Clay, is this your Dino-Lite 500 you took these pics with?

My 2 cents on the cube. Just so you know, the cube measures the angle "in space" not relative angle. What this means is that it's not really measuring the angle of the arm on the WE. If you put your sharpenter on the counter and that counter is not perpendicular to gravity, say 2 degrees off, your cube will not give a true reading of the desired angle, it will be that 2 degrees off that the counter is unlevel. On the other hand, relative angle is the degree of the WE arm RELATIVE to the hopefully vertical knife. So if you square up the blade in the chuck, lay the arm on the blade with the desired paddle and measure your angle, say 20 degrees, now tilt one side of the granite base of the WE and see the cube change... See what I mean? This is such wonderful stuff!!! The only way I deal with it is to hopefully have a level surface but even if it's not, just make sure every time you sharpen, you put your sharpener in the same place on the that counter or work bench or I guess you could shim the base or the counter to level it.

I guess that could sound confusing. I was talking about APPLYING the paste to the strops. Obviously when you strop, you go the other way and cleaning the edge as you describe is correct.

Half a tube? Holy essss!!! No wonder it's sticking. A little dab about the size of the pencil led that snaps off if you press too hard. Smear it on the leather in the area of use (no need to go all the way to the ends because you don't go there on the WE). Rub it in good with your finger then let it sit overnight. It's then good for around 20 blades or more. You should get a serious mirror finish with the strops and pastes, wet stones aside. Also, if you're going to multiple strops with different grit pastes, make sure you wash your hands good prior to applying the pastes to prevent cross contamination. If you're doing multiple grits, start with the finest first then move up from there. For example, start with the 3.5 micron, then go to the 5 then 10. This way if you get some 3.5 micron paste on the 10 micron paddle, not so bad but the other way and you've ruined the entire thing.


Hey Tom, you there? Need to talk.

I went on eBay and saw tons of leather strops. I couldn't find apluslandscape tho ds. I have more question about the paste. Does anyone have a suggestion about color or brand for a large strop. Seems like the red or what they call pink is the finest bit I didn't see any micron numbers on it.

Ed, I have a question. The hand stropping that you talk about, is it like a belt? I'm visualizing the barber strop. Do you have it hanging in the kitchen for quick touch-ups? Do you have a pic or are there videos of it anywhere? If we come off the WE at 3micron, what color paste would be good for touch ups!

I've been thinking about it now that I have the tool to keep it razor sharp. I saw Clay sharpen one and saw Tom shave with a kitchen knife. Does anyone use one daily? If so, any advice on technique or where to get the best ones?

Disregard the last post if anyone saw it.

Can't help it but I love the granite. Pretty much bullet proof, solid, can't hurt it and it LOOKS GOOD! Clay did not have any granite when I ordered my sharpener so, I went to my local granite guy, picked out a piece from his trash bin, he cut it to size and finished the corners. He didn't even charge me but even if he did, it wouldn't have been much. I went to Home Depot and bought the bit to drill it on my press, took 2 minutes using the provided template. Whenever someone sees the sharpener, it's always the base they comment on first.

CKTG? Nothing on Google. Is that their full name and where are they located? Thanx

komitadjie wrote:

Where do you get the Shapton stones???? I spoke with Kay and she said they won't be available for at least one month. Are those better than the Chosera stones?

Funny you mention the loupe. I just ordered the Bausche & Lomb loupe and was thinking I better be careful while viewing the blade.

Thanx. I'm trying to find out if it's Mac compatible

Wow! I want one of these. I just checked it on Amazon, $62, is that right? Had mixed reviews. Is it easy enough to use?
tinyurl.com/3kzvnj9

Question for you. Have you ever measured how the angle changes as you move the stone from the vertical position to the far extremes of the blade? And further, how the angle changes when you bolt the blade in the holder at different heights? My contention is that you really shouldn't sharpen more than 6 inches of blade without repositioning the knife as the angle varies too greatly.