WEPS Question: Sharpening an already pretty sharp knife......

[Rolex John]

OK, I've been practicing with my WEPS on some crappy kitchen knives and on a 20+ year old Gerber.

In the case of the Gerber, I've been able to get it hair popping sharp which was an amazing accomplishment considering how bad off the knife was. Now I'd like to try and start with a reasonably sharp knife and make it truly wicked sharp, with a polished edge.

My question is this - should I use the same procedure as I would with a dull knife? Start with the 100 grit diamond stone, find a bur on each side, then progress with each of the other grits?

My hope is that since it is already reasonably sharp, it will be easy to find a bur, and take less time with the diamonds, but perhaps a bit more with the other stones to get a good polished edge.

 

[phillipsted]

I've used a WEPS for about a year-and-a-half now, and here's how I would approach it:

1. Carefully line up the angle so that you are hitting the primary bevel on the knife closely.

2. Use the "sharpie trick" - color the bevel to ensure that you are hitting as close to the current bevel as possible.

3. Start with 400 grit and ensure that you have a nice even bevel and are generating a burr on both sides. You could start with the 200 grit, but the scratches left by that stone can take a while to work out...

4. Proceed through your regular stone progression. I usually end with some 3M micro abrasive film and take it down to 0.5 micron. (the WEPS folks can sell you "blank" paddles the 3M strips adhere to. This brings up a nice mirror edge.

Hope this helps!

TedP