Bent Vise????

[don griffith]

Well for the time being, I appear to be in the good luck group, since I received mine in early Dec, too. I never looked closely when it was new, but now that I’ve clamped a few different blades, I can’t see any jaw-end deviation. I do always use chamois, though, so I don’t have to get too torque crazy, though I will say I also don’t baby it that much either. I don’t have a blade movement problem when I do get it tight, and as I said the jaws seem to be okay for now.
Good to know that thigs will be taken care of if something pops up.

[Scott Babineaux]

My replacement vise is in the mail. After “straightening” my original vise twice now I find that I can not match the angles on knives I have profiled. I end up with multiple facets on the profile if I try; even on knives with good square spines to clamp to.

[Scott Babineaux]

I got my replacement vise jaws in yesterday and sharpened two knives and was very careful not to over tighten the lower screw. However there is already a measurable gap at the top of the vise jaws. I don’t know what the solution is. Is there anyone one on the forum with CNC experience or access? What would be the best metal to replace this “aircraft aluminum” with because it obviously is not the answer.

[Leo James Mitchell]

I have had my WEPS for nearly 18 months now and have had no such problem. I have been communicating with many others who have also not had this or any problem…most other owners have not, so I think the aircraft aluminum is not the problem or we would all have the same complaint.
I believe that Clay is doing his best to get to the bottom of the problem. I certainly understand your concern,but my private opinion is that your complaints should be forwarded to Clay privately at the WE rather than here. If you were not receiving support then it would be a different story, but you are and it has been explained that this is a flawed batch and they are trying mightily to discover which of the many new vises are the culprits, no easy task as there are no arrows pointing to the faulty units.You may rest assured that Clay is seeking the advice of experts to help solve the problem and that he will report here when he has answers for us all. Until then patience is key.
Having said all that you have the freedom to speak out here on Clay’s Forum. I again hasten to add this is only my private 2 cents worth.

Regards
Leo

[Scott Babineaux]

Well said Leo; however to date Clay has been totally silent on the matter. And to my knowledge any and all communications on this issue has initiated by the users with the bad vises. Maybe they should at least acknowledge this issue and notify the possible affected customers.

And why in the world would you sent out a warranty replacement part without making sure it did not have the same defect?

[Leo James Mitchell]

I think the problem is that the defective ones are mixed in with the good ones and there is no way to tell one from the other. There is no sign or mark that separates out the clinkers. As to Clay’s silence, one has only to hear the story he has told about finding manufacturers who will make the small, high quality quantities he requires at a good price with suitable quality controls. It sounds like there should be hoards of companies that can/will do it for small batches of vises, but that is not the case. He is trying to get as much of his stuff made in the USA as possible, but the vagaries of business keep on pushing him elsewhere.
I just noticed that my DeWalt Reciprocating saw was made in Mexico as is this Mac Pro computer I am typing on. My Japanese Pentax Camera is manufactured in the Philippines while most of my lenses are made in Viet Nam. Businesses must get their items made where they can get a decent price point and the best quality they can find. In his own small way, Clay faces similar problems,so he will speak out when he finds a solution rather than make excuses.He also is constantly facing complaints that the WEPS should be totally made in the USA, yet sources and prices here are either not suitable or the price point for such an item skyrockets.
No easy solutions here mate. I am simply saying give the guy a chance to do what he needs to do.

best to you babo

Leo

[David Lacey]

I think it is very reasonable for people to come to a public forum to discuss problems like this. They are bound to happen and I don’t think anyone is upset with the quality of customer service when it comes to the way this issue has been addressed. I can’t blame people for being frustrated with the problem but I personally don’t think the wicked edge folks have done anything wrong in the way this has been handled or in the way they do business.

They will get it worked out and things will be fine in the long run…I’m sure!

[Kevin]

I believe that this forum and forums like it should be used to discuss concerns and best product practices. They are a tool for consumers to help each other and help manufacturers gain, retain or lose customers based on how they react to issues.

