All Wicked Edge sharpeners are calibrated for the edge of the blade to sit 5/8" above the top of the vise. If your blade sits higher or lower than this, your angles will be slightly different. So if your blade sits higher than 5/8", your actual angle will be lower than the degree markings. You can use a digital angle cube to verify your true angle.
If you find your blade is either slipping or moving in the vise while sharpening, a shim is your best friend. All of our sharpeners come with a shims pack with 2 sheets of reusable shims, one large size and one small. Simply wrap these shims around your blade and clamp down on the shim. This simple piece of cardstock will help 99% of the movement issues you're finding with your blades.
Depending on which sharpener you have, the operation of the vise to clamp the blade varies.
Check out the videos below to see how to operate the specific vises for each of our sharpeners.
Standard Vise (GO - WE60)
To operate the Standard Vise:
- Loosen the bottom screw until it's no longer making contact with the opposite side of the vise.
- Loosen the top screw until it's wide enough for the knife to slide in.
- The Depth Key should be used in the bottom depth holes if the distance from the spine to the edge of the knife is an inch or more. If the knife is less than an inch from the spine to the edge, use the top depth holes. Rest the spine of the blade on the prongs of the Depth Key.
- Align the start of the belly of the knife (where the edge starts to curve down towards the tip) with the back of the vise (the part that's furthest away from you). This is the best starting point for once you begin finding your angle and sweet spot.
- Once your knife is in place, gently tighten the top screw until the jaws are touching the knife.
- Advance your bottom screw until it makes contact with the opposite side jaw and tighten it down securely. All of your clamping power comes from this bottom screw.
- Remove the Depth Key.
- Do not test the vise's grip by moving the knife from the handle, there is too much torque. Instead, try to move the knife closer to the vise.
DualCam Vise (Cobalt - WE64, Obsidian - WE66, Generation 4 Pro)
To operate the DualCam Vise:
- Lift the lever to open the vise and place your knife between the jaws.
- If the knife is less than an inch from spine to edge, use the Depth Key in the jaws and rest the spine of the blade on the prongs of the Depth Key. If your knife is 1" or larger from spine to edge, simply rest your blade's spine on the shelf in the jaws.
- Align the start of the belly of the knife (where the edge starts to curve down towards the tip) with the back of the vise (the part that's furthest away from you). This is the best starting point for once you begin finding your angle and sweet spot.
- Lower the lever to lock your knife in place and remove the Depth Key if using it.
- Do not test the vise's grip by moving the knife from the handle, there is too much torque. Instead, try to move the knife closer to the vise.
Smaller blades, such as pairing knives, Leatherman's, etc. will require you to clamp them as high in the vise as possible. Ignore the depth settings and simply clamp them as high in the vise as possible while remaining secure. You want as much access to these blades as possible. You can check out this article here for additional information on small knives.
Daggers and stilettos can be tricky to clamp in the vise. The trick is to clamp them on either a flat section of the blade or in the fuller (groove). If your dagger or stiletto doesn't have this feature, it may not be possible to clamp that blade.
Tantos can look intimidating but are easy to sharpen. You simply treat them as two separate blades. First, focus on just the main section of the blade, from finding your angle and sweet spot up to your finishing point. Then reposition your blade so the tanto section is as parallel to the top of the vise as possible and repeat the process. The main trick is to not round the corner. Keep a bit of pressure on the stone with your thumb while sharpening and push your stone straight off the corner while being careful to not round it off. Check out this article to find out more.
Karambits, hawkbills, and recurves are all blades we get questions about. Check out this article here to learn how to successfully sharpen them!
Here's a video that shows a couple tricks and tips for clamping common blade shapes and styles.