EatingPie wrote:

Bah. Easy Peasy. Why wait.
Always know that accuracy is a qualitative term, not quantitative. So, very accurate, quite accurate, good-enough-for-government-work accurate, and this-thing-ain't-worth-a-crap-because-every-time-I-lay-it-up-against-my-knife-it-changes accurate and so forth are all accuracy statements. Period. No numbers required.
Precision, error, repeatability and reproducibility, on the other hand, are all quantitative terms and are expressed numerically.
So the question we really want to ask is: "How much error can I tolerate?"
See? Easy Peasy.

EatingPie wrote:

For an idea of the capability of the Angle Cube, you could try this older thread. It looks at the accuracy (yep, it is) and precision (yes, it has some) in a semi-rigorous test.
wickededgeusa.com/index.php?option=com_k...63&Itemid=63#363

Not really relevent for sharpening, but if you were constructing something or grading your yard, you might want to know the slope of the ground so the rain water runoff didn't end up at your back door. Some parameter might tell you the desired grade or slope, like when building a roof, instead of the angle.

Clay, et al,
I see you suggest a water and soap mixture instead of oil or other lubricant. Since soap is/contains surfactants is there a concern that it will migrate to the backside of the stone and eventually loosen the adhesive bond?

I have been away from sharpening for a while and am playing catch-up. I unboxed and used my new 12-1600 stones for the first time last night and noticed that they had a bad case of dandruff... now I know why.

As one who doesn't consider himself a good sharpener, I have no trouble raising--and we say raising because the burr seems to stick out from the edge on the side opposite--a burr with the WEPS. If you've ever opened a tin can of beans or tuna and felt the edges then you know what to look for. It doesn't seem likely that you haven't raised one yet based on what you've said so far. Forget the magnifier, you can raise an easily felt burr with 100 stones after 5 minutes of scrubbing, especially if your initial marker line has been ground away.
Try using fingernails instead of fingertips with moderate pressure and see if they scratch up, stroking from spine to edge.

AnthonyYan wrote:
Well, I tried taping the hose of my vacuum cleaner to the stones, but the tape kept getting cut on the knife blade, and the hose was swinging wildly around....

I suppose if one had the room that a 'fume hood' arrangment could be useful. Something similar to that used on benches where a lot of soldering is done or chemicals are used, but usually they are noisy.

We could also let our nose hairs grow out to perform their natural filtering duties more effectively. It's more likely that the handkerchief spotting came from the nasal passage mucus membranes and hairs (doing their job), not the lungs. If you're coughing it up, then that would be more reason to worry.

I'm wondering if some of the 'airborne dust' is also from the binder matrix as it erodes away.

mr.cheapguy wrote:
Those are tied to his other two cylinders that don't fire so well. Perhaps some hi-test gas (ANYONE WHO REMEMBERS WHAT THAT MEANS, RAISE YOUR FEEBLE ARM... IF YOU CAN HEAR ME...) will get them going.

zig wrote:
I don't think so.
For those that may be new to the Angle Cube, the Cube is a gravity-driven instrument (a level with digital display), and will show the angle with respect to Z, which is the local gravity vector. As Matt put it, "free space", but tied to Z.
If the WEPS base says 0.00 when looking left/right and fore/aft, then it is level in X and Y. We assume the jaws, when the WEPS is mounted correctly, are parallel with Z and perpendicular to X and Y.
All angle measurements made on the paddles will be true when leaned against the jaws, and any blade properly clamped.

If the base is not level, the angle measurements will be offset by the amount of unlevelness (technical term...) because the jaws are no longer parallel to Z.
The "Zero' button allows you to set a new reference for subsequent measurements by subtracting the 'Z offset', and the angles measured on the paddles will now be 'true' with respect to 'Z offset'.
Fortunately, the Cube does the math for us and reads 0.00.

You know, the WEPS angle setpoints work in a similar way. They are tied to the WEPS base, and even if the base isn't level, it's still the same angle when read on the bar. The trick would be to get the blade centered and edge parellel to the jaws.

Sorry for the diatribe, but as a Gov't employee, I'm required to find something to do when there's nothing to do...

Thanks, but I'm not complaining about anything, just wondered what others do, and what would you fix? You can't change the OD of the arm nor the ID of the paddle. I suppose the taper pins could be removed with a drift punch and small diameter non-metallic washers installed to take up the gap between the arm and link. Which end of the pin is the small end?
Otherwise, no worries.

Not mentioned much, if ever, is the effect of axial arm/paddle play and linkage play on the angle. Using the Angle Cube one can see fully a 1.5° angle change on my WEPS depending on how one holds the paddle.

