I'm a new user and I've sharpened about a dozen knives on my Wicked Edge. Today I noticed my vice appears to be bent!!! The top screw in my vice is now making contact with the stone as I try to sharpen a thin paring knife and there is a noticalbe gap between the blade of the knife and the jaw of the vice. I have only hand tightened the vice with the key provided, I've never used tools to tighten it. I have also noticed some marring where the vice clamps on the blade with some of the knives I've sharpened so I have been tightening the vice as hard as I can twist it to prevent the blade from moving and getting scratched by the vice.

Does anyone have an experience with this or an idea what I should do? My vice is pretty useless right now and I'd really like to continue using it since it works very well on the knives I've sharpened so far. I don't feel like trashing over $300 after sharpening a dozen knives and waiting 4 months for my WE to arrive. Please help. Thanks.

Give Clay a call at the Wicked Edge and see what help he can render. Was it bent when it arrived? Was the item dropped while mounted? Give him all the information he needs to make an informed decision and I believe he will help you.

Cheers
Leo

I think it bent when i was tightening the key. I never noticed it bent before and last night. I sharpened a fillet knife and noticed it then. I can't believe I'm strong enough to clamp it down hard enough to bend it. It's never been dropped and barely been used.

Could it be the vice is not bent but that the paring knife has a flat grind which does look like a gap along side the blade and clamp. Might just need to use double sided tape or something like thin leather to hold the flat ground blade in the clamp.

Lucky

It's bent. The vice won't close with nothing in it. There is a 1/16" gap at least at the top when the vice is clamped with nothing in it.

Bent Vice Pictures

Mine bent like that as well simply from tightening the bottom screw. Don't think is was as much as yours and I was able to close it enough to continue using it. I will be contacting Clay about it as well. For this much money it's a serious design defect.

Yep, that's bent, alright.
I immediately checked my 1-month old WE and it looks to be ok; removing the bottom screw and tightening the top show a very small gap and jaws appear parallel.
I shall be cautious in the future but may I suggest that when you guys get a replacement that you search for a medium that will allow a high-friction grip on the jaws and blade without super tightening the upper and over extending the lower screws.
That pic almost looks like the result of an over extending lower screw over time, and as the jaws bent, the gap got wider and the screw needed to be turned out even more, etc.
Too bad all the way around, though.

Many people recommend using double sided tape I have started doing so. However the fact that the jaws can be bent at all on this $350 marvel is obviously a design flaw and needs to be corrected.

I preface what I say below as my own opinion and I may have to stand corrected later.

I am certain that Clay will do what he can to replace the bent parts, but having said that the users should carefully check to see that they are following the directions for tightening/clamping the knife in the vise. The sequence as I understand it is, tighten the top screw snugly and then tighten the bottom screw very firmly. I believe when material like chamois, double-sided tape etc. are added to the mix, that the tightening instructions become even more important.
Anyone who watched the video by Chris will note how powerful the hold of this vise is when the knife is clamped in the jaws in the proper manner...he lifted the whole unit in the air by the clamped knife... In my opinion that tells me that this vise is capable of great power unlike any other I have run into over six decades. With such power, even with aircraft grade aluminum, there is the possibility of damage to either one of the vise sections if care is not carefully applied when tightening the screws.
There may have been some faulty units but IMHO I don't see a design flaw here. In over a year, this is the first time I have heard of this kind of bending occurring. My bet is on a faulty unit.
Indeed this sharpener is a wondrous invention of good value to me.


Leo