- Joined
- Jun 17, 2010
- Messages
- 644
I have wanted a Wicked Edge sharpening system ever since I saw it for the first time. Problem was that I just didn't have an extra 250 dollars to invest into a sharpening system supporting a wife and two children on a single income. I decided that I was going to attempt to make my own after getting the idea I can use the Smiths clamp that came with a sharpening kit my wife got me as a gift. I also have access to aluminum at work, and a mill. This is not to be considered as a how to guide to make your own, just explaining what I did and how it works. Please be sure to read the conclusion of this post.
We had some very tight tolerance 1 inch Aluminum Square bars left over from a project and my boss said I can use it. Here is the piece I started with:
I used a drill press and drilled a single hole in the center of the Aluminum bar so I could use a screw to attach the smiths clamp.
I then drilled holes on the reverse side of the aluminum, a bigger hole in the center so I can fit the head of the allen screw, and two holes on each end so I could attach feet to keep it stable.
This is the Smith's clamp I used.
Here you can see the hole that was already in the bottom of the clamp that I used to attach the clamp to the aluminum Bar.
I had other plans for the red thumb screws that came with the clamp so I just replaced them with standard allen head screws.
Here is what the clamp looks like attached to the aluminum bar.
I then proceeded to make the feet to keep this thing stable, here is the piece of aluminum I used followed by pictures of it cut in half, holes I drilled, threaded, and feet attached.
Here it is with the feet attached. Starting to look like something now.
I then got a big chunk of aluminum, cut it in half and milled a 1" squares so they will slide on the aluminum bar. The thinner slots are for attaching the arms that the diamond plates will ride on.
I then drilled and tapped them to accept those red thumb screws. I used a universal joint socket with a 6" socket extension. They are permanently bonded together with steel putty so there is no play. They are perfectly straight and have no wiggle side to side or up and down.
I used a 3/4" aluminum bar to make the holders for the diamond plates. I used a square collet in the lathe and drilled a hole to accept the socket extensions. The diamond plates are DMT brand and are just epoxied onto the aluminum.
And here we are all done. It works good.
Conclusion:
This sharpener works very well, and was definitely cheaper than buying the Wicked Edge. I did however have to put a lot of man hours into this and it was still expensive buying all of the diamond plates from DMT. Just for two sets of diamond plates and the diamond paste it was roughly 140 dollars. If you add that into the labor I put into this, I think I would have been better off just buying the real thing. If i had to buy all of the aluminum I used for this project I probably would have ended up around 200 dollars total invested. It really opened my eyes as to why the Wicked Edge cost so much money. It takes a lot of time, and the materials that go into it are not cheap. The clamp on mine is no where near as strong as the one on the Wicked Edge, plus with the Wicked Edge you have keys to keep the spine of your blade in the same spot each time you sharpen it. I have to use a sharpy every time I sharpen and adjust where I slide the base of the arms so I am hitting the right spot on the edge. I am happy with the outcome of my Sharpening system, it gets the job done and I am able to obtain mirror finish blazing sharp edges every time. The biggest thing I took away from this project is new respect for the Wicked Edge. I used to think it was over priced for what you got, I now understand where the cost comes from, and think it is worth the investment. Thanks for taking the time to read this, please let me know what you guys think.
We had some very tight tolerance 1 inch Aluminum Square bars left over from a project and my boss said I can use it. Here is the piece I started with:
I used a drill press and drilled a single hole in the center of the Aluminum bar so I could use a screw to attach the smiths clamp.
I then drilled holes on the reverse side of the aluminum, a bigger hole in the center so I can fit the head of the allen screw, and two holes on each end so I could attach feet to keep it stable.
This is the Smith's clamp I used.
Here you can see the hole that was already in the bottom of the clamp that I used to attach the clamp to the aluminum Bar.
I had other plans for the red thumb screws that came with the clamp so I just replaced them with standard allen head screws.
Here is what the clamp looks like attached to the aluminum bar.
I then proceeded to make the feet to keep this thing stable, here is the piece of aluminum I used followed by pictures of it cut in half, holes I drilled, threaded, and feet attached.
Here it is with the feet attached. Starting to look like something now.
I then got a big chunk of aluminum, cut it in half and milled a 1" squares so they will slide on the aluminum bar. The thinner slots are for attaching the arms that the diamond plates will ride on.
I then drilled and tapped them to accept those red thumb screws. I used a universal joint socket with a 6" socket extension. They are permanently bonded together with steel putty so there is no play. They are perfectly straight and have no wiggle side to side or up and down.
I used a 3/4" aluminum bar to make the holders for the diamond plates. I used a square collet in the lathe and drilled a hole to accept the socket extensions. The diamond plates are DMT brand and are just epoxied onto the aluminum.
And here we are all done. It works good.
Conclusion:
This sharpener works very well, and was definitely cheaper than buying the Wicked Edge. I did however have to put a lot of man hours into this and it was still expensive buying all of the diamond plates from DMT. Just for two sets of diamond plates and the diamond paste it was roughly 140 dollars. If you add that into the labor I put into this, I think I would have been better off just buying the real thing. If i had to buy all of the aluminum I used for this project I probably would have ended up around 200 dollars total invested. It really opened my eyes as to why the Wicked Edge cost so much money. It takes a lot of time, and the materials that go into it are not cheap. The clamp on mine is no where near as strong as the one on the Wicked Edge, plus with the Wicked Edge you have keys to keep the spine of your blade in the same spot each time you sharpen it. I have to use a sharpy every time I sharpen and adjust where I slide the base of the arms so I am hitting the right spot on the edge. I am happy with the outcome of my Sharpening system, it gets the job done and I am able to obtain mirror finish blazing sharp edges every time. The biggest thing I took away from this project is new respect for the Wicked Edge. I used to think it was over priced for what you got, I now understand where the cost comes from, and think it is worth the investment. Thanks for taking the time to read this, please let me know what you guys think.
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