My new "Wicked Edge" Sharpener

Jfoster99

Jfoster99

Joined
Nov 11, 2012
Messages
87
I just got to tell you guys I got this contraption last week and have been practicing on the famille kitchen knives and some old folders laying around the house...

It is addictive using this thing... I am sharpening everything in sight...

My wife is not really into knives but loves cooking... Most of her kitchen blades are serrated but I did find two that were not... I spent about 10 minutes each and took them from a "U" shaped edge to an amazing razor sharp finish...

I did not say anything... Just put them back in the Block. It just so happen she cooked a 15LB turkey yesterday...

She could not stop raving about how sharp the knife was and how it just melted right through the turkey...her first reaction was to call me over.. She though something was wrong with the meat... Once I told her I sharpened the knife that was all we talked about the whole time we carved up the bird... She then moved on to raw carrots and was equally amazed..

I am slowly building up confidence to move on the sharpening my more expensive knives..
 
Also one word of caution until you get the rhythm down pat be careful when using the leather strop and long knives. You can tend to pull down toward the end of the blade and knick the leather...

Either only work on a portion of the blade at a time or pay careful attention to your stroke.
 
So would you say it was worth it? Did you just get a basic kit or a pro series? I have a really hard time dropping that kind of coin on a sharpening system. Also, did you strop them?
 
Awesome fun, isn't it? :D

Word to the wise: Warn people after you sharpen! If they're not aware and try a pull-cut into their thumb or something with a knife that USED to take a lot of force...
 
I have a Wicked Edge coming today. It's a joint Xmas present for myself and my two brother-in-laws. Should provide hours of entertainment.
 
Komitadjie said:
Awesome fun, isn't it? :D

Word to the wise: Warn people after you sharpen! If they're not aware and try a pull-cut into their thumb or something with a knife that USED to take a lot of force...
Click to expand...

You know your situation better than we do, and it's hilarious that your wife thought there was something wrong with the meat, but Komitadjie is right. It's extremely dangerous to sharpen a knife "by surprise".
 
I sharpen down at a local gun shop on the weekends, and it's really amazing. You hand them their knife with the spoken warning "Careful, it's sharp!", and what's the first thing they do? Cut themselves right there trying to prove it.
 
Awesome - love the review! Nice having those sharp knives - Emily loves them so much, and the Wicked Edge makes it so easy that she sharpens them herself now - as soon as the knife starts to dent the tomato she mounts it up in the vise and touches it back up

Komitadjie said:
I sharpen down at a local gun shop on the weekends, and it's really amazing. You hand them their knife with the spoken warning "Careful, it's sharp!", and what's the first thing they do? Cut themselves right there trying to prove it.
Click to expand...

Guess I've been lucky so far - had lots of hair and callouses shaved off with returned knives - as well as cut sheaths - but after thousands of knives- knock on wood - no blood (except for my own :culpability:) . Of course I always have a full first aid kit under the table just in case
 
Wow. I easily relate to Komitadjie.

It's not at all uncommon for someone to cut themselves, just trying to see if a blade will shave arm hair, in my shop.

One burly sob almost severed a tendon trying to shave the hair on his thumb a week ago.
 
You've been lucky so far, OB! Either that, or you have a bit more cautious kind of client.

I've had three cuts that I'm aware of from my sharpened knives of any consequence, one bad enough that it needed stitches. Fortunately, that one was NOT a 'testing the edge' cut, it was a "wow, this thing takes a LOT less force to cut these... oops... oh... shit." cut. I think the one that made me laugh the most was a guy who brought in a Gerber fixed blade to show off. The factory edge was literally so bad that it would not only not shave, it would not cut paper at all. As in, both sides supported, you could not SAW through the paper without tearing it. And the guy didn't believe me that I could improve that edge. So I chuckled and told him that if I couldn't get it sharper than it was, I'd buy him anything he wanted out of the display case. So I sharpend that sucker up, and I pulled out all the stops, gave it the works. Reprofiled at 120, then took it all the way up through Trizact A3, then 1u BC on leather, then .5u CrO on leather. EASILY hair-whittling edge, no trouble at all. Handed it back to him, and the first thing he does is drag his thumb over the blade, and look down surprised as he drips blood on the display case. His comment? "Oh... I guess you DID get it sharper. Wow. Got a bandaid?"
 
LOL...LOL...:D

Some people should be removed from the gene pool. But then we would not have as many good stories to tell I guess.

Omar
:rolleyes:
 
USCG_Cannon_Cocker said:
So would you say it was worth it? Did you just get a basic kit or a pro series? I have a really hard time dropping that kind of coin on a sharpening system. Also, did you strop them?
Click to expand...

I got the pro version. I have zero experience sharpening so being able to spend 5-10 minutes on a large blade and get it razor sharp was awesome.. There isn't a dull blade in the house...

I sat at the kitchen table last night while my wife was cleaning up after dinner and the kids were doing home work and sharpened 6 knives in under and hour... I was thinking how nice it was we were all in the same room doing our "stuff" teasing each other and joking around. The kids were saying they need to hide the butter knives before I sharpen those as well and that the spoons looked nervousness ( afraid I was going to sharpen then next).

So to answer your question it was absolutely worth every penny to me.
 
Quick question for you guys that have one of these: how easy is it to use with knives that have a long swedge or false edge? Or for that matter, how easy would it be to deal with a double edge?
 
FULL double-edge could be tricky, you'd have to clamp down at the base, probably, and that runs into issues with keeping the bevels even. I haven't had any trouble with FFG knives, or swedge grinds. There tends to be enough flat to orient the knife in the clamp, and the amount of side-pressure (if you're using the tool correctly) is not high enough to "roll" the knife in the clamp. For a little more stabilization, a lot of guys use double-sided tape to put a conforming surface on the inside of the jaws near the top, mostly for FFG knives. Clay has a LOT of demonstrations of various techniques on Youtube. :)
 
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