Wicked edge or Tormek

[delta wolf]

I'm looking at purchasing one of the above sharpening systems and I'm looking for real world experience of both.
I have various other systems and water stones and can get good sharp edges on all of them. However, I have some knives I would not want to sharpen on the other systems but want something quicker and more repeatable than stones (with my input!).
I also make a small amount of knives and whilst I put the majority of the edge on using my belt grinder, would prefer something cooler for the final sharpen. I like features of both systems and can't make a decision.
Please don't turn this into a 'I can sharpen my mora on a house brick for 10 pence' competition, I want a system to sharpen everything including high end knives consistently.
I would appreciate input from anyone who has experience of either.

 

[willie_gunn]

I have both. As you will be aware already, they are quite different systems.

Hopefully one of our resident knife-makers will be along to post the experiences of those who use them professionally, but here are my, very much amateur, opinions.

The water-cooled Tormek was bought for sharpening wood turning gouges, though it can also sharpen and re-profile knife blades. I have used it occasionally to put an edge on a knife, though I use it very rarely for that purpose these days. It is quick to use, but can be overly aggressive if you’re not careful. It is also not exactly a “precision instrument” if you’re after specific angles or profiles.

The Wicked Edge was bought specifically for sharpening knives, and it does it well, as it should do given it is its sole purpose. The process can be time consuming (or therapeutic, if you prefer!) if you go through all the grades of stones, and then the abrasive 3M papers as well. On the other hand it does allow for exact angles and profiles - or as exact as I am ever likely to require - and can produce that lovely mirror-finish to an edge.

 

[Cottis]

Get an Edge Pro. It is more versatile than the wicked edge. I dislike clamp systems. You are not limited to any angle with the edge pro and can also replicate an existing angle with ease.

I see the tormek as more of a woodworking edged tool mache and a very good one too. If you are looking for an intuitive system for knife sharpening, the Edge Pro is very very good and also much cheaper. The stone quality is very good.

 

[Overlay]

i’ve just recently changed from Lansky to the work sharp system and find it easier a better sharp, kit seems more precise and solid

 

[delta wolf]

Thanks all, definitely food for thought! Hadn't looked at the edge pro, that's certainly another to look at. I think the comment on the tormek confirms my thoughts and worries about making a mistake. Fine with a cheap knife but I want something that will happily do a £600 knife with little chance of a big error.
I have got a work sharp with the additional blade grinding attachment, great tool and produces a lovely edge but I'm concerned about trusting a powered system with really expensive knives for the same reasons.

 

[Overlay]

Thanks all, definitely food for thought! Hadn't looked at the edge pro, that's certainly another to look at. I think the comment on the tormek confirms my thoughts and worries about making a mistake. Fine with a cheap knife but I want something that will happily do a £600 knife with little chance of a big error.
I have got a work sharp with the additional blade grinding attachment, great tool and produces a lovely edge but I'm concerned about trusting a powered system with really expensive knives for the same reasons.

My work sharp is the same as the lansky individual stones on a set table degree of angles to suit the grind, I wouldn't use a power driven sharpener on my knives, hand sharpening if your steady does a tremendous job and enjoyable

 

[Cottis]

Thanks all, definitely food for thought! Hadn't looked at the edge pro, that's certainly another to look at. I think the comment on the tormek confirms my thoughts and worries about making a mistake. Fine with a cheap knife but I want something that will happily do a £600 knife with little chance of a big error.
I have got a work sharp with the additional blade grinding attachment, great tool and produces a lovely edge but I'm concerned about trusting a powered system with really expensive knives for the same reasons.

Just to add, if you are doing very expensive knives, there is a downside to the Edge Pro and that is that the little ledge that the knife rests on can collect water including metal stained debris which is basically very very fine metal shavings as you remove tiny bits of the blade edge. If you do not constantly wash it away with water, it can mark the belly of the blade which would not be desirable. On a working knife, it is no issue but if it is a knife you want to be perfect or if you are doing customers knives, you need to either take great care or what I do is put masking tape on the belly and sides of the knife so it will not mark up.

But the pros far outweight that one con. It is just a more versatile system. I mean you can do all sorts on it. I have done scissors, chisel ground edges like a leather splitting blade and of course various knives. You can also easily do very small knives which often do not offer enough "real estate" to reliably clamp in to clamp systems. Although I would always use a diamond stone or other flat stone to do plane irons, scandi grinds or chisels, you could easily do those on the Edge Pro and marry up the angle precisely before you started. There is no limit to the tiniest adjustment you can make in terms of setting an angle.

