• If you have a CamLock Vise, increase the tension a little bit at a time until the knife is secure.
• Make sure you're clamping on 2 flat, parallel faces. Daggers, stiletto's, etc. will often have a fuller that you can clamp onto.
• Use a shim to help secure your blade.

The first time you sharpen a knife will always take the longest. If it's never been sharpened on a Wicked Edge, you may have to even the bevels, correct the angles, fix any damage, and work through reprofiling. Try dropping to a lower grit, using a scrubbing motion, or changing stroke direction to speed up the process.

Patience is key and you will get there, some knives are just more stubborn.

• Make sure you create a burr down the entire length of the blade on both sides. If you didn't draw a full burr, your knife won't be sharp.
• Make sure your stones are fully broken in. New stones will leave deeper scratches on the bevel that leave a finish that isn't nearly as good as when the stones are fully broken in.
• How are you testing sharpness? A knife sharpened to 20 degrees with an 800 grit will slice through cardboard all day, but won't pop hair. A knife at 15 degrees with a polished finish is perfect for shaving, but will fold over as soon as you put it to a zip tie. Make sure the finish matches the task you're sharpening it for.

Here's a quick video about where to clamp your blade in the vise.

The sharpener used in this video is a WE60 - GO, but the technique and information is the same for all of our sharpeners.

Our systems are calibrated for the knife's edge to sit 5/8" above the top of the vise. If your knife is shorter than this, you may not be able to reach the lower angles. Try sitting your knife as high in the vise as possible.

Your knife is most likely very thin and the bottom screws won't sit in all the way. You can either sharpen at a wider angle or swap out your vise screws for shorter ones. Simply take your top vise screw and put it in the bottom and replace the top one with a shorter screw. The standard top screw is a 1/4-20 x 5/8 Hex Drive Flat Head Screw.

Please reach out to support@wickededgeusa.com so we can send you replacement hardware under warranty to remedy this issue.

• When creating a burr, you may have focused on only one side. We suggest doing 10 strokes down one side and feeling for a burr. If you don't feel one, switch to the other side and repeat the process. Continue this until a burr is formed down both sides. This ensures even metal removal from both sides of the blade.
• The knife is leaning to one side. Fully flat ground blades are the biggest culprit. Use a shim to steady the blade and straighten it in the vise.
• The vise jaws are bent. Close the vise completely and make sure both sides of the jaws are in full contact with each other.
• The angles and/or micro-adjusts are not set equally.

• They're broken in. Fully broken in stones will be far less aggressive and feel significantly smoother while sharpening.
• Give them a good cleaning. Warm water, dish soap, and an old toothbrush can be used to clean out metal filings from the stones. We recommend cleaning them every 25 sharpening sessions.
• They're worn out. Check for bald spots where you can see the shiny steel platen underneath the diamonds.

If your strops haven't been used in a while, spray a little isopropyl rubbing alcohol on them and rub them together to bring them back to life. You may need to add more compound.

If they're cracked, cut, or peeling, it's time to order new leather strips.

Chances are you're using the same edge leading (downward) stroke that you use on the Diamond Stones.

Use the edge trailing (upwards) stroke so the edge of your blade doesn't cut into the softer leather or Lapping Films.

Use a shim to stabilize the bottom of the adapter in the clamp.

Simply change the screw out for the small, set screw that came with your Low Angle Adapter.