I had one of those Gerbers some time ago, sturdy litle things they are. Someone broke into my car and stole a lot of stuff and that little knife was part of it. You did well to get a good edge on it Curtis.
Here is my present Gerber Limited Edition Command II Fighting Knife. It is the one below the F/S wicked-looking dagger.



Leo

Curtis
LOL! It's just that I am an old coot who learned all this stuff back just after the Korean War. My first love as a teen was the F/S Commando knife. My friend and I owned several surplus ones each and we practiced throwing them until we were pretty good and Fairbairn was our hero. His Get Tough book only has about 4 pages of stuff on using the knife, but really all the rest is not too important. Ten years in the Algonquin Regiment Reserves also taught a lot about hand to hand combat including the use of knives as weapons. It was OK when it was a rubber knife and nobody really got hurt. Reality knife fighting is something I'd rather not think about let alone do.
Keep your dagger sharp!

Leo

Sorry Curtis, but the Fairbairn-Sykes knife and the Gerber knives similar do indeed require and edge. You wouldn't think so at first glance, but these knives are often used to deliver slicing attacks for which an edge is absolutely necessary. If you study knife fighting as taught by the military, you will see that this action is often used against an enemy who exposes and arm or a leg that is vulnerable to such slicing swings of the blade. I won't go into the gruesome details, but there is nothing nice about attacking and killing with a knife. Much as I love my two fighting knives, their use gives me the shivers. Think about it for a minute and you will agree I am sure that a dagger without a sharp edge is not as good a weapon as one with. Colonel Fairbairn, the inventor of this fine knife wrote the book on the use of this knife...you can still get it. Get Tough is the book.

Leo

I clamped mine on the flat spot and did a bit of work that gave me a keen edge but I was not able to work without scratching the dickens out of the blade because of its narrow, dihedral shape. I had a similar problem with my Fairbairn-Sykes commando dagger. Perhaps Clay will have a suggestion.

Leo

It has ended with no one stepping forward to give it a try.
I have decided then to give away the first and second prizes to people that I choose for their positive activity on the forum and who I think are deserving. My choice.
The Temagami Hunter and the Great Eastern Folder will be given away by me. So if you get an unexpected PM from me, you be the one.

Cheers
Leo

Congratulations Clay! Sounds like business is burgeoning my friend! This explains why there are sometimes delays. When one buys an excellent and popular product like the WEPS, it is quite possible there will be delays because of demand. Good on you mate!

Warm regards
Leo

All exactly right! Good stuff!

Leo

Great! You should let Clay know via a PM. He is the one who keeps tabs on the video side of the contests. I deal with the essays. Well done mate!
Leo

It's OK Michael! It is all over now and I think everybody understands better. Thanks for your caring attitude mate!

Best regards
Leo

Curtis, I think people think that they need to make a big production of the video or the photo-essay, but that is not what we expect. A simple presentation pointing out one feature of knife sharpening with the WEPS lasting three minutes or so is fine, Also don't forget, many of the newer still-cameras also do short videos that are of excellent quality.Try something new and different to stretch yourself. You may be surprised at how much fun it can be and don't forget the prizes too!
If we don't get responses soon we will have to cancel the contests and that would be a shame.

Leo

Razoredge wrote:


This is very good advice...the purple loctite helps a lot and like you I check the screws repeatedly as I sharpen. It is second nature to me now.

