Wicked Edge: Skipping 800/1000 stones?

BePrepared

BePrepared

Joined
Aug 26, 2010
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I just purchased a wicked edge. It came with the following stones

100/200 diamond stone
400/600 diamond stone
1200/1600 ceramic
5/3.5 micron strop
10/14 micron strop

Will it be possible to get a hair popping edge without the 800/1000 stone?
 
Hair popping sure, the only thing is that the scratches of the 600 will show up in the final polish
Mateo
 
Thanks... has anyone else ever tried this? I like polished edges, but i don't want to spend the extra 60 bucks until next month
 
There's always the cheap option! Just grab some wet-or-dry from your local auto shop, and tape it to the 600 paddles. Works extremely well, and you can easily go up to 3K grit that way, for about five bucks. :)
 
Like you, I waited a bit before getting the 800, 1000 stones. I actually like your combo, as it seems to produce a toothier edge. Scratches will be visible, but who cares.
 
I sad that i'd post a short review once i got my WE, so here goes

I got my Wicked edge put together today, and took the time to sharpen 2 folders. I'm not quite confident enough yet to use it on my TGLB, but the 2 that i sharpened are quite simple CRAZY sharp. Hair popping is an understatement.

I didn't take the time to really refine the edge to a mirror edge or even strop them, and they were s
till able to effortlessly shave arm hair. I am much more impressed by this system than i expected to be

Step 1: re-profiling. This part takes a long time to get right when you're starting with convexed edges. It took me nearly 40 minutes to do the first one and the second one went just a little faster, but not that much. I did this part with the 100 grit stones, and it took a lot of effort to get rid of all the imperfections in the previous grinds.

Step 2: Refining. This part is much faster. It took me about 15 minutes to go from 200 to 1600 grit. Once this part is complete, you can stop and your blade will be as sharp as you could ever possibly need. It's not aesthetically appealing at this point, but the edge is very uniform and doesn't look bad. It's also stupid sharp.

Step 3: Polishing. I haven't done this yet. I am just guessing, but i think that taking an extra 15-20 minutes on the 1200 and 1600 ceramic stones will make the edge look quite nice. I haven't used my strops yet because i just got them loaded and am letting them dry. Tomorrow i'm going to try to really refine an edge, and will post some pictures. As far as getting a really mirror finish... i haven't a clue what that'll take, but we'll see
 
This is amazing!

Yet another Lansky knockoff/improvement.

Engineers just love this stuff, jigs, fixtures, precise angles, lots of money.

Someone who knows how to do freehand sharpening will get just as good an edge with wet or dry sandpaper, or an India stone, a translucent hard Arkansas and a strop, and probably have it done and cutting before the jig and fixture guys have started on their second grit.

If you can be trusted with sharp items at all, you can learn to do this. I have taught hundreds of 9 and 10 year olds to do it. I am pretty sure that y'all can learn to with just a tiny bit of effort and persistance.
 
not interested.

Why would i bother learning to do it another way when i have a perfectly functional tool that does it as good with less effort and a 30 minute learning curve rather than a 3 month learning curve?

the beauty of a free country.... you do it your way, i'll do it mine ;)
 
BePrepared-Thanks for you input on the WE, I can't tell you how many edges I've ruined trying to freehand. Just not my thing, so I'm leaning toward the WE and appreciate the feedback.
 
Mr. Chips said:
Like I said - engineer types like complication and apparently, spending money.
Click to expand...

WE, EP, SM, ... guided systems are very good & easy for producing repeatable edges topping with precision. It's not complicated nor for just engineer (lol). It's reasonable to spend 1/4 of knife budget on a sharpening gears. On other hand, freehand can be very complicated & technical if you want to put a tree topping edge on high alloy steels knives. I enjoy freehand sharpening, especially gratifying with skills earned. Who knows, a guided system user might inspire to freehand someday - like I did.
 
I have no doubt at all in my mind that there are guys out there who can freehand an edge both sharper AND faster than I can achieve on my WEPS. That kind of skill took them years to achieve. I was able to accomplish a hair-popping-sharp edge off of my WEPS in the first hour of use. It's not as purist-approved as a good set of stones, but for guys like me who enjoy using knives and having obscenely sharp edges on them, way more than is actually NEEDED... I sure like mine.

Yes it is more expensive than, say, Murray Carter's demonstration with a cinderblock and cardboard. But considering that it's no more than the price of a decent knife, and will literally last forever? Money WELL spent, I'd say.
 
Except that you're not gaining anything with the time invested in using the system; the machine is doing all the work and you're simply going through the motions. I'd say that an hour spent learning a new skill is way more valuable than an hour spent operating a device.
 
Everyone has an opinion. I don't much care if you think using a WE is a "waste of time" because my knives are INSANELY sharp...

you do your thing, i'll do mine
 
With the feel I have developed for pressure, stroke consistency, burr formation and removal, and muscle memory for holding a clean angle around the belly? Yes. Do I do this? Also yes, although on the odd occasion where I do freehand on plates (instead of on the belt grinder) I typically use DMT dia-sharps instead of the Murray Carter demo. I'll readily admit that I ain't even close to THAT good. :)

Didn't answer the question, though. Have you actually used a WEPS? Seems a bit harsh to be deriding them entirely without having some first-hand experience. You're more than welcome to use whatever method you like on your knives, of course, really almost all of this is about what works for you, and what you enjoy. Personally, I REALLY like the incredible levels of precision you can achieve with a guided system that simply isn't possible to do freehand. Is it NECESSARY? Hell no, a freehand edge with some degree of competence behind it is more than adequate for just about any task you could ever name. But the insane levels of precision and polish are FUN.
 
Komitadjie said:
With the feel I have developed for pressure, stroke consistency, burr formation and removal, and muscle memory for holding a clean angle around the belly? Yes. Do I do this? Also yes, although on the odd occasion where I do freehand on plates (instead of on the belt grinder) I typically use DMT dia-sharps instead of the Murray Carter demo. I'll readily admit that I ain't even close to THAT good. :)

Didn't answer the question, though. Have you actually used a WEPS? Seems a bit harsh to be deriding them entirely without having some first-hand experience.
Click to expand...

That isn't an answer to my question, either: If all you use is a system to sharpen your knives, without that system, would you still have the ability to sharpen a knife on a different medium (like a cinderblock and cardboard). The answer is easy: no, since freehand sharpening (which you admit that you've had experience with) is a skill vastly different than using a system which determines the angle for you.

I've tried a Wicked Edge system but it wasn't as efficient as freehand for me.
 
On the topic of diamond plates, Murray will tell you that diamonds leave furrows in the blade (even if you can't see them) that will lead to carbide pop-out and cause chipping, which is why he recommends against them. This is due to the extreme hardness of the diamonds in relation to the hardness of stones. The hardness of the KING waterstones he uses is comparable to the hardness of his Hitachi White Steel #1 (HRc 63-64), so this is why he uses and recommends using them. In addition to the hardness, once you wear through the initial layer of impregnated diamonds the plates aren't as useful as waterstones, which will have the same grit consistency from new to nothing.
 
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