You can also buy a variety of stones. Standard whet stones or the modern diamond stones are awesome, especially for quick re-profiling when you need to remove lots of material quickly on badly damaged tools.

It is also tiny and very lightweight. You would not exactly take it to the field with you but it does not need the workspace the heavy Wicked Edge does.

I am a bit of a sharpening whore. I use a variety of methods. If I could only have one, it would be a basic stone as I am fine at freehand sharpening but if I could only have two, it would 100% be the Edge Pro and a normal stone.

 

[delta wolf]

My work sharp is the same as the lansky individual stones on a set table degree of angles to suit the grind, I wouldn't use a power driven sharpener on my knives, hand sharpening if your steady does a tremendous job and enjoyable

Aah, thank you, I hadn't realised that, I will take a look.

 

[delta wolf]

Just to add, if you are doing very expensive knives, there is a downside to the Edge Pro and that is that the little ledge that the knife rests on can collect water including metal stained debris which is basically very very fine metal shavings as you remove tiny bits of the blade edge. If you do not constantly wash it away with water, it can mark the belly of the blade which would not be desirable. On a working knife, it is no issue but if it is a knife you want to be perfect or if you are doing customers knives, you need to either take great care or what I do is put masking tape on the belly and sides of the knife so it will not mark up.

But the pros far outweight that one con. It is just a more versatile system. I mean you can do all sorts on it. I have done scissors, chisel ground edges like a leather splitting blade and of course various knives. You can also easily do very small knives which often do not offer enough "real estate" to reliably clamp in to clamp systems. Although I would always use a diamond stone or other flat stone to do plane irons, scandi grinds or chisels, you could easily do those on the Edge Pro and marry up the angle precisely before you started. There is no limit to the tiniest adjustment you can make in terms of setting an angle.

You can also buy a variety of stones. Standard whet stones or the modern diamond stones are awesome, especially for quick re-profiling when you need to remove lots of material quickly on badly damaged tools.

It is also tiny and very lightweight. You would not exactly take it to the field with you but it does not need the workspace the heavy Wicked Edge does.

I am a bit of a sharpening whore. I use a variety of methods. If I could only have one, it would be a basic stone as I am fine at freehand sharpening but if I could only have two, it would 100% be the Edge Pro and a normal stone.

Yes, I've bought all sorts over the years as I love my blades to be perfect. I'm relatively proficient with stones but think I could be better. Which model edge pro do you have? It's definitely come into contention!

 

[Cottis]

Yes, I've bought all sorts over the years as I love my blades to be perfect. I'm relatively proficient with stones but think I could be better. Which model edge pro do you have? It's definitely come into contention!

I don't know what it is called as it is a few years old now. It was around the £160 mark from memory and comes with a 120, 220, 400, 600 and 1000 grit stones, all of which are still in use and surprisingly unworn considering how much work they have done. I think you can get some weird polishing strips in a more expensive kit but I wouldn't bother with those. The 1000 grit stone is without question a polishing stone and puts a mirror finish on an edge. I don't use that much unless I am showing off to a mate or wanting to demonstrate how hairs can pop off an arm just by touching it. 120 is for hacking off quick material. I really just use the 220 followed by the 400 and then 600 which is more than enough for almost all tools. I use the finer grits for scalpels and leather edgers when I need really fine edges for leatherwork.

You can spend more on the Pro model but for me it is not worth it. You can get knock off copies but the base stand is not as good and the stones are where the money is really well spent. The knock off versions have utterly crap stones that are thinner, have less depth and dish really quickly. The OEM Edge Pro stones are still flat for me. Buy once, cry once.

 

[delta wolf]

I don't know what it is called as it is a few years old now. It was around the £160 mark from memory and comes with a 120, 220, 400, 600 and 1000 grit stones, all of which are still in use and surprisingly unworn considering how much work they have done. I think you can get some weird polishing strips in a more expensive kit but I wouldn't bother with those. The 1000 grit stone is without question a polishing stone and puts a mirror finish on an edge. I don't use that much unless I am showing off to a mate or wanting to demonstrate how hairs can pop off an arm just by touching it. 120 is for hacking off quick material. I really just use the 220 followed by the 400 and then 600 which is more than enough for almost all tools. I use the finer grits for scalpels and leather edgers when I need really fine edges for leatherwork.

