I would venture a guess that half the WEPS owners have a scratched (or polished in my case) vise tip. It just happens when you set the angle too low on an already low-profile knife. You're right in that the scratches are purely cosmetic, nothing is wrong with your system.

For future, if it bothers you, just put the blade in the top holes if you're going for a sub-20 degree angle, and even above the top holes for very small blades, like multi-tool blades.

I don't have access to a microscope to give a real side-by-side comparison, but I can tell you that after the 1000 grit diamonds, the surface is still scratched and toothy, whereas after the 1000 grit 3M sandpaper, it starts to take on a mirror finish and lose its teeth. I don't know WHY this is, just that it happens.

To be honest though, unless I'm feeling particularly OCD on a given day, I skip the 1000 and 1500 sandpapers, and go from 1k diamond to 2k sandpaper. It doesn't get rid of every scratch, and it takes awhile longer, but it's such a pain cutting out little rectangles of sandpaper and taping them to the same stone three times for each knife.

Ya I use it dry, the only thing I add water to are the diamond sprays on balsa. While the pastes stay slightly moist and don't really need maintenance, the sprays dry out and work better when slightly wet.

Just be careful while stropping that you lower your sharpening angle a degree or two and dont use too much pressure. You can get a blade to pass the HHT/whittle hair after 2500 sandpaper, but it's easy to go backward with bad stropping.

Yep, 18 degrees each side for 36 inclusive


Progression was

Diamond:
100
200
400
600
800
1000

Sandpaper taped to the 1000 grit diamond stone:
1000
1500
2000

Balsa Strops:
5
3.5
1
.5
.25
.125

Cow Leather Strop
.025
blank

I use an angle cube for all my measurements.

As for the Leatherman, I just mount the whole thing. It would be better to remove the blade but I cant be bothered It still turned out well, though.

img23.imageshack.us/img23/2870/1002361fd.jpg

Essentially, yes. The taller the knife is, and the higher up in the clamp you have it, the lower the angle will be. I set one of my cleavers in the top just to see what kind of angle I could get and it was 7 degrees. On the other hand, I cant get my Leatherman's blade lower than about 18 degrees, because it just isnt tall enough to let the stones clear the clamp below that.

I put it on the 1000 grit diamond stones with a bit of duck tape


Also here's a direct link to a larger image

img23.imageshack.us/img23/2870/1002361fd.jpg

You can see that the polish isnt great at the very heel of the blade. I cant get the strops in close enough because they hit the rest of the Leatherman, since the blade is so offset to one side.

An update with a blade I just finished up. The blade from my Leatherman Wave.






Progression was:

Diamond:
100
200
400
600
800
1000

Sandpaper:
1000
1500
2000

Balsa Strops:
5
3.5
1
0.5
0.25
0.125

Cow Leather:
0.025
Blank


Whittles hair easily, passes HHT. Dont really feel like shaving with a leatherman so thats as far as the testing will go

You'll be spending the most time with the 100 grit stones if you're changing the angle. The way to find out when you're done is to check for a burr all along the blade. If you think you're getting close to the edge, focus on just one side of the knife for awhile, then feel the opposite side for a burr. If there's a prominent burr all the way along the edge, you're there. Then just do a few light alternating strokes before moving on to the 200s. With the finer stones, you don't need to worry about a burr any longer, just go until the scratches from the previous stones are gone.

Another thing to remember is not to smack the diamond stones or ceramics into the knife. This could lead to chipping in the edge. Always be gentle when putting the stone against the blade.

It's normal for compound to come off at first, the leather will hold onto just as much compound as it needs. After a few knives it wont leave any on the blade. Rest assured, it doesn't hurt anything.

It's also normal for the angle cube and the WEPS settings to be off a couple of degrees. This is simply because of varying blade heights and thicknesses. Always trust your angle cube, the WEPS settings are just a rough idea of where to be.

