Do you have a Wicked Edge now? It's a really easy system to use once you get the hang of it. I highly suggest using a colored sharpie on the edge to see exactly what you're sharpening with each stroke. Use a junk or cheap knife to get the hang of it.
- Use an angle cube to find out the true angle you're sharpening. Depending on the height and thickness of the blade, the listed angle on the sharpener may only be good for a relative angle. For example, I use 18° on the left and 20° on the right for my ZT0620 for sharpening to get an even angle on both sides.
- If you're not matching the original sharpening angle of the blade, it's going to take a lot longer to reprofile the blade to the angle you want.
- In normal sharpening, I use about 20 strokes on each side going from 100, 200, 400 and 600 grit.
- I always test sharpness using the "three finger" test. Or I'll just touch my fingernail with the blade edge. A sharp blade will "catch" on your nail immediately.
- Record the blade height and position and left/right angle in an Excel file or Google spreadsheet. That way, you don't have to remember what settings you used for a particular knife.
