Wanted to put this out there mainly for noobs to the WEPS, although it even benefited me when I watched them recently! Great advise and tips... I'm subscribed now





Note how John tapes off the base of his knife and the handle to prevent diamond abrasives from getting in the joint. This was super helpful.

hope this helps some of you... wish I'da watched it sooner!

Interesting videos. I agree with the idea to avoid the actual edge with the coarse stones, but for a different reason. I'm not so sure that metal loss is that big an issue, especially in hand sharpening. I think a more important factor... forming your actual edge with a finer stone can result in a cleaner edge. Definitely avoid the edge with the 50/80g stones. For many knives, metal loss isn't much of an issue... getting people to properly use their knife is. Usually you're sharpening out damage. If it's your personal knife, once you form an edge, you can maintain it for quite a while without ever returning to the coarse stones. Also consider his measurement... .35mm from tip to heel... vs. if he had taken a measurement from spine to edge... would have been pretty insignificant.

I would actually consider this more of an advanced tip... new sharpeners tend to have more issue with not reaching the edge and forming a burr. My .02 anyway.

An alternative to tape that I picked up somewhere is to use saran wrap (plastic wrap or whatever it's called). It's easy to apply, leaves no tape residue, and it's cheap.



i've gotten into the habit of using compressed air on folding knives... not because of sharpening residue as much as they're usually full of junk anyway.

While I understand what you are saying, I believe it is still very useful information for beginners... And, while they need to learn how to maintain their edge (stropping) and use their knives
appropriately, they also need to be careful not to remove too much metal while sharpening, especially with the diamond stones (up through the 200 grit range at least). I know I had the false assumption that I needed to raise a burr at each stone which removes waaay more metal than I needed to. And while it may not be a big deal (removing too much metal while sharpening) on some knives, it is a very big deal on expensive customs or something. You can never regain the metal you grind away so I think it is definitely something for the all users to keep in mind

I agree that he should have measured from edge to spine for sure... Would have made more sense to .

Nice tip on using the seran wrap! I'll definitely have to try that next time... Seems a little easier

True, I wasn't implying a beginner wouldn't benefit... it has some good info. And you're right, I've seen sharpeners purposely raise a burr at each grit level which is incorrect. But I can just see a new sharpener trying so hard not to raise a burr, that they never actually reach the edge, which is a common problem when learning.

That's why I like threads like these... to show the subtle points in sharpening.

I would imagine this is a "feel" type of skill. As in, one just "knows" how long to stay on a certain grit...

Are there "pre-burr" clues to prompt you to go ahead to the next stone? Can you tell by touch? Use magnification?

Or is it as simple as, try it out, and you may have to spend more time on a higher grit stone to raise that burr?

cbwx34 wrote:


Excellent points CBW... I agree that it can be "dangerous" or not profitable if you fall either side off of the coin. I see your point in that this could be for more of an advanced sharpener... but I wish I'da seen it a lot sooner!

iamtwon wrote:


I believe the easiest way and the way that JDavis would recommend (as stated in his video) is to use a black sharpie and "paint" the edge often so you can see how close you get to the edge of the edge without apexing it (i.e. there will still be a thin sliver of black markie at the very edge up until you hit the 400-1000 grit range - whatever you choose).

There are no "pre-burr" clues that I'm aware of... a burr is simply the point at which you have truly apexed your edge and the two surfaces of your edge meet (may not be stating this very eloquently, but oh well). here is a pic for explanation...



so you can see what i'm talking about... if you don't apex the edge, you won't have a burr on *both* sides, period. I have had situations on some occasions where I will get a burr on one side and not the other if I have ground one of the sides down to the edge of the edge, but not the other. hope this makes sense! lol. sorry if i'm confusing you. in the end, it is an art

I as a beginner appreciate all the pointers I can get. Thanks for all the information in this thread. I tried the saran wrap tonight and it work well.