Hey there,
Just wanted to share my take on setting a knife on the WEPS and get some feed back...
When I set a knife in the WEPS I measure the length of the blade from tip to heel and mark the half way point on the spine of the knife. I have also measured the mid point of the top of the clamp and so... I line the middle of the blade to the middle of the clamp and tighten down. so for example if the knife is 6in long I mark the middle as 3in and place that in the middle of the clamp, and tighten. I know the that the WEPS comes with a letter and number ruler to maintain the same edge time and time again but I found that over time and sharpening the knife will shrink and this letter/number will change so... to maintain bevel consistency is measuring the knife every time the most consistent way? any other methods of setting a knife in the WEPS?

The con is, your not setting the tip correctly. You need to set the knife horizontally to correctly sharpen the tip... seting it in the middle won't do this.

While it's true you lose metal over time... it should be looooong time if you sharpen correctly, to make a difference in the setting. Follow the above linked guide is a better method.

Read this first:
www.wickededgeusa.com/index.php?option=c...ctions&Itemid=81

Then this:
www.wickededgeusa.com/index.php?option=c...eneral&Itemid=46

Normally I set the flat part of the blade parallel to the base. Regardless of how the spine sits. Doing so will give a uniform bevel across the flat part of the blade. Then it is a matter of using the ruler to "find the sweet" spot to get a uniform bevel for the tip and curved part of the blade. (if you want it uniform).

Check the knife database to see if anyone as already sharpened the same knife as you.

If you set the flat part of the edge parallel to the base, then the setting of length (using the ruler) will determine the sweet spot (see first link). I find the ruler works well and it easy to use when you set the same knife again. I have also tried measuring with a real ruler and find it more difficult; you need 3 hands to do this.

I've been doing something similar for a while now (note the date on the pic), but I've experimented with not just fore-aft, but up-down too. If I had to try and summarize my approach, I think I'm trying to best match the over all curvature of the blade to the center of the arm pivot points. More pics of how I've clamped knives in the album in my signature. None of them are clamped per the WE instructions.

Nice photos Blacksheep. I see you have some knives with serious curves. Your approach makes sense. If we sharpened a pizza cutter (wheel) then I think it would be centered to the arm pivot.