Who uses guide wedges?

Trout Hound

Trout Hound

Joined
Sep 28, 2014
Messages
693
Just wondering who all on here uses angle guide wedges on a bench stone, and how you make them. I was sharpening a REALLY small blade on a peanut-style pocket knife this weekend, and it was so thin from edge to spine that I couldn't use my DMT aligner clamp without it dragging on the stone. So, I got an oak 1x2 and went to work on the chop saw cutting myself little 15* wedges. It seemed to work pretty well, and unless I'm fooling myself, I seem to be able to keep the angle pretty consistent throughout the stroke if I just get started right.
 
I've played around with them. I have some cut in various angles that I had the guys at work make on our CNC router. They are made of MDF, so if I get them wet, they'll pretty much fall apart. So they are useful for a double check every now and then, but I can't leave them sitting on a stone that's wet with water or oil. Plus, the mechanics don't work out well, at least for me. My wedges are 3/4" thick and maybe 5" long in the long dimension. Trying to rest the blade on the wedge and then stroke it on the stone is awkward. Like a said, it's a good double check, but not a true guide.

Finally, it's important to note that the angle you grind into the bevel is going to be higher than your wedge angle. That's because blades themselves have some angle from center line to outer face. Most are going to be 5 to 10 degrees inclusive. Which means you need to add 2, 3, maybe 4 degrees to each side to get the "true" angle. It really doesn't matter, but if you want to be accurate about your angles, that's what you need to do.

Brian.
 
I cut them from composite balusters, which are made with plastic and a waterproof resin bonding agent. They are 5/8 inch high by 1 1/4 square. I make them in sets which consist of 8-10-12-14-15-16-17-18-and 20 degree angles. Sharpening angles are always taken from the center line of a blade which means you rest the ricasso on the degree wedge. Do not use the primary bevel itself unless you know the angle at which it was ground.
Place the ricasso on the wedge, lock your wrist, and sharpen. Stay on one side until a burr is raised from plunge to tip. Once you have a burr on one side then move the degree wedge to the opposite side of the stone and repeat. With just a little practice you can maintain very accurate edges using this technique. I finish on an ERU adjustable disc sharpener to remove the wire edge. Its a simple technique to learn and makes shaving edges easy to produce.

Fred
 
I use Fred's wedges and they are great, no problems with water or oil. I use the 12 and the 15 degree wedge to train my muscle memory.
 
Fred.Rowe said:
Sharpening angles are always taken from the center line of a blade which means you rest the ricasso on the degree wedge. Do not use the primary bevel itself unless you know the angle at which it was ground.
Place the ricasso on the wedge, lock your wrist, and sharpen.
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Thanks for that Fred. It's so weird, that I've been looking at blades most of my life, but I've never really completely understood their geometry. Just when I think I'm getting a handle on things, a statement like yours makes me realize that I'm still learning. Which is a good thing! I think there's a famous quote that goes something like "When I'm done learning I'm dead." Most blades will have a ricasso that you can use as a reference, but I think some won't. Like most kitchen cutlery if I'm not mistaken. Still, it's nice to be reminded that there's a true center line reference available on many blades.

Brian.
 
bgentry said:
Thanks for that Fred. It's so weird, that I've been looking at blades most of my life, but I've never really completely understood their geometry. Just when I think I'm getting a handle on things, a statement like yours makes me realize that I'm still learning. Which is a good thing! I think there's a famous quote that goes something like "When I'm done learning I'm dead." Most blades will have a ricasso that you can use as a reference, but I think some won't. Like most kitchen cutlery if I'm not mistaken. Still, it's nice to be reminded that there's a true center line reference available on many blades.

Brian.
Click to expand...

Its one thing humans do well as long as we are open to learning. With kitchen knives, if the handle is flat sided, I use that. I guesstamate also. A two inch wide blade with a full flat I'll take a guess @ 2 1/2 or 3 degrees per side on the primary bevel. A 3/4" to and 1" blade maybe 4 or 5 per side. Subtract from the desired angle and give it a go. Gives you a place to start. I've learned a lot on this forum; some very interesting post here.

Regards, Fred
 
I too have been playing around with the wedges that came with my ERU. Great for muscle memory training, as noted above. :thumbup:

Btw, Fred, I was wondering what they were made of. Now I know. Thanks. :cool:
 
I use two T bevels and a protractor. I set the protractor to the desired angle. I use one T bevel to set against that angle. lay it on the surface. then set the second t bevel upside down against the first to get the angle. Then I set the knife against the second t bevel to set my wrist.
 
I've been meaning to update this thread for a while now. I bought a 1x3" PVC trim board at the home store and cut these with it:

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I've been using them with my bench stones for a couple weeks now, and they are working really well. I just used the angle index on the saw, figuring that consistency was much more important than a degree here or there, but my angle finder said they were all exactly 1* less than intended. I'll take that for a chop saw measurement.

Anyway, they've really come in handy.
 
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