Since i'm thinking of importing the Wicked Edge knife sharpener into the Netherlands, i have been testing this contraption on a multitude of knives.
While the system has a few minor shortcomings in my opinion which i already told the Wicked Edge management, i'm very happy with the results in general.
This is a link to their website:
http://www.wickededgeusa.com/
For an impression of what i'm talking about it's best to view their demo's first.
Here is the latest conversation i had with Devin Kennemore, one of the managing partners.
His comments on my letter are coloured blue.
Hi Devin,
I finished testing your Wicked Edge sharpener, and i must say i'm quite pleased with the construction you came up with.
I bolted the Wicked Edge to an old but thick cutting board instead of a granite baseplate, but it works fine.
Let me start off with some critique though;
In it's current configuration (the set that i have used now) i find the Wicked Edge not suitable for the knife aficionado's like collectors, bushcrafters and hunters, because the 600 grit diamond stones are not fine enough to create the edges we are used to.
I've tried the system on about 20 knives in various steels from S30V and BG42 to 52100 and CPM3V and with the 600 grit diamond stones i was only able to create edges that would barely shave.
What angle did you sharpen these knives at and did you first form a detectable burr before moving up to the higher grits? One thing that we have noticed is that the new diamond stones take a bit of time to get broken in or seasoned if you will. I have a set that I have been using at trade shows now for a couple of months, sharpening knives all day both days of the weekends, almost every weekend, and they are well seasoned. I can make a knife shave at 22 degrees all day long just after using the 200 grit (orange) set of stones. After using the 600 grit, shaving is possible out at 25 degrees or more.
I know finer grits and polishing compounds can be ordered separately from you, but you have to remember we're situated quite far from where you are, so shipping costs and custom thievery have to be taken into account also.
My suggestion would be to create a different set for knife afi's without the 100 and 200 grit diamond stones, but instead with the 800 and 1000 grit diamond stones.
Maybe even one that comes complete with polishing compounds.
This would make for a better balanced setup, and one that at least my public would be more interested in.
We agree that for knife aficionados, the finer stones or some method of finer polishing are necessary. With the rest of the stones and the strops that we sell, you can easily achieve a mirror finish on any knife, even zdp-189 (I did a Kershaw recently for one of our resellers and it came out absolutely beautifully). Leaving out the 100 and 200 grit stones would make it pretty difficult to establish the initial bevel with the Wicked Edge, particularly after the stones have become more seasoned. We suspect that a lot of people would become frustrated quickly because it would take so long using the 400 grit stones to achieve a good burr along the full length of their blades before polishing it off with the finer stones.
However, to still be able to do the finer sharpening on the knives with the Wicked Edge i proceeded with wet & dry SiC paper in 800, 1000, and 1200 grit, which i cut out to the dimensions of the diamond stones and attached with tape.
This worked perfectly, and i did the same with thin hard cardboard and some polishing compound to finish the edges.
With this i was able to create beautifully formed and hairwhittling edges.
When using the diamond stones with the SiC paper taped to them i had to choose a half degree higher setting to accommodate for the thickness increase, otherwise i wouldn't hit the exact edge anymore, especially nearer to the point.
Maybe it's an idea for you to come with a system that makes use of some sort of 'stones' that would accept SiC-paper with some sort of clamping mechanism, instead of diamond stones.
I would think this would make your invention (and it is a good one) also more interesting for a greater audience as it could be made cheaper.
You could then sell different setups for different wallets.
We are currently testing and preparing to introduce abrasive tapes made by 3M and getting ready to have handle blanks made up to use with the tapes.
A second thing to look at is the clamp itself, which has difficulty clamping thicker full flat grind blades, like for instance a Spyderco Military folder.
When trying to clamp this blade it kept falling to the left or right without getting a steady lockup exactly in the middle.
After some puzzling i was finally able to clamp the knife using part of the ricasso, but this left me with a blade that stuck up in the air at 45 degrees from the clamp itself.