The variation is the sum of the paddle and linkage play when you push the paddle in or pull the paddle out at the bottom. I think the best method is to push in, because it takes less effort, and if you relax your concentration, your hands will naturally fall inward.

When I want to check the nominal angle symmetry during setup--knife edge centered--I let the paddle drop all the way down so the link snuggles into the paddle's concave recess. This becomes my nominal angle, but likely not the exact angle depending on how I handle the handle....

How do others handle this? (no pun intended)

drmatt357 wrote:

Dr., haven't you wondered what that 3rd button was for...?


ThomasAscher wrote:
This is correct.

ThomasAscher wrote:
Grinder...?


You could try taking a band saw and cutting out the ring between the ±5° marks, but you'd have to make sure the ring didn't change dimension.

The Angle Cube can give the angle of the final edge of a knive you've just sharpened, but the goni might be better at finding the approximate angle on a knife edge that you haven't sharpened yet.
The Hobbigoni is ±2°, and the uplevel Portable is ±1°, but the cost is 4x+ (too much for my blood) the Cube and the Cube has better precision and accuracy.

Monk69bl wrote:
Some of us are color blind, and need the printed labels on the handle. Some of us are illiterate, and need the colors on the handle.

leomitch wrote:

So much for flying under the radar... maybe I should take out an ad, put my name in lights on Broadway, or hire a skywriter, eh, Leo? Maybe my name should have been allcars. Get it? Calling allcars...

Sorry, Leo, just having some fun at your expense.

I will look at it, mate.

Yes.


Seems to me if the bottom screw were threaded there would be the chance of a smaller gap at the bottom, and that would reduce the clamping effect of the jaws up top. Do not over-tighten (over-extend) the lower screw, however.
And to address why only the right side moves...something has to be attached to the WE machined base, and if both moved then that would add additional E's to the word engineering.... ....and fewer $$$ in my pocket.

My post was done at work, so it was kind of a mental exercise. Soon as I got home, I found an easier way to get the angle. Zero the cube on the base, then lay the FFG blade down so it is flat against the base (the handle will necessarily hang off the edge). Put cube on blade and measure angle. IF the grinds are symetrical, the angle of each side is the measured angle divided by 2. My Spydie super steel was about 5.2°, so about 2.5° per side.


Yes, for smaller blades, using the cube will be a problem. However, the human eye can do some amazing things. One of them is to find the center of a circle. The other is to see motion of the smallest amount out of the corner of the eye (watching out for Mr. Sabertooth...), and seeing that lines are askew, or not parallel (your picture frame and the ceiling/wall junction).
One should be able to, if you take your time, place the knife in the vise and see the symmetry in the gaps between blade and jaw. One should be able to look from behind down the edge and see that it is or is not canted to one side.
Just my additional thoughts.

You could try this:
Set the knife on its spine on the WE base, and use the angle cube to find the WE base angle. If not zero, use the zero offset. Then, put cube on side of blade so that the cube will not interfere with the knife going back onto its spine. While supporting the knife while on the WE base--it will be quite top heavy-- read the angle.
Use the cube after the blade goes into the vise to try to match the same angle. This means the spine will be parallel with the base (laterally) and the spine-to-edge line will be perpendicular, therefor straight up and down with respect to the vise. Fore/aft tilt is up to you.
I could have done it 5 times while writing this. It's not hard, but it might feel like you need three hands at first.
You could also use a rotating or pivoting protractor.
Hope this helps.

Yep, you are. I highly recommend a healthy dose of psychotropic fortitude.

If we imagine the individual grits (technical term...) as being smaller on the 1000 vs. the 800 or lower, then we can also imagine that there are more of them in a given area and therefor they are closer together.
The 'grits' (not the breakfast kind...) make noise as they travel in contact. If they are closer together, can we then imagine that they are hitting the steel more often?
On mine, I hear, and would expect to hear anywhere, a higher frequency with less amplitude, since the 'grits' are also doing less damage (like a spade shovel vs. a garden trowel).

Well, this is the best I can imagine without some brewed inspiration...

Well for the time being, I appear to be in the good luck group, since I received mine in early Dec, too. I never looked closely when it was new, but now that I've clamped a few different blades, I can't see any jaw-end deviation. I do always use chamois, though, so I don't have to get too torque crazy, though I will say I also don't baby it that much either. I don't have a blade movement problem when I do get it tight, and as I said the jaws seem to be okay for now.
Good to know that thigs will be taken care of if something pops up.