Wicked Edge Knife Sharpening System

As a home or professional chef, it is very important to maintain your tools. A sharp knife is much more effective in the kitchen and actually safer to use since a dull knife requires too much force when cutting or doing prep and it can slip, leading to injuries. A sharp knife also keeps fresh ingredients from crushing or bruising and keeps them fresh and tasting better, much longer.

I was home from work after surgery for a month recently and I wasn’t really able to do much. I couldn’t cook at all, so, I decided to do something that would help me keep my sanity… I decided to sharpen my knives since I could do that sitting at the dining room table. I looked at several different controlled angle sharpening systems and by far, the Wicked Edge one looked like the one that was the best and would work for me. They are a small, US company that makes the amazing knife sharpening systems. Their products are not only incredibly effective, they are made in the USA which is a huge plus for me.

I watched several videos and read some reviews and knife and chef’s forums posts and I decided to give them a try and see what I thought. I looked through their products and I found one called the Wicked Edge GO.  It is a portable unit that I can move to different locations and use wherever I want to without having to dedicate a permanent place in my kitchen, in my garage, or on my workbench. It also won  the 2017 – Blade Show and International Cutlery Fair – Accessory of the Year award.

The model I have has a couple more improvements than the one in the video above, such as, storage on the base for the Allen wrench and some more refinements but it is basically the same and the process is exactly the same.

This seemed like the perfect solution for my situation convalescing at home. I decided to give it a try and see what I thought. We can skip ahead to the ultimate result because I don’t like click-bait style writing at all even though this isn’t that type of post. I am absolutely in love with the system!

I chose the Wicked Edge GO and I decided to add on some finer stones and strops so that I can get a hair-whittling edge on some knives even though that isn’t usually something that one would typically do with a kitchen knife but I have pocket knives and other knives that I want to be able to polish the edge to a mirror finished bevel.

The unit itself comes with 200 grit and 600 grit diamond stones which give a really great edge for a kitchen knife and allows you to retain some “toothiness” that most chefs like. It is like a micro-serration that some feel gives a knife an enhanced ability to slice things like tomatoes. The stone add-ons that I chose were the extra-fine 800 grit and ultra-fine 1000 grit diamond stones. The strops were leather with 5 and 3.5-micron diamond stropping compounds.

I looks like somewhere, the USPS went a little nuts with the package. It was beaten up and had a cut in it but the contents were packed very well and everything was fine.

Here is what it looked like when I took it out of the box.

The unit comes with the tool bag and everything fits in it very well for transport or storage. One cool thing was that they even included a large marker to mark the bevel on the blade for when you are finding the correct angle. That is a very small addition but it is very well thought out and handy, there is even a place for it in the bag.

The design is very well done and the unit very well made. They added on-board storage for different parts that come with it such as the Allen wrench, guide rods, stones and the mounting bolt.

For the inaugural run, I decided to sharpen one of my favorite knives. I have more expensive ones but I really love this inexpensive santoku and I almost always reach for it instead of any of the others.

I will be posting a full tutorial with pictures very soon on how to sharpen with the Wicked Edge system but this is really just a review.

It is very simple and extremely effective. I have used stones, papers and films, and other guided systems but this one is the absolute best one that I have ever used. I was able to re-profile the edge bevel angle very precisely right out of the box. It came with a 20-degree angle on it but I wanted to re-profile it to 17 degrees because I find that to be perfect for a santoku.

The re-profiling process couldn’t have been easier. I used the enclosed marker to mark the current bevel, then used the fine stones to adjust it to where they matched the angle currently on the knife. I measured the angle with a free app on my phone and found it was 20-degrees. Then, I adjusted the angle to 17-degrees and went to work. The 200 grit diamond stones made quick work out of changing the angle and it went much faster than I anticipated. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least.

After I set the new angle, then I switched to the 600 grit stones to polish it up nicely and to make it more refined. Honestly, this is the point at which most people will stop for a kitchen knife. It was very sharp and it would push cut printer paper with ease. It would even cut thin, magazine paper with no problem at all.

I progressed to the fine and ultra fine stones to really polish the edge. Then I used the strops with the 5 and 3.5-micron polishing compounds. After I was done with them, It would shave with no problem and it was what some people call “scary sharp.” It cuts paper like a dream, even toilet paper! I was sad that I didn’t have some produce on hand to show how easily it cuts food but you can expect some food carving pictures in the near future.

Once you “get in the groove” of the process it is quick, easy and fun. I even had so much fun with the first knife that I decided to do some more knives. Most of my kitchen knives are sharpened and even a few of my son’s are now. I let him try it out and he loved it too.

Next, I pulled out some cheap paring knives that I had laying in the back of a drawer and decided to go to work on them. One of them was only ground on one side so I decided to grind the un-ground side and match the bevel on both sides. It worked like a charm.

I will post a step by step tutorial next but for now, Here are the details for the review. I will also post a follow-up in the future to update how it functions over a longer time frame.

Pros

• Easy to use
• Actually makes knife sharpening fun
• Much quicker than other methods
• Precise results removing human error
• Perfectly replicable results
• Ability to re-profile or change bevel angle quickly and easily
• Ability to match existing angle simply
• Outstanding results
• It sharpens both sides of the knife without removing it or flipping the knife like other systems
• Ease of setup
• It can be used for quick touch-ups to return a knife to a razor sharp edge quickly
• Portability
• Expandability (All the stones and most of the accessories work with any model)
• Easy to use manual/documentation
• A wealth of videos showing setup, use, etc.
• Excellent customer service and support (I emailed with a question and had an answer quickly and a follow-up later)
• Very welcoming and friendly forums willing to help with any questions
• Much more affordably priced than other Wicked Edge systems

Cons

• A fairly pricey unit (Especially if you add more stones and strops)
• That’s really it, I can’t think of anything else in the cons list…

Disclaimer: The product links on this page are Amazon affiliate links.

If, by some amazing happenstance you find yourself motivated to buy the items, I will receive a small amount from Amazon. The facts expressed here belong to everybody, the opinions to me. The distinction is yours to draw…

Here is the Wicked Edge GO system that I use. It is currently unavailable so I will be changing to the Wicked Edge Pro-Pack I – Precision Knife Sharpener

The stones above are the fine and ultra-fine ones I use. 

The link above is to the strops and 5 and 3.5-micron compound I use.

Here are some of their other systems.

   

Stay tuned, I am going to be doing some tutorials on knife skills and sharpening in the future and further review of the Wicked Edge GO sharpening system as well.