Clamping suggestions

[Grayson]

Newb here. Have had my WE for about a month and am really enjoying the process. When I began I may not have been paying much attention to slight blade slippage in the clamp jaws. But as I’ve gotten more familiar with the intricacies of sharpening I have begun to notice some movement. I’ve seen others’ pics where either tape or maybe chamois was used to firm up the grip and possibly protect the blade from incidental marking. I’ve tried to find a thread that might address this but haven’t had any luck.

Any feedback on what has worked for you would be great.

[Marc H]

Welcome to the Wicked Edge Forum and Sharpening Community Grayson.

Grayson, could you share some info to help us to help you?  Specifically, which model WEPS are you using?  First we’d like to help you to use your specific clamp model and version as well as you can to achieve the best holding power it can allow.  Most clamps on the majority of knives are able to clamp and hold them securely, on their own.  Some may require a little finessing and possibly a clamping aid.

It’s true many of use something inserted in the jaws between the jaw and the knife sides.  You’re right it provides a level of protection to prevent the knife sides from getting marred while sharpening and it also may provide an improvement in blade holding ability.

My “go to” for every knife I clamp is to wrap a small rectangular patch I cut from a real leather chamois.  I use it dry,  not moistened.  I simply wrap it up under and around the knife spine then up both sides of the knife so both vice jaw sides have this layer of dry leather at all contact points.  I use the chamois as much for the protection of the steel from steel sharpening dust and as a clamping aid.  I am using the newer version Gen 3 vices on all my different WEPS sharpeners with the tension adjustment feature.  This allows me to really put the squeeze on the chamois while protecting the steel.

Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)

[Grayson]

Marc, thanks for the reply. I’m using the Commercial Series sharpener with the standard jaws. As I’ve watched countless videos of different guys using different WE models I’ve wondered if the keyed clamp provides a slightly better grip than the cam-lock on the commercial and the pro series.

I’ll give the chamois a try and see how it goes.  Thanks again.

[Marc H]

Grayson, depending on the version, (i.e., how old) the vice and jaws are on the commercial series may effect it’s efficiency.  The new version model has the split jaws and the tension adjustment features on the vice backside down near the base.  This small silver lever/knob, you can rotate from the “-” starting position, clockwise to “+” position to increase the clamping force applied by the jaws.  By increasing the clamping force it makes the grip tighter on your knife.  Between that adjustment and leather chamois you should be set.

As you have written above, you have the older model, with the “standard jaws” made before they had the tension adjuster, you may want to invest in your setup and upgrade your vice to the newer model with the built-in tension adjuster feature.  It does help, alot.  The other option is as we’ve discussed, add something to fill the gap and make the space tighter on the knife blade.  The shiny reflective sliver aluminum tape used on duct work does hold well and doesn’t compress.  This can be applied to the knife sides and holds very well.  Then it can be removed, with some effort involved, but doesn’t leave a residue.  Between tape and leather chamois this should help.  I have also tried/used thin cardboard like that from match book covers to fill the gap.

Marc
(MarcH's Rack-Its)

1 user thanked author for this post.

Grayson

[Author]

Posts