Crooked ceramic stones

[driwash2]

I have a new set of micro ceramic stones, if you look at the ends where mounted, one end is crooked (higher from right to left). You can see that the stones are high on one side, also they are placed just a little more to the right side in the mounting groove. Will this effect the function? Or will they follow the pitch of the blade? I have not used them because I want to make sure that they will be functional and will not effect all the work of sharpening that has been done to the blade.

[wickededge]

driwash2 wrote:

I have a new set of micro ceramic stones, if you look at the ends where mounted, one end is crooked (higher from right to left). You can see that the stones are high on one side, also they are placed just a little more to the right side in the mounting groove. Will this effect the function? Or will they follow the pitch of the blade? I have not used them because I want to make sure that they will be functional and will not effect all the work of sharpening that has been done to the blade.

Can you post a photo?

-Clay

[tcmeyer]

I’d like to see a photo too, as it sounds as if your ceramic stone is riding up on the side of the receiver pocket.   I had a 1000-grit stone that wasn’t seated properly into the pocket of the plastic mounting plate.  In my case, the diamond platen was just too long to fit into  the pocket and was sitting up on the end rim of the pocket.  I sawed off the end with a hacksaw blade and the platen dropped into its intended position.  Problem solved.  Here’s a couple of photos…  The first shows that I could actually slide a scalpel blade under the platen where it was riding high.  The second shows the end after sawing the end of the pocket away.  Since then, I’ve learned to remove the platen and to remount it with the VHB mounting tape.

 

Pay no attention to the bronze oil-lite bearing.  They work great, but are a real pain to install.

Clay:  Are the platens installed manually or is a fixture used to align the platens with the pocket?  I’ve seen this twice now and I realize the cost of changing the mold would be prohibitive, but maybe you could change the spec to shorten the platens by 1/32″?  I don’t see a need for such a tight tolerance at the ends and a 1/32″ change would be insignificant.

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driwash2

[driwash2]

I will post some pictures after I get out of work.

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wickededge

[wickededge]

Tom, we’re installing them manually and it wouldn’t be too hard to change the stone dimension a little vs changing the pocket tooling but we still have a lot of stones in stock with the current dimensions. The issue has been shrinkage with the pockets. We’re working on that now, hopefully to change materials from polypropylene to ABS.

-Clay

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driwash2

[driwash2]

Clay, this is both stones,  will they work okay this way?  I am thinking that they will rotate on the rod and follow the surface of the edge.  I have not used them yet but am very anxious to see how micro ceramic stones will add to the wow factor of the sharpening.  WICKED EDGE SHARP,

thank you, Tom

 

[tcmeyer]

Good pix.  Looks like they flat missed the pocket.  The double-faced VHB tape is quite thick, maybe making it easy to miss the error, but this is really bad.  Is it possible that whoever is doing the assembly simply doesn’t understand the need for accurate placement?  Like some fine arts college kid on Christmas break?

Sorry for offending anybody at WE, but this sort of thing makes for extra time on the part of the customer service guy, extra shipping costs, extra repair and restocking costs (or losses), not to mention a customer being inconvenienced and the potential loss of his good will.  All for a dumb error that should never have happened.

[wickededge]

Thanks for the pix Tom, they’re exactly what I needed to see. They might work as they are though they might cause a slight angle shift. It’s obvious that they’re not correctly installed and we’ll need to replace them for you. I’ll get Sarah at the office on it to get you a new set.

-Clay

[driwash2]

Thank you, Clay, all is good.

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