What other equipment (and why) do you use that isn't sold by WE?

Here is my list:

• Angle Cube (sold by WE) to measure angle of stones
• Rubbing Alcohol - to clean blade between stone/strops, also to wet strops for improved stiction
• Sharpie - to mark the edge to see how stone angle is cutting
• Flashlight - to help inspect edge
• Jeweler's Loupe - to inspect edge
• Blue painter's tape - to tape blade spine, thumb studs, etc. to protect from stones/dust
• Squirt bottle - for wetting water stones
• Super (rare earth) magnets - To catch metal filings
• Phone book, paper - To test sharpness
• Puffy foam tape - To pad vise jaws on full flat ground blades

Curious to see what other tools you guys use. Not even counting "mods" and storage cases. I didn't realize how much "other stuff" I used. Luckily I only sharpen at home so far and don't have to haul all this around.

I use a flat toothpick as a gage on top of the two pin depth gage for those in between situations like narrow blades, instead of just eyeballing it. I also found that electrical "friction tape" works a lot better than painters tape,foam tape or moleskin. It's only a little tacky on both sides with just enough cushion to compensate for the irregularity of the metal to metal contact and the "tackiness" (a new word of the tape sticks to both the blade and the vice when clamped with vary vary little,if any, residue afterwards. For FFG blades I'll double up the tape with a small (1/4 x 1/4 inch) piece to compensate for the taper just as the blade leaves the vice. I found this tape really locks and holds the blade in place without over tightening and bending the tips of the vice.
As long as you only sharpen at home, a small dedicated car vacuum with a hose and a brush nozzle is a fast and effective clean-up when changing to the next progressive stone. They are not vary expensive. Just be carefull of your hand and arm movement around that exposed blade.
Chet

Chet,

Thanks for the reply. Toothpicks are a great idea. I had asked this question a while back about how to shim up smaller blades. I had just been doing it free hand and making sure the edge of parallel.

What do you mean by "friction tape"? Is this normal electrical tape (black stuff for wrapping wires) or something different?

I'm not an electrician but it's labeled "friction tape" and have seen it used to wrap electric wires. It's also use to wrap something you want to get a good grip on without being too sticky kind of like "sticky note paper" would be. I use it on the grip of my hunting bow. It can be found in the electrical department of any hardware store. The 2 key things about it is that, it's made of cloth not plastic film so it has some cushining to it and it's sticky on both sides. Glad I could help with the toothpicks Damn, I wish they had spell check on this thing, hint hint.
Chet

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friction_tape

www.amazon.com/3M-3407NA-Friction-0-708-...0-Inch/dp/B001AXF416

Something NEW I just tried.

I had been using the blue painter tape to protect the blade from the vice. This past weekend I had a old Eye Glass cleaning cloth, real fine microfiber. I cut a small stamp size patch. It's very soft, very thin, and held the blade in the WE Vice with NO play at all. This is something new I'll have in my case.

James

I use a couple of strips of natural chamois to keep knives in place when clamped...works very well. I think the best investment I've made in terms of accessories is a USB microscope for checking edges. It works extremely well for checking a variety of things related to the edge; angle, chipping, uneven grind, verifying whether you're ready to move up with stones, etc.

I also use it off stand for checking stone contamination to avoid unnecessary stone maintenance.At 80-100X you can clearly see metal fragments and clear them more selectively with rare earth magnets. Speaking of which, I have two rod shaped magnets that I slide into a straw. I roll the straw down the length of the stones a couple of times, then hold the straw over the trash can and remove the magnets. the fragments fall into the trash and don't adnere to the magnet, so it's a lot neater. With other shaped magnets, just putthem in a plastic bag first. When you're done, remove them from the bag as toss it;your magnets stay clean that way

An ancillary item that I have found very useful in adjusting the blade height for small blades is a set of small hex keys. For ease in duplicating the setting for future sharpening, just note the specific size hex key used.