Every knife owner has a preference for the angle of their blades. My angles are higher for my bushcraft/outdoor/edc knives at 20 to 35 degrees. For kitchen, I’m on the lower end at 15 degrees…ok 15 for my Japanese knives and 20 for my German knives.
Normally I’m on my whetstone to hone the edge. This round I decided to test out my brother’s Wicked Edge system on my Benchmade Bushcrafter.
From what I’ve read, the angle should be at 30 degrees which means 15 degrees on each side.
Here’s my experience with the Wicked Edge system
I’ve used other sharpening systems like this and the Wicked Edge is definitely up there when it comes to finding the right edge.
Overall, I love how there were you prop it up once and have the ability to sharpen both sides. I also enjoyed how heavy the system was and I wasn’t slipping.
What bugged me the most was that the knife would slip out no matter how much I tightened it. I ended up having to use their level jig to keep it in place as I sharpened. The other thing that bugged me was that that angle numbering system on the tool did not match the angle when I measured it.
Most systems out there give a guide for the angle. You should really measure the angle with another tool to make sure you’re exactly where you want to be.
Once I found the angle I wanted, I went at it. 100, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1600, 1800.
In the end, I love the edge that was put on it and would like to use it to put an edge on all my knives.
During this process, I also found out that the factory sharpening isn’t as sharp as it could have been and that the angles are way off from the factory recommendations.