I for one do not agree with how the bent vice situation is being handled. This has been my first experience with WE. I think the customer support regarding the hardening issue has been excellent, however if it were my decision to make I would definitely not be sending out any vice jaws with potential problems once they were discovered. It is horrible to think that someone paying top dollar, $350 or more for a knife sharpener, would receive two bad vice jaw sets in a row. That is absolutely inexcusable to me and I don’t think frustrated would correctly describe me demeanor if that happened to me.

Why hasn’t the issue even been acknowledged publicly by WE? Why hasn’t there been a recall? Why isn’t’ whoever did the hardening being held responsible? If a third party didn’t harden the vice jaws correctly they should be paying for a full recall and taking the blame for all problem vices. If hey followed WE engineering instructions than WE should man up and take responsibility and recall all the potential problems.

These vices took months to ship. I’m sorry but with that kind of lead time you better get it right or do something about the problem if you don’t. Answering the phone and sending out a potentially defective replacement quickly doesn’t cut it for me at all.

Could I really place an order right now and receive an improperly hardened vice? That’s absolutely ridiculous to think that could occur and if I were deciding weather to spend $350 on this system and I happened to see this thread I would have second thoughts for sure. I’d be glad to know about the potential problem before deciding to place my order.

[Leo James Mitchell]

Hi Kevin
My opinions again!
The ‘bent vise situation’ as you call it, out of the many hundreds of units sold, consists of less than a dozen units delivered so far and Clay is doing everything he can to ameliorate the situation for these few people affected. We have not heard from the hundreds of happy customers who have flocked to this sharpener and that is the way it usually is especially on forums like this. Those hundreds have units that deliver what is advertised and do it in spades. They are happy and content with the WEPS. I am one of those happy customers and my unit continues to deliver knife after knife with edges I could never produce before. I suspect there are others by the score who feel the same way.
Clay will respond when the extent of the faulty units has been discovered. If it is a wide spread problem then I am sure there will be a recall and rest assured the company responsible will deal with it at their cost.But that seems not to be the case!
Meanwhile we are asking for your kind patience. If that is not possible for you or others then I guess you will have to decide what to do. But to speculate that Clay is not dealing with the issue with grave concern, means you don’t know the man. He has kindly put up this Forum at his cost for the use of all of us interested in the WEPS and his customers. I believe it behooves us all to trust that he is doing all he can and more. It is easy to criticize, more difficult to wait patiently.
Once again my own two cents worth.

Regards
Leo

[Kevin]

I am a new customer. I don’t’ know Clay and he could be a saint for all I know. I do know that out of the few responses to my thread at least one customer has had 2 bent vices. That is a major problem in my opinion. Why are they still being sold and shipped?

I posted a simple question a while ago on here about using my new vice correctly and it went unanswered. Fine. I’m using the new one just like the old one. If I bend it, oh well I guess I’ll be getting another new one again. Instead of instruction I read a post more or less asking not post problems with the sharpener.

The more I read this thread the more aggravated I get. I didn’t know my vice was bending and it damaged my very expensive Shun kitchen knives. Should I be complaining more about the scratches my bent vice put in them. No. Or the fact that I have to resharpen every knife that was touched by the bent vice because that angles are wrong. No. I haven’t heard from Clay. If there ware 12 bad vices maybe he should make it a point to have conversations with the people effected so we don’t get on his forum and speculate.

[Jende Industries]

I’ve been holding off replying to this thread since I think it’s best handled between Wicked Edge and the customer privately, as Leo suggested. Nonetheless, as uncomfortable for Wicked Edge as it may be to have this aired publicly, this thread has been very rewarding both in pointing out the problems and acknowledging Wicked Edge’s superior customer service and efforts to fix the issue – according to everyone involved with the bent vise, everyone has received a replacement in a very timely manner.

As a customer of Wicked Edge and supplier of some of the Wicked Edge Products (not the vises) I sit on both sides of the fence. I made the decision to recall of one of my own products several years ago and believe me, it’s no fun. I’m sure they are very unhappy about this problem, and working like mad behind the scenes to get it fixed – which may very well account for Clay’s lack of activity here.

It’s not my place to offer a reason or excuse for what’s happening to the vises, nor will I. But I believe this thread has veered off track a little in the past couple of posts. I’d like to ask everyone to take a step back for a moment and take a fresh look at the problem so we can continue with a productive discussion about an issue with the vises.

