Edge Pro vs Wicked Edge for Spyderco folders

[Bugs]

Which one works better and why? Which brand will work better for Spyderco folders (PM2, Stretch, Delica, Domino size knives) and pros and cons for each. Thinking of picking one up this week and need some solid info on these 2 systems. At this point in time I am leaning towards the Edge Pro Essentials kit from Chef Knives To Go with the Shapton Glass Stones. Their Edge Pro Essential Set comes with the following stones:
Shapton Glass 500 Grit Stone
Shapton Glass 1,000 Grit Stone
Shapton Glass 6,000 Grit Stone
Thinking of swapping the 1000 grit stone for a 2000 grit & swapping the 6,000 grit for an Atoma 140 diamond plate for the edge pro. They already confirmed they could do this. So would like to hear rationale whether to go with the EP or pop a few more bucks for the Wicked Edge.
Thanks,
Bob

[farnorthdan]

I have the Edge pro, it is a good system, mostly I use it for re-profiling and edge repairs. Good call on the atoma 140, you really do need something that can remove some steel when required. I find I use more abrasive stones often on my EP and medium stuff, usually around 400-600, I end up finishing on my Sharp Maker most often. Unfortunately I have not used the wicked edge, hopefully someone else can give you a better comparison between both.

[Cujobob]

I have only used the Wicked Edge system. I like it, but it's pricey. I know many well respected knife sharpening guys use the EP system and have great success with it. Based on the cost savings, I'd go that route.

[Ankerson]

I use the EP, I like it because it's fast and accurate along with the large variety of stones that are available for it.

Never have been a fan of clamp systems personally and I am not a fan of using diamonds.

All of that said it works very well for me for what I do.

I do have a clamp system now, the Tech Studio system and it does work well due to the unique clamping system, but I still use the EP.

[Echo63]

I have only used the Edgepro (i have an Apex kit with all the stock stone)
Works well and gets all my knives scary sharp.
Works well with a sharpmaker for touchups between sharpenings too

[bpahk]

i have a gen 1 wicked edge that i use just for reprofiling. use a sharpmaker for maintaining. these are the issues ive had:
- clamp has weakened over time so that it doesnt hold blade perfectly steady.
- spydercos are mostly ffg so you're not getting flush grip with primary grind. very difficult to perfectly match clamp to the primary grind, and even if you do its unlikely the blade will be perfectly vertical/symmetrical. reading WE forums and other users posts, there are various techinques to overcome this, like foam tape, multiple gradient layering of masking tape, off-setting one arm by a degree or two with an angle cube, etc. this is kinda time consuming and annoying sometimes.
- the diamond stones that are available work great, but the plastic shoulders on the stones are proud of the stones themselves so that its difficult if not impossible to sharpen all the way to the ricasso since the shoulders will hit up against them. most spydies also dont have a sharpening notch so this is noticeable. you can grind down the plastic shoulders on the stones but this takes some effort too.
- the articulated arms have some play within the hole of the stones so that there is about a 1 deg variance that develops unless youre aware of this and modify your technique to accommodate it. difficult to verbalize this, but where you grip the stones (top/middle/bottom) and how you apply pressure will affect the angle. for example if you grip near the top and apply pressure, because of the play between the stones and arm there will be variance in angle making it more obtuse than if you grip near the bottom and apply pressure. that explanation was probably not very clear without a picture and diagram to illustrate. im sure someone made a youtube video on this problem.
- does not handle large blades well. even with the little vertical support pin thats provided, it just isnt very stable. and because the arms swing in an arc, it wont maintain a consistent angle across a long length. i generally don't use it all for blades longer than 5".
- cannot produce bevels of less than about 16 dps because the stones will hit up against the clamp. this will depend on how deep you clamp your blade and the width of the blade itself or how much it protrudes over the top of the clamp. they sell another attachment to address this design flaw but i havent bought it bc i feel ive spent enough money on it.
- sharpening anything with a thumb stud is really annoying. not really a problem with spydies, but still bothers me.

[Evil D]

I won't use anything clamp based. There are ways to work around them, but I got sick of having to make my sharpener work for me, so I use an Edge Pro for profiling and a Sharpmaker for maintaining/touching up.

[Brock O Lee]

EP / Sharpmaker, or freehand.

The Lansky clamp system I started out with permanently killed my enthusiasm for clamp-based systems, because they all share similar weakenesses. The EP or SM are not perfect, but they are close enough to work well in practice.

[NJMS]

Edge pro for me. Works well and isn't effected by FFG knives like the clamp systems can be. Used to have a clamp system, note the "used to". The EP seems more versatile with large blades to as you just slide them around on the bed. That's one issue with a coal system that I didn't like at all.

I'm now finding a sharpmaker an awesome companion to my EP. I sharpen most of my Spyderco's to 15dps on the EP and touch up using a few light 20dps passes on the sharpmaker when required.

[Bugs]

Thank you for the replies. I was planning on getting the Edge Pro essential kit with stone swap as noted in original post. Just wanted to make sure I was not missing something before I pulled the trigger.

[toxophilus]

If I were to do the Edge Pro again I would do it just like you're doing Bugs except I would also add a leather strop with emulsion compound of your choice; that's where you really get those hair whittling edges. Periodically stropping will maintain that razor edge!

I love that I can maintain the same angle due to resting the ricasso on the table, I use electrical tape so I don't mar the blade with any slurry.

I'm very happy with mine :)

[Bugs]

If I were to do the Edge Pro again I would do it just like you're doing Bugs except I would also add a leather strop with emulsion compound of your choice; that's where you really get those hair whittling edges. Periodically stropping will maintain that razor edge!

I love that I can maintain the same angle due to resting the ricasso on the table, I use electrical tape so I don't mar the blade with any slurry.

I'm very happy with mine :)

Not real familiar with stropping compounds. Which emulsion compound would you recommend?

[toxophilus]

I use Ken Schwartz CBN .050 micron on down on the Kangaroo leather strops that CKTG sells.

[jimmyjohnjohn]

<-- another Edge Pro guy. Wouldn't trade it for a spotted hog.

[Spook410]

Edge Pro clones are very inexpensive. The Shapton stones are nice.

[Bugs]

One more question. Do you guys use an angle cube and do you feel it is a necessity?

[toxophilus]

One more question. Do you guys use an angle cube and do you feel it is a necessity?

Yes, I use an angle cube to set the initial angle and I also use a drill stop collar underneath with my starting sharpening stone (search youtube videos on how to); that way when I change stones to different grits I can easily maintain the same angle regardless of the differing thickness of the stones.

[farnorthdan]

One more question. Do you guys use an angle cube and do you feel it is a necessity?

Yes, I use an angle cube to set the initial angle and I also use a drill stop collar underneath with my starting sharpening stone (search youtube videos on how to); that way when I change stones to different grits I can easily maintain the same angle regardless of the differing thickness of the stones.

+1, the stop collar is a must have addition, you might also consider the edge pro leveling kit, works great to flatten/freshen up the stones.
http://www.edgeproinc.com/Stone-Leveling-kit-p36.html

[Bugs]

The drill stop collar is include in CKTG Edge Pro essentail kit. I'll probably pick up the leveling kit later. Just found an app for the Iphone that works like an angle cube and will try that first.

[Bugs]

Decided the last minute to get the angle cube. iphone looks kinda big for this utilization; does not seem like it would work well. Think I'm going to get a bigger strop than the edge pro one. I hear that stropman and knives plus have good ones. Decisions, decisions....