• Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I hope that you all have something to be grateful for this year and for many years to come

  • The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
    Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/

  • America has reached 250 years, and I am grateful to be here, in the best country in the world. Thank every one of you who helps make this country a better place, those who have gone before and risked it all, and those who've paid the ultimate price to make the United States what we are today.

    Happy Birthday America! Let Freedom Ring for all time!

WICKED EDGE. Should I pull the trigger?

Recon19d

Recon19d

Joined
Sep 26, 2012
Messages
87
I can buy a wicked edge sharpener for 40% off and was wondering what you guys think about the system. I already have a sharpmaker and I want to upgrade to something better. Iam mainly looking to be able to put a mirror polish on the edge of some of my blades. What are your guys thoughts? Should I buy the system or save the coin?
 
You can do the same thing with sandpaper and strops, but having a guided system is nice for reprofiling. If you have enough money invested in knives it's worth it I think.
 
That 40% off on promotive adds up quick if you end up buying all the stuff the pro pack has. I'm not sure if they ship to APOs, but if they do you could avoid the wack sales tax they offer on that site. Also, if you're gonna drop the dough call up wicked edge and tell them to include the new arms and guide system with it to eliminate blade play and make sharpening some knives easier with a taller mount. That will be an extra cost of $145 but they will take 25% off for being a promotive member. Overall if you buy all the propack 1 crap and the new arms to pretty much turn it into the pro pack II it will still be cheaper than ordering direct, but still still like 500-600 for a sharpening system. SCOUTS OUT. Stay safe brother!
 
The WE is the best sharpening system I have used. There is a slight learning curve but it blow my sharpmakers socks off.
 
sjakh said:
That 40% off on promotive adds up quick if you end up buying all the stuff the pro pack has. I'm not sure if they ship to APOs, but if they do you could avoid the wack sales tax they offer on that site. Also, if you're gonna drop the dough call up wicked edge and tell them to include the new arms and guide system with it to eliminate blade play and make sharpening some knives easier with a taller mount. That will be an extra cost of $145 but they will take 25% off for being a promotive member. Overall if you buy all the propack 1 crap and the new arms to pretty much turn it into the pro pack II it will still be cheaper than ordering direct, but still still like 500-600 for a sharpening system. SCOUTS OUT. Stay safe brother!
Click to expand...

Thanks man
 
If say do it buddy!

It great for reprofiling and getting a somewhat consistent edge. Also it's pretty fun to do!

I'm cheap and only have up to 600 grit, than I take it to the sharp maker fine stones and a strop.
 
I wouldn't buy it, personally.

There's nothing a Wicked Edge can do that you can't do with some practice and a set of normal stones. If you're really set on a 'system,' then go for it, but you can get the same (or better) results with less expensive methods.

Just my 0.02$.
 
Thanks guys. I guess it all comes down to iam pretty new to sharpening my own knives and Iam not comfortable using my bench stones.
 
Wicked Edge is the best knife accessory I've ever bought. Fast, repeatable and gets your knives razor sharp.
 
I sure like mine, it works very well. I have the ProPack 1 myself.

You get a lot of naysayers, but I suspect most of them have never actually USED the system, only read about it. If you are VERY good at freehanding, of course there is no real need for a guided system. However, for the rest of us that don't really have the time or desire to spend a decade getting that good with benchstones, the WEPS or EdgePro produces the same kind of results with only a few knives worth of practice.

I'd say grab it, you won't be disappointed!
 
I bought the pro pack 1 last year and I really like it for reprofiling an edge to 30 or 40 degrees inclusive so I can do touchups on my sharpmaker. I have enough knives to where it makes sense to me to have a good guided system. For steels like s30v and D2 it makes reprofiling very straightforward and the result is nice, even bevels. I prefer doing touchups on the sharpmaker because it's so quick. 20-30 passes on the ultra fine stones and I'm done.

The other nice thing about the Wicked Edge is you can put 3M wet/dry sandpaper on the paddles and use sandpaper instead of the diamond stones if you want. I prefer sandpaper for 1095 because it doesn't remove material as fast as the diamonds do. It gives a pretty nicely polished edge going up to 1500 grit. I believe the grits I use are 220, 320, 600, and 1500. I found that when I used the diamond stones I had more trouble sharpening 1095, probably because I was missing the burr or for whatever user error reason. Sandpaper on 1095 produces better results for me so that's what I use. S30V and D2 get the diamonds, though!
 
I guess buying one for a long time deployment would be cool; but, you gotta figure, you can buy a new Glock for the cost of a Wicked Edge. I've put some money into knives, as I like the blade, but I haven't bought the ultra fine rods for my sharp maker yet. I just use an economy strop after lite strokes on the Sharp Maker's fine rods, but I can get a PM2 to glide through phone book paper. Its hard to invest more on a college budget.

If your deployed and are thinking about coming back to the states, don't forget that it takes about 5k in lawyer money to get out of a bad situation. Just my experience talking.

When I was in I had bought roto toms to use the guys drum set down the hall, but then I had my bayonette and Spyderco Delica sharpend by the guy out side of the px, I didn't have a sharpener while I was in. I bet a Sharp Maker would have rocked.. (people tell me to buy the ultra-fine rods though)

Good luck man, but it sounds like you're doing great!
 
I have and use both. Really enjoy the Wicked Edge, though I'd say that it depends on the size of your collection. Mine just broke 1k "invested" and growing so I decided that I would throw down the money to really up my entire collection and those to come. Can't say that I regret it necessarily and while money may have been better spent elsewhere it remains a solid product.

In summation, if you can buy it guilt free, do it. Get a minimum of the 5/3.5 micron strops if you want a polish.

Edit: I say buy the base too. Some of you guys may be handier than myself but the presentation is great mounted on that base.
 
My son likes to freehand sharpen his high-end kitchen knives,
and he's really good at it. I showed him how well the WE can sharpen
and he never looked back. With a little practice you can get
ridiculously sharp edges and really fast maintenence. Finestkind.

Bill
 
Yes. Definitely. You can use 800 -3000 grit wet dry sandpaper on the paddles to put in a mirror finish. Later you can add higher grit stones or strops as desired.
 
I was all ready to pull the trigger on a WE and then I started reading up on belt sanders. I ended up buying a Kalamazoo 1x42 and am I glad I did. For me It was the right decision, within 2 days I easily surpassed my previous standards of what sharp is. Not to mention Its way, WAY..faster.
 
That's what I use the most, Endurawave. If you don't particularly NEED hand-powered sharpening only and can go to electrical, a belt is my preferred method. The versatility is tremendous, just this past Sunday I reground a Kershaw (think it was a vapor?) to replace a broken-off tip. It took perhaps ten minutes to go from dull as hell with 3/8" of the tip broken off to a polished convex edge that would push-cut phone book paper easily. And I was really taking my time there, I probably could have cut two or three minutes off if I wasn't.

Although there's just something kind of fun about WEPS-type precision as well... I guess it all comes down to what you WANT from your sharpening. I use WEPS, EP, or Kalamazoo more or less interchangeably, depending on exactly what I'm feelin' at the time. And the first time someone hands you a machete, THAT is when you go "Woot, belt grinder!"
 
Bang, go for it. I have the complete system and it does a wonderful job. One point is with each knife you sharpen, record the angle you use, you won't be sorry.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top