Remembering Wootz

[Ken S]

I knew Wootz from his earliest posts on the forum. We were both early believers in BESS. He was certainly one of the great pioneers and innovators in knife sharpening on the forum. As a former Medical Doctor and researcher, he had a keen and disciplined mind. He also had a practical mind. His technique was not always orthodox Tormek, although he was always respectful of Tormek. I liked and respected him, both as a person and as an innovative sharpener.

His writings and videos are an invaluable source for us, as are some of the products he developed. I am concerned when frustrated members post about having problems with his techniques. I would suggest that we all study his video about using a Tormek SG-250 and leather honing wheel with PA-50 honing paste only to sharpen a typical kitchen knife. Using this technique without a battery of other honing equipment, he obtained a BESS reading of 75, a very respectable score. Here is a link to that video:

https://youtu.be/UckPmizllk0?si=viBZ2vsnJktvCiIL

What was his "secret sauce"? Like a concert musician, Wootz had years of dedicated practice. He did the work to earn his skill. I am convinced that any one of us can reach his level of skill if we would be willing topit in the same amount of time and work.

Actually, a more accurate statement would be that our necessary work time has lessened because of his very generous sharing of his knowledge.  We are all better sharpeners because of Wootz.

Ken

PS For those of us who are new to the forum, "Wootz" was the user name of our late member Vadim Kriachuk of Knife Grinders of Australia. Sadly, he passed away too early, and we will never know what further innovations he might have given us.

[BPalv]

Ken,
Thanks for posting.  I am not new to sharpening, I worked on a knock off for a few years and just recently got my T8.  The SG-250 is a beautiful wheel.  It is definitely superior to the brand I had been using it's versatile and creates a beautiful edge.
My desire to purchase CBN wheels were twofold.  First was to have a setup where I could change grit without grating the stone every time and the outside diameter stays consistent.  The other reason was for supersteels.  I ran a batch of knives yesterday and enjoyed using both wheels.
I have been on a personal quest, to reach 50 consistently on BESS scores.  After studying Wootz's videos for more than a year and a half I decided I could benefit from multiple wheels.  Like working on a car, it can be a real pain unless you have the right tools.  With the correct ones it's a breeze.
After using Wootz's setup ( almost) I have been able to drop 20 to 30 points off of my average scores and shorten the time spent honing overall.  I would 100% agree that Wootz's was a master sharpener and I probably have a long way to go before I can hope to achieve close his results.  It is expensive and time consuming to attempt to duplicate his results but I have learned a TON on this journey and will forever be in Woot's debt.
Lastly, I imagine a host of end user's would love a selection of CBN wheels to choose from on Tormek's site IMHO.
Al

[Ken S]

Al,

Good post. When I reply I rarely know the experience level of the posting member. Often, my "best guess" is not a "good guess". You seem like you are making good progress on a deeper quest. I am pleased to see that.

Ken

[John_B]

I remember the technical discussions I had with Vadim both on and off of the forum. His work was groundbreaking for those trying to achieve an extremely sharp and longer lasting edge. He worked extensively with meat packers to stretch the time between sharpenings. I think in addition to his knowledge he had the opportunity to find things that did not work so well and to refine those that did. I think he would be pleased that his innovations have made their way into mainstream sharpening.

[kwakster]

I first talked to Wootz/Vadim when he joined this thread on Paper Wheels on the Australian Bladeforums in 2015/2016:

https://www.australianbladeforums.info/forum/have-your-say/general-blade-discussion/sharpening/24864-

Vadim was very interested in the modifications i had developed to the Paper Wheels sharpening & deburring system, and which transformed the sharpening/polishing of ceramic knives and later also high (vanadium-) carbide steel types.
Those mods involved the use of various fine diamond compounds together with certain types of dried oil to make the diamonds adhere to the Paper Wheel surface.
Vadim adopted my process to aid in his growing knife sharpening business in Australia (as did quite a few other knife people around the world), and we kept in contact over the years from time to time.

It's very sad that he departed this earth at such a relatively young age.
My impression is that if he had lived longer he would have advanced the knowledge of knife sharpening even more than he already did in the time that he had.

[Ken S]

Nice post, Kwakster.

I have long believed that one of the virtues of this forum is the combining of several creative minds.

I agree that Vadim's tragic early death deprived us of his ongoing ideas.

Ken