol, my wallet is sitting in a corner crying in the fetal position saying, "No more, please no more!"
I have the pro pack 1 and I get pretty nice mirror finishes if I want them by spending extra time on the 3.5 micron strops.
Just back off a degree and use very light pressure, your edge will polish up and convex slightly. Scary, sticky sharp edges will be the result. Just use an angle cube if you want your bevels perfectly symmetrical.
That being said, I just convexed my Tuff by hand with sand paper and a cheap mouse pad and I'm just as happy with the results, maybe more so.
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Thanks for you input
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Grrr not a fan of break in
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Grrr not a fan of break in period
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As Jake mentioned, there's a break-in period for the plates, and it seems more extreme for the finer ones. Extremely light pressure is a key to remember, as is taking your time to get each stroke precisely right.
The diamond plates (especially fresh ones) down to 1K aren't going to get you a mirror finish, at least mine won't. If I want to get a shine like that, I start taping wet-or-dry over the 1K paddles. They WILL, however, leave an absurdly sharp edge, with just enough tooth left to grab well. The stropping will polish it up a fair bit, it takes quite a few strokes. Once you get the feel for the strop down (and likely nick the leather a couple times, don't worry, it happens) it goes quite quickly. Again, very light pressure!
It took me about a dozen knives to really get the feel for it down, I'm still nowhere *near* as fast as Clay is with it, but I can get quite good edges now. Take your time! A drop of soapy water on the diamond plate also helps, especially for finishing. Also works well to keep the sandpaper in good shape, once you go above the 1K diamonds on the wet-or-dry paper.
The diamond plates (especially fresh ones) down to 1K aren't going to get you a mirror finish, at least mine won't. If I want to get a shine like that, I start taping wet-or-dry over the 1K paddles. They WILL, however, leave an absurdly sharp edge, with just enough tooth left to grab well. The stropping will polish it up a fair bit, it takes quite a few strokes. Once you get the feel for the strop down (and likely nick the leather a couple times, don't worry, it happens) it goes quite quickly. Again, very light pressure!
It took me about a dozen knives to really get the feel for it down, I'm still nowhere *near* as fast as Clay is with it, but I can get quite good edges now. Take your time! A drop of soapy water on the diamond plate also helps, especially for finishing. Also works well to keep the sandpaper in good shape, once you go above the 1K diamonds on the wet-or-dry paper.