Leo

Hi Phil
My home theatre is not particularly fancy. I have a Denon 3312ci 7.2 receiver with 125 watts RMS per channel; I have an OPPO BDP-103 Blu-Ray Player which is probably one of the best you can buy. The TV I haven't gotten yet until we move into the new house in a couple of weeks, but it will be between 47 and 55 inches, 3D capable and with an LED screen. Probably the fanciest things in my setup are my speakers which I built my self nearly 20 years ago using Dynaudio speaker drivers and cross-over components from Denmark. My two front speakers are columns, 2 way, 34x14x17 inches. They consist of a 10 inch woofer and a 1.1 silk dome tweeter each. The bottom third of each is filled with sand which cuts off the floor of the room from the vibrations that often plague other speakers with a deep bass response. Each one weighs in at 125 pounds. The cabinets are made from 1 inch MDF veneered with oak and the inner walls are thoroughly braced internally to minimize loss of power by allowing the walls of the speaker to vibrate overly. These Dynaudio drivers are the best money can buy and that company no longer allows the public to buy their drivers separately...you have to buy their complete speakers many of which run over 10K to purchase. My two rear speakers are also Dynaudio 2-way speakers with 7 inch woofers and the same 1.1 inch tweeters as the others. They are on stands of cherry matching the cabinets of the speakers. They are relatively smaller 20x12x9 inches, but the walls of the cabinets are very stiff and so it can belt out the sound. I chose 2-way configurations because that was what I could afford then. I have never been displeased with them. These speakers were tested at the University of Waterloo by experts who consult with speaker makers from all over the world and they found them to be of audiophile quality.
I have yet to pick out a sub-woofer and center speaker to complete my 5.1 configuration, but I will do that soon. There you go Phil, not so fancy as one of the guys from the Knife Forum who has 13,000 dollars worth of electronics belting out the decibels, but I wager my speakers would stand up well to his.

All the best Phil
Leo

cbwx34 wrote:


No actually, I didn't! But I will live vicariously through Clay's work on it and James' experiences with it. Sigh! You can't have everything eh! So my math goes something like this...
Leo - knives + sales= new home theater = old fart's pleasure squared! ROTFLMFO!!

Leo

This knife is now sold.

Leo

glenewertz wrote:

Glen my friend! How are you? Yes it is a great knife and one of a kind too.
The 3G steel on the PXL is wonderful. It sharpens up nicely to give a frighteningly sharp edge and one that lasts and is easy to touch up with a few swipes of a strop.
The WEPS has really come up in the world, you are correct. Remember the early days at that other forum and how they kind of smiled at us as one might to a child who doesn't nderstand real life yet! LOL! Different story now eh mate.
Good to hear from you Glen.
Warmest regards
Leo

People who are interested in this knife might like to jump over to the Blade Forum and search 'The Farid K2 Rex 121 Folder' to see a review by an owner. To show the reliability of this edge for holding its sharpness, he hacked through 5/8 inch manila rope 412 times until his hand and wrist were numb and the blade still neatly sliced through a thin page of telephone book paper. The review is interesting. He made a 15 degree per side convex edge and is very happy with that. A good read.

Leo

That is surprising for such a steel, but it bodes well for developing a sharp edge and keeping it maintained. Many of the people who were buying were speculating that it would be difficult and time consuming to sharpen this kind of blade of REX121 Crucible steel.
What angle or edge geometry do you think would be best for this blade Clay?

Leo

Great stuff Clay! Every time you work on a knife for us to see, I learn something else to add to my knowledge of sharpening. When I first started with the WEPS, the whole thing was more or less mechanical in nature, but watching you and others here too, the act of sharpening can also be an intellectual experience. Since that happens to be the way my mind works, I am improving my edges more and more as I watch and read your work and that of others here. It is an education.
Tell me how the Farid knife opens and closes...is it smooth and is the lock-up strong. Obviously the knife is built like a tank with that super steel and titanium body, but is it more than just a super strong knife in your opinion?

Leo

Clay now has that fine folder in his hands. I am sure he will comment and perhaps put up some pictures as he plays with it. I have yet to see it myself so I too will have my eyes peeled for any bit of info on this rare knife.

Leo

Hi Walter
Welcome to the forum and to the world of elite sharpening with the WEPS! I mean elite in the sense of the fine edges you will produce...none of us here are elitist, quite the opposite.
Yes I understand, I have played the clarinet for almost double the number of years you played with the trumpet and I too will never make it to Carnegie Hall, nor will people swoon at my great ad lib solos as they did with Artie Shaw! Sigh! However my knife edges produced with the WEPS are worthy of being called artistic in the sense that you cannot get much better than with this fine tool from Clay. The new modified arms, if I am reading your question right, do not benefit from nor do they need the straw modification, they are just plain tight and accurate.
Glad to have you aboard mate! Don't hesitate to ask questions or to post your experiences. I look forward to hearing from you as time goes on.

All the very best
Leo