Hi Darren:
I did about eight filet knives over the holidays, along with about thirty more utility knives after I invited a friend to bring his knives over for sharpening. Turned out he had a batch, his son had a batch, his grandson had a batch, his wife had a batch, and then, to top it off, he came around with a batch from his cottage up in the UP. What are friends for?
The filet knives were all in the 150 – 170mm range and all J. Marttiini (Finnish) design. Several were the good quality Rapalas. I clamp them up at the very top edge of the vise, with only about two inches of the tip extending past the vise. These limits the flexibility of the tip , but when I concentrate on the forward part of the blade, I use my opposite index finger to “stiffen” the blade. As I work on the handle end, I hold the handle – again with the opposite hand – to resist movement. Yes, I choose to work one side at a time and this helps a lot.
I should mention that the WEPS comes with a rod you can use to hold the tip more rigidly. I looked in my photo folder and found one showing the rod used on a filet knife. On the better filet knives, I’ve found the slot is too narrow for the blade. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of clutter in the background.
If you look around this forum enough, you’ll find a couple of gadgets you can add to hold the blades beyond the vise. Someone is sure to provide the link here, now that I’ve mentioned it.
.
