My Modifications

[Gregg776]

Here are some pictures of many modifications I’ve made to my WEPS. I made a base out of a sheet of Micarta that a friend had given me years ago; it is great stuff for the application allowing holes to be drilled and tapped.
1. I mounted swivel feet with 3/8-16 setscrews through the base which allows me to adjust for blade offset and uneven surfaces from the top using an Allen wrench. The swivel feet are from Essentra Components part# L-0SS.
2. I tapped the jaw riser 14-20 for Ram ball hardware and when I needed extra length I made a slotted adapter for the rear. More tapped holes and adapters are sure to follow. The Ram mounts and end balls can be configured in a myriad of ways. The first idea was a bump stop to keep me from overshooting the tip and to add a small measure of safety at least a relatively large visual device near the end of the tip. If you are considering using Ram mount hardware, most of the male threaded ball ends are aluminum, a better way is to buy the female threaded ones and use stainless setscrews. I thought I was clever and cut one of the dumbbell double ball adapters in two and tapped the cut ends; it wasn’t worth the effort.
3. I couldn’t find what I wanted in an auxiliary clamp and the machinist’s clamps I had were too hard to drill and tap. So I made the setup that is pictured; it has way more holes tapped than necessary, but I didn’t know exactly what I wanted. If I knew what type of steel it is, I’d send it for heat treat having had bad luck with warping doing it myself. It is longer than necessary and the tightening screws could be closer together to make a more compact unit. The rigidity it gives on a flexible blade is amazing. The Ram mount is off center, hence the slot in the rear added mounting angle.
The long slicing knife pictured is used to cut the domed center off of cake layers when my wife bakes cakes. I get the honors of slicing the cake tops and also get the remainder, so it all works out. The little flag of blue masking tape is my limit marker; I sharpened it in 2 steps overlapped by about 2 inches.
4. A dual head LED music light available from amazon is in some of the pictures. I really like it as it illuminates both sides at once and minimizes shadows. I’m working on a better stand for it and maybe make the wire plug into the bottom or side so I can lay the rods between the two goosenecks when inserting a knife into the vise.
5. I was frustrated with the width of the angle cube and grabbed a 3/8” square lathe bit out of my tool box; so far I haven’t found anything better at getting a reading on the bevel of a knife or to line up on the narrow flat near the handle.
6. I included a picture of the smallest pocket knife I have rigged up in the Tormek small knife holder. I had to wrap it with several layers of chamois so it would tighten. For small knives, it can’t be beat. Maybe Clay should sell them.
7. Several posts show using masking tape on one of the paddles to mark the edge location; I’ve found that a simple pencil mark on the diamond stone is faster, safer and a little graphite won’t hurt the diamond stone as much as residual mastic may.

Attachments:

• Angleblock_1.JPG
• Angleblock_2.JPG
• Auxclamp_1.jpg
• Auxclamp_2.jpg
• Feet_1.JPG
• Feet_2.JPG
• Feet_3.JPG
• Feet_4.JPG

[Gregg776]

I didn’t realize that I would be limited to 8 pictures

Attachments:

• Locatingmark_1.JPG
• Locatingmark_2.JPG
• LongSlicer_1.JPG
• LongSlicer_3.JPG
• LongSlicer_2.JPG
• LongSlicer_4.JPG
• LongSlicer_6.JPG
• LongSlicer_5.JPG

[Gregg776]

This is the last of the pictures for now

Attachments:

• LongSlicer_7.JPG
• Tormekadapter_1.jpg

[Mark76]

I didn’t realize that I would be limited to 8 pictures

You can use an external service like Photobucket. Then there’s no limit.

Nice mods. Were you inspired by Will or uses everyone the same hardware store? Your leds inspire me. They make me think of gadgets or electronics where, e.g. a soft blue light illuminates some parts. Philips already have leds that change color according to your mood. Now I have to think where to fit them on the WEPS B) .

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Geocyclist]

Thanks for sharing. You have some nice work and neat looking mods. A lot of work.

[Gregg776]

I started using the Ram Mount ball at the point of the knife long before I read Will’s posts; due to reaching for strops behind the blade resulting in some blood letting. Then I discovered that it made a very handy stop to keep me from ruining the tip. I went the Ram mount route because I’ve used a Ram mount system for my GPS in my truck and on my off road motorcycle for several years.
The secondary blade clamp was a recent addition and a lot of hard work. I still have to tap a few more holes for additional Ram mounts because the mount isn’t center to the blade. I think the clamp is sturdier than Will’s V notch stanchion but it requires a lot more setup time.
As far as everyone shopping at the same hardware store, I think Google finds me what I want most of the time, but mscdirect.com, mcmaster.com, kbctools.com, essentracomponents.com and sometimes amazon are the main go to suppliers. Amazon has the better prices on the Ram mounts, McMaster has all of the stainless fasteners you could want and they have them in stock. Fastenall also has a lot of fasteners but not always available at your nearest storefront.
It shouldn’t be too hard to take a low angle adapter and make it work with a Ram system for a secondary clamp to stabilize long or very flexible knives.

How do you get pictures in the body of a post? I tried setting them up in a Word document and pasting the whole thing with pictures, which didn’t work.

[tcmeyer]

How to get photos in your text?

1. Load the photo(s) using the “ADD FILE” button.

2. Place the cursor at the point you want to insert the photo.

3. Hit the “INSERT” button for that photo

[Mark76]

How to get photos in your text?

1. Load the photo(s) using the “ADD FILE” button.

2. Place the cursor at the point you want to insert the photo.

3. Hit the “INSERT” button for that photo

And make sure the photographs are not too large (file size) or they won’t be displayed.

An alternative to tcmeyer’s procedure is to use an external photo website like Photobucket.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Author]

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