Just purchased the we130 with diamond stones up to 600. With not being satisfied with a rough edge like that I bought the 800 and 1000 grit stone. If I wanted to strop after 1000 would the 3.5 and 5 micron be good to do so? Or should I get another stone and then strop? I’ve even seen ceramics out there. I’m not looking for a mirror edge however I’m looking for a sharp working edge. Thanks
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Wicked edge grit progression
- Thread starter LarryT
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I don't necessarily have an answer to your question, but you did answer one of mine. I was wondering if the WE-130 and its included 100/200 and 400/600 diamond stones (for the low, low price of $525) would be sufficient for anyone. I got the impression from various videos, that the edge left by the 600 diamond stone was pretty crude. It seems you're confirming that, which begs the question, who would buy the WE130 and not also have to buy additional stones just to get an acceptable working edge?
I was expecting that adding the 800/1000 diamond stones (another $75, so $600 total) would do the trick for an excellent non-mirror working edge. Are you saying it really isn't so great at after 1000 grit, and you need another 1 or 2 steps? So then you'd add the 1200/1600 ceramic stones for another $90 and you're at $690.
Do they typically have black friday sales at wicked edge?
I was expecting that adding the 800/1000 diamond stones (another $75, so $600 total) would do the trick for an excellent non-mirror working edge. Are you saying it really isn't so great at after 1000 grit, and you need another 1 or 2 steps? So then you'd add the 1200/1600 ceramic stones for another $90 and you're at $690.
Do they typically have black friday sales at wicked edge?
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The diamond stones have a “break in” period... they’ll start to smooth out after a dozen or so knives. You can get a great working edge off the 600g stone... and a highly refined one off the 1000g. Also remember, don’t start “too coarse”... just because you have a 100g stone, doesn’t mean you have to use it on every knife... only start as coarse as needed.
I would use what you have for a while, before getting anything else, but to answer your question, if you’re not looking for a mirror finish, any of the strops will clean up the edge, so, yes the 5/3.5m strops will work (and is a good choice actually)... you wouldn’t need another stone.
) in the edgeI bought my we130 about a good month ago off bladehq for $425 with it being the older model 130 but still the 130. It included the same stones that you have. I just ordered the 800 and 1000 grit so I couldn’t tell you how good it is. With my stones not being broke in I’m guessing that the edge will edventually get a more refined edge with the 600 but I’m still gonna keep the 800 and 1000 and possibly the leather strops.
That’s just what I wanted to hear. Thanks!
Actually one more question do you think once my 600 stone is broken in and if I stropped with the 5/3.5m right after would that be good enough? Or should I still get the 1000? I just want to know if it’s worth it to get the 800 and 1000 or to skip that and just get the 5/3.5m? I’ve also heard of people setting the angle a degree or two less on the strop due to the blade sinking into the strop and actually dulling it. Is this true?
I'll be interested to hear what others have to say, but I would think that going from 600 grit to 5 micron is too big a jump in (lower) abrasiveness to have much effect. Using a woodworking analogy, it would be like sanding a piece of wood with 120 grit (which is a decent finish but not considered "finished" in most cases) then using 1000 grit after that. The 1000 grit has so little abrasiveness that it's not going to do anything to refine the scratch pattern of the 120 grit. At most it would just burnish the 120 grit scratch pattern, not refine it.
So I'd think you'd probably get the same effect with a leather strop and no abrasive at all. The next step from 600 should really be 1000.
To your other question: "I’ve also heard of people setting the angle a degree or two less on the strop due to the blade sinking into the strop and actually dulling it. Is this true?"
I would say not true. People have free-handed strops for decades, without any precise angle control.
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I was thinking the same thing. You are probably better off to go up to 1000 or higher then strop.
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If your goal is to simply “clean up” an edge, the 5/3.5mm strops will work just fine. It won’t “polish out” the 600g scratches, but it will clean up residual burr, and refine the edge a bit. You’ll easily get an edge that will shave arm hair, cleanly slice paper, etc.
So, what your definition of “working edge” is, depends on whether or not you should get the 800/1000g stones, but you don’t need them for the strops to be effective.
As for the 2nd part, of lowering the angle, my answer is try both ways and see what works best for you. A strop can in theory, “round” the edge, so if it’s soft it can “dull” it. W.E. strops are pretty thin, and don’t have a lot of give, so some get better results at the same angle, others lower the angle, others lower the angle and increase the pressure. Beauty of sharpening your own knives... you get to experiment. It takes seconds to reestablish an edge and try a different technique, if one stropping method doesn’t work well.
W.E. made a recent video showing some of the results from the 600g stone (no stropping)...
Thanks for posting that video. That gives a more practical sense of the 600 grit edge than magnified USB microscope photos. I do wish he would have then taken the knife to 1000 and re-done the tomato and the rope to see if there was much difference.
On the angle lowering with the strop, do you suppose the knife thickness also plays a role? In other words, if you have a thin filet knife (say .8mm thick) then lowering the angle might make some intuitive sense. But if you have say a 4.7mm (I think that's about the max of the gen-3 clamp without a special attachment) chopper, then lowering the angle 2* for stropping would probably mean the strop only contacts the top of the bevel, not the edge. Does that sound right to you?
If they have a generous return policy where you can return something after using it, simply because you don't like it (I don't know if they do), you might buy the strop first and then spend some time comparing the 1000 grit edge (with and without strop) to the 600 edge, using tomatoes or whatever suits the blades you're testing. Then if the 1000 grit isn't giving you a meaningful gain, then return it.
I like the 800/1000 stones. After setting the bevel to my desired level I typically start sharpening with the 600 then go 880/1000 to save steel on the blade. I purchased the super fine and micro fine stones for refinement/polishing and now I don’t use the strops that often.
Breaking in the stones, as mentioned above, will improve result with all the diamond stones over time.