The problem (I'm guessing), is that you're copying Clay's videos for your technique (that is, up and away). But you're continuing the motion into a full semicircle, so that by the tip of the blade you're actually moving the strop downwards and into the tip. The other possibility is that you're pressing way too hard on the strop and just scraping the tip along the strop.

To fix, use short, up and away motions in a straight line, without arcing, and use very little pressure. Be especially careful near the tip and take your time, making sure to go away from the edge.

I got a couple of nicks on my strops on my first knife because of the semi-circle stropping motion I was using, but since then I haven't caused them anymore damage, and my knives all turn out just fine.

I didn't try disassembling it, but I would have to assume it would still tip down. The clamp is just too small to hold out against the leverage of a blade that long.

The best you could do would be to prop up both ends of the sword with some books or something on a large table, and sharpen it in segments, then just spend alot of time polishing out the transitions when it's finished.

The other thing to remember is that most swords are fully flat ground, and only have one bevel. The correct way to sharpen them (especially a katana), is to sharpen the entire face of the bevel on a stone.

I have a decent functional katana (hanwei practical plus xl light), and decided to at least see how feasible it was to try and sharpen it on the WEPS. Clamping is next to impossible, you have to prop it up or it just falls down. It's also so wide that it barely fits in the vise while still being able to tighten. Mine also has a bo-hi (groove) on the spine, making it even more painful to try to clamp. And then there's the problem of blending the different sections you sharpen together.

I had previously tried a two zone sharpening on a 12" bowie; sharpening the back completely, and then the tip half. It works "ok" but there's a very obvious transition that I had to work on for a long while with the strops to get even partially acceptable.

Overall, I have to say "no, the WEPS cannot sharpen swords"

For knives that clamp easily, but have a finish that you want to preserve, use a piece of masking tape to protect them.

For difficult to clamp blades, use double sided foam tape.

Well the problem is that most knives dont require any kind of flexible material to hold them in place, the knives that do are more of an exception. And when you put something else in there that has some "give" to it, suddenly the amount of pressure you put on the stones can change the sharpening angle by compressing the rubber or whatever you have in the vise.

Am I the only one that thinks they look like condoms?


And I the only one just now realize that the tip of a condom would be great as a shroud for the new arms?

I'd be very interested in seeing the balsa results as well, in particular, how much pressure can be used before rounding the edge. My normal progression after sandpaper is 5, 3.5, 1, .5, .125, .05.....all on balsa. Even going as much as 100 passes on each though, I can never fully get rid of the sandpaper scratches with how lightly I contact the blade.

Id also like to see what effect blank cow leather has on an edge, if any.

I was actually going to link Salty's channel but you beat me to it

I will post another video though.



All his knives are stropped, you can see his progression in a few videos of his.

I polished my CCK cleaver to 0.05 microns and it will cut practically invisible tomato slices without needing to hold the tomato. You really dont need a toothy edge.

While it's not actually my first post, it will be the first since my WEPS arrived last week, and I decided it would be a good time to say hi to everyone.

I got the pro-pack 1, along with 1, .5, .125, and 0.05 micron balsa strops, and 0.025 micron on leather, keeping the other side of leather blank. I've sharpened a few junk knives to break in the stones and practice with the system, as well as get all the stropping compounds settled into their respective blanks.

I just finished up my first real knife, a Spyderco Dragonfly 2 in VG-10, sharpened at 16 degrees each side (using angle cube) and finished up through 0.05 micron,(0.025 is on backorder), and finally blank leather. Here's some pics.







After finishing I decided to test it by having a shave, and it did a wonderful job

The only real blade steel I have experience with is the 14C28N on my Kershaw Leek. Super tough edge, even on such a needle-pointed blade. No chips or bends even after heavy use (and abuse), and it's not too difficult to touch up on some ultra-fine DMT and sandpaper. Easily shaving sharp, though I wont know if it can go from regular shaving sharpness to a comfortable shave of the face until my WEPS gets here. I'll update when it does.