Thread: Wicked Edge - Sharpening a Straight Razor

Have you guys seen this?
What do you guys think?

Interesting concept. He sure makes it look easy, lets see how many people bite???

Personally, there's absolutely no way in hell I'd ever put that thing onto any of my razors.

I bet it'd do a kickass job on my hunting knives though.

I'm pretty familiar with the wicked edge and other guided systems. Using them on straight razors seems like a complicated and expensive solution to a problem that I am not sure anyone has. (The razor has its own guide)

I really don't like these things for knives either. A slight convex nature to the edge (that freehand sharpening offers) provides a more durable edge.

Off my rant box now

Interesting stuff, I always figured the allure of systems like the weps or ep was that you could easily hold a consistent angle which is one of the things that isn't really an issue for razors. To me it looks more awkward than just plain old honing and stropping. Thanks for the vid though, I had wondered if these systems could be used for straights.

edit: or, what unit said

I've never seen it, but a couple of things jump out at me.

1. Why? After spending all this time letting us know that he understands the blade geometry of a straight razor, and even laying it on a hone so we can see, why on earth would you then rig up guide arms and strap it into this contraption? Surely the easiest way is the way we do it - move the razor on the stone on a flat surface.

2. What if your razor has the variable spine width geometry that you see on a lot of the old Sheffield smiley wedges etc? This system seems to work on the supposition that the spine thickness (or in other words bevel angle) remains constant along the length of the blade. Is this "Wicked" system able to cope with the "rolling" stroke necessary to hone these kinds of razors?

3. It seems to me that pressure is an issue with this kind of ergonomics. In essence you are moving a heavy hone against a fixed edge. Of course, with some time and skill development I am sure you can develop a very light and even touch on one of these contraptions, but in my opinion it is a lot easier and more controlled to move the razor on a stone.

All in all, that thing looks fairly decent and clearly they have thought long and hard about its design and use. However, personally I will not be rushing out to get one for straights. If I owned and sharpened knives, maybe. But not razors. YYMV.

James.

I think you guys are right. This thing was made for knives but I think he made this video so he can say "Look what else it can do!" The hardest part to sharpening knives on a stone is holding a consistent angle. That's why I strop my knives. Anyway, I'm new to honing and was checking out ways to do it. Using a Naniwa 12000 looks a lot easier

yes this has been discussed before at length, not going to work like hand honing.
This tool works well on most knives(what it was created for) but not on single bevel knives like the traditional Japanese style ones.
This will not work on razor fro pressure and also geometry stand point.

The person seems genuine, but I don't like it. Now if the SRP crew had been espousing this device's virtues a year ago when I began SR shaving, my opinion would probably be different. But they weren't, so it's not.

I.m with unit on this one. For straights it seems like a solution to a non existent problem to me.

Bob

My biggest concern with this setup would be feedback. If you're not holding the razor, those subtle hints you learn to rely on (too much pressure, not enough, etc) are not present.