(Due to the hump on the Spyderco which houses the opening hole)
Sharpening was doable, but exact repeatability was not possible.
Maybe a possible solution for this could be to create two parallel & triangular grooves on both sides of the inside of the clamp just above the depth key holes, which could then hold the back of full flat grinds without giving them room for wiggling when clamped.
Interesting concept. Well look into it.
But i gladly leave solving that problem up to you
We are currently modifying our remaining inventory of sharpeners such that the lower screw in the Fixed Vise Jaw is a stainless steel ¼-20, much beefier than the current 10-32. You can crank the vise down like a rock crusher on a knife with a full flat grind and they do not move.
When sharpening more expensive blades it proved also advisable to cover the clamped part of the blade in question with some tape to shield it from scratches, as the anodisation on the clamps is quite hard and probably type III, which in itself is good.
It was even able to scratch the surface of a Spyderco Endura ZDP189 which has a 65 HRC hardness.
Would fiber inserts be an option ?
We have found that if you tighten the vise sufficiently, you can easily avoid scratching the side of the blade because its the movement of a knife in the vise that causes scratches, not the force of clamping. We have sharpened knives with all kinds of finishes on the sides and have had no trouble with scratching unless the knife moves. We have tried using masking tape on the inside of the vise jaws to protect the sides of blades, but the tape catches steel filings and then if the knife moves, which is more likely with a cushion between the blade and the vise, you get scratches. At a minimum, we would recommend changing out the tape with each knife. You might also try placing a sticky note on each side of a knife over the vise after mounting it in the vise to act as a shield for the filings. Just a suggestion. We havent actually tried this yet.
Now the rest of my story
The sharpening results using the Wicked Edge together with the wet & dry paper and the cardboard with polishing compound where exceptional.
The system created beautifully and better formed edges that were consistently sharper than practically any factory edge.
Especially these 'edge-aesthetics' are very important for collectors of more expensive knives using exclusive steels.
Because you sharpen both sides of the edge simultanuously you work faster, and you also have a better view on what you're doing because of the edge-up setup.
Another advantage is that because you sharpen lengthwise instead of perpendicular to the edge, like you do with most other systems, there is also much less burr formation.
I have no problem of using the Wicked Edge sharpener on a Chris Reeve Sebenza or a William Henry Lancet, in fact i would recommend it, the results are that good.
Possible additions i would like to see:
- Profiled diamond- and or ceramic stones to fit serrated patterns from for instance Spyderco.
With the help of the Wicked Edge guiding system sharpening these professionally would be a piece of cake.
In the works.
- Halfround diamond- and or ceramic stones for sharpening more complex edges like recurves.
In the works.
- As i stated earlier: some sort of aluminium stones with built in clamping system for SiC paper.
This would give your customer every freedom to choose what grit they want, buy it cheaply, and still have professional results.
In the works!
I have written a multipage user review with close-up pictures of the resulting edges on my forum, but sadly for you it is completely written in the Dutch language so you cannot read it.
My story is however sparking some interest among my readers, and i already received a few mails if the Wicked Edge could be ordered through me.
I hope you will read my opinions as constructive criticism, as you certainly have created a very good sharpener.
The Wicked Edge only needs some tweaking and refining to appeal to collectors and users of more expensive knives.
When a setup like i suggested with finer diamond stones instead of the coarser ones comes available, let me know.
We are beginning to recruit custom knife-makers to use our system to finish their edges. When we do a demonstration using one of their own knives and polish it all the way down with our 3.5 micron diamond strops, they have to have it.
I expect that over time you will begin to learn a lot more about your sharpener. Certainly, the more we have used it, the more we have learned about it, and we invented the thing! We appreciate all the interesting things you have been doing to further polish your knives with your sharpener. I think were pretty much on the same wavelength with most of your ideas.
Hope all is well on your side of the ocean, and we'll keep in touch,
We will definitely keep in touch. Your feedback is great! Please keep us posted if anything else comes to mind.
.
