So, watching this video

Clay mentioned he started at 10 degrees, and works his way out (up a degree at a time). But from what I can tell (I don't have mine yet, it'll be here on Friday), the degree markings/notches start at 15. So... is this just a matter of mounting the knife in the top spot, and using an angle cube?

Thanks!

Essentially, yes. The taller the knife is, and the higher up in the clamp you have it, the lower the angle will be. I set one of my cleavers in the top just to see what kind of angle I could get and it was 7 degrees. On the other hand, I cant get my Leatherman's blade lower than about 18 degrees, because it just isnt tall enough to let the stones clear the clamp below that.

That's pretty much what I figured. So, did you use an angle cube to get that measurement, or your phone, or...?

I was curious about my leatherman blade... when you do it, do you remove the blade from the leatherman, or just mount the whole thing?

Thanks!

I use an angle cube for all my measurements.

As for the Leatherman, I just mount the whole thing. It would be better to remove the blade but I cant be bothered It still turned out well, though.

img23.imageshack.us/img23/2870/1002361fd.jpg

Makes sense. So, I just ordered an angle cube. Was going to try using my iPhone, but the case is a pain to get on and off, and I am not sure how accurate it would be IN the case.

Can't wait! Must. Sharpen. Everything. =D

btw, awesome edge on your leatherman. What progression is that? And what angle (18?)?

Yep, 18 degrees each side for 36 inclusive


Progression was

Diamond:
100
200
400
600
800
1000

Sandpaper taped to the 1000 grit diamond stone:
1000
1500
2000

Balsa Strops:
5
3.5
1
.5
.25
.125

Cow Leather Strop
.025
blank

Awesome, exactly what I needed. Means I can pull off most of that (Pro Pack 1 with some 3m 1000/1500/2000/2500 sandpaper).

I would assume you use the sandpaper dry (since loading shouldn't be much of an issue with metal, as opposed to paint)?

Ya I use it dry, the only thing I add water to are the diamond sprays on balsa. While the pastes stay slightly moist and don't really need maintenance, the sprays dry out and work better when slightly wet.

Just be careful while stropping that you lower your sharpening angle a degree or two and dont use too much pressure. You can get a blade to pass the HHT/whittle hair after 2500 sandpaper, but it's easy to go backward with bad stropping.

MathewWhaley wrote:


I've read more often that people use sandpaper. Any idea how the 1000 grit sandpaper compares to the 1000 grit diamond stones?

Where I live I can get sandpaper up to 2500 grit. However, thats the (FEPA) P-scale, which is different from the ANSI scale that Wicked Edge use for their stones. You can compare the scales here.