Here’s what I see in this thread:

1st Problem: Kevinzk’s original vise bent.

Reason: Turns out some of the vises were not hardened correctly, making those units defective (which we now know it was roughly 10% of the batch – post #1354).

Solution: Wicked Edge sent out a replacement.

Result: He was happy about the customer service, pleased with the WEPS overall, but not thrilled about his knives getting scratched up. (as per post #1268)

From my point of view, the problem for Kevinzk has been resolved as best as it could be. He’s a little hesitant and worried the vise may bend again, and this is an acceptable concern to voice.

2nd problem: Several other members noticed their vises had bent.

Solution: Wicked edge sent out replacements in a very timely manner.

Result: People are satisfied with the customer service, and David Lacey said it perfectly:

While its a frustration situation, I couldn’t really ask for things to be handled any differently than they are. They are taking responsibility for this problem and are making it right as best they can and that’s a rarity these days.

3rd Problem: Babo experiences a second, then third vise bending.

Reason: Previous to Babo’s second vise bending, David Lacey posted:

(Kay) said she would send me out a replacement but that it would be from the same batch and could be part of the defective 10%

Solution: Problem not solved as of yet.

Result: Babo is not happy – (and understandably so!) – and said

to date Clay has been totally silent on the matter. And to my knowledge any and all communications on this issue has initiated by the users with the bad vises.

This is where the crack in the thread begins. Clay has not personally responded on the forum, but it is obvious that Wicked Edge is acknowledging the problem to those 10% who call in with a defective vise. IMO, you can’t ask for more – which is what Leo basically said in post #1405.

However, in post #1401, Leo suggested

…that your complaints should be forwarded to Clay privately at the WE rather than here. If you were not receiving support then it would be a different story, but you are and it has been explained that this is a flawed batch and they are trying mightily to discover which of the many new vises are the culprits…

I’m not taking sides here, just laying it out as I see it.

We all feel your frustration Babo and Kevinzk (and anyone else). Venting is normal, and it may very well be that you ultimately walk away from the WEPS unsatisfied, which would be very unfortunate, indeed.

But at this point, it is beyond any of the forum members – Leo in particular – to be able to take this discussion any further until Clay posts an update and/or you contact Wicked Edge directly with your concerns.

With all due respect to everyone in this thread, Posts 1409, 1430, 1433, and 1435 are off topic and non productive, IMO. These posts are where a mob mentality starts taking hold, pushing a thread to get locked.

To end with a little lightheartedness, those last 4 posts are like my wife when I leave the toilet seat up in the morning, and the problem festers the whole day until she works herself up into a frenzy because I went to work before she could yell at me. 8 hours later when I come home, a small issue becomes a huge problem simply because I wasn’t there to allow her have her say.

Please, let’s not go there. 🙂

[Scott Babineaux]

To be clear; I have not had a third bent vise; only my original order and the replacement.

Regarding David’s post; I never saw it and was not informed by WE that the replacement might also defective.

[Jende Industries]

To be clear; I have not had a third bent vise; only my original order and the replacement.

That’s certainly good news that it hasn’t hit 3 vises in a row yet – it got a bit confusing keeping track. Lets hope the third time is the charm (knock on wood!)

Regarding David’s post; I never saw it and was not informed by WE that the replacement might also defective.

Thank you Babo – that may be the key piece of information we needed to get this back on track?

[Chris Jarve]

Add me to the list of bent vises. I’ve had mine for exactly a month now but noticed my bevels were larger on the right side of my knife for the last 2 knives I sharpened yesterday. I just now noticed why. Ill call tomorrow & request a replacement. Wouldn’t steel be cheaper to use instead of aluminum? I know it would definitely be stronger.

[David]

Well there is definitely a gap forming on my vice jaws too. Darn I thought for sure I had managed to beat the curse. Oh well, I guess I will be calling the office tomorrow and I’m sure a replacement will be sent my way shortly. Hopefully they will still have some units left to ship! If not I really don’t think I can wait another “6-8 weeks”.

[Author]

Posts