You can spend more on the Pro model but for me it is not worth it. You can get knock off copies but the base stand is not as good and the stones are where the money is really well spent. The knock off versions have utterly crap stones that are thinner, have less depth and dish really quickly. The OEM Edge Pro stones are still flat for me. Buy once, cry once.

Thank you, that's a real help. Think you may have saved me some money although I will probably spend it on another knife!!

 

[Cottis]

Thank you, that's a real help. Think you may have saved me some money although I will probably spend it on another knife!!

You can never have enough edged tools

 

[plonker]

Ruixin Pro RX-008 Knife Sharpner.

After having a few different sharpening systems, this one ticks all the boxes.
Better than the edge pro i sold.

 

[delta wolf]

Ruixin Pro RX-008 Knife Sharpner.

After having a few different sharpening systems, this one ticks all the boxes.
Better than the edge pro i sold.

Thank you, I have seen these and like the way the blade is clamped and can be flipped rather than holding it on the edge pro. However I just can't see how the stones can be much good and last well at that price.

 

[plonker]

Thank you, I have seen these and like the way the blade is clamped and can be flipped rather than holding it on the edge pro. However I just can't see how the stones can be much good and last well at that price.

Agree with the clamping, much better than edge pro.
The stones cut fine and polish but im no professional so cant comment on the longevity of them
You can buy replacement edge pro stones that might fit.
Perhaps someone can measure the edge pro stones and i can see if the would fit

 

[Lancaster]

The diamond stones that came with my Ruixin seem to have worn pretty quickly, they probably did about 20 knives before I noticed that they weren't cutting as well.
I bought some Bacher stones that fit the Edge Pro and they fit perfectly in the Ruixin, I have also some blank aluminium mounting plates on the way from the bay of E and will buy a couple of the unmounted stones for the Edge Pro and put them on the plates.

 

[Longstrider]

Why not just buy a set of DMT hones and a strop and learn how to do the job properly ? Freehand honing gives endless options of edge geometry to suit all blade types and tasks and is quite a theraputic way to spend a bit of 'shed time'. I've worked on many blades that make a £600 knife seem like a cheap knock-about sort of a tool.

All my edge tools are honed with DMT's and then stropped, even my axes. You should see the chips I can generate from a fallen willow with a 7lb felling axe that's sharp enough to shave with !

 

[delta wolf]

Why not just buy a set of DMT hones and a strop and learn how to do the job properly ? Freehand honing gives endless options of edge geometry to suit all blade types and tasks and is quite a theraputic way to spend a bit of 'shed time'. I've worked on many blades that make a £600 knife seem like a cheap knock-about sort of a tool.

All my edge tools are honed with DMT's and then stropped, even my axes. You should see the chips I can generate from a fallen willow with a 7lb felling axe that's sharp enough to shave with !

Honest answer is because I don't want to! Great that you have worked on knives that make mine look cheap but that's not really the point. I have worked hard to buy them and to me they are something I want to do a great job on within my abilities and avoiding costly mistakes where possible hence my question. Surely 'properly' is subjective if the end result is achieved?

 

[Longstrider]

I meant no offence fella. Those costly bits of steel were not mine. I learned on old tools and cheap blades at the side of a master (my grandfather) and progressed from there. I just think that doing the job yourself is satisfying.

 

[Antonyweeks]

I've got a Tormek I use for my turning tools and some other things. For turning tools and my skill set it is great. I have buggered up some practise knife blades on it though but I've not got the knife attachment that goes with it, so that was probably the issue! For my knifes I tend to do them freehand using diamond stones or different grit papers. I can get a lovely edge but it never seems to stay super sharp. Was stalking with a michelin starred chef last week and I asked him what he uses for his kitchen and stalking knives. He said that the Nirey knife sharpeners were outstanding. I looked them up and the Pro thing is about £300! However, looks decent but I haven't used it. The chef's friend who was also with us said he had biought one 2nd hand from ebay for about half the price and wouldn't use anything else now. Here's a link:

I.O.Shen Knife Wizard Nirey Commercial Electric Knife Sharpener KE280 - KitchenKnives.co.uk

I.O.Shen Knife Wizard Nirey Commercial Electric Knife Sharpener KE280

www.kitchenknives.co.uk