Upgrade Vise Prototype TEST REPORT

[Zamfir]

Awesome you got it Josh!

I took pictures and all kinds of information and testing. I had a consulting gig this whole weekend and have been buried in a computer in CAD land and out in the shop running the cnc router. Please do not mistake my not posting a response yet for not liking the design! It is neat. I have some areas that will help with lower angles that could be removed..but overall it is nice. I will post pictures and comments up this week. Been swamped..gotta run!

Thanks for making this happen Clay!
-Eric

[Josh]

Yeah I took videos earlier today but I think i am going to re-do the second video (first one is how to set it up).

I want to use it a bit more before commenting on what i like and don’t like.

i will say that right off the bat this thing is STOUT and super simple! I love it! the lever handle is very comfortable and ingeniously designed (nice feature being able to remove it and put it at any one of 4 positions Clay!). I don’t think the lever could be designed any better. And man is it QUICK to use! Just simply a pleasure!

My only issues so far are:

1. the width of the blade limitation (which i know is being worked on)
2. the vise jaws themselves.

on point # 2 I noticed potential issues when clamping skinny blades (only the tips of the vise jaws would actually clamp the blade, not the entire vise), and small blades (The Tormek jig would have to be used on smaller blades because the jaws are very thick at the tips – which is GREAT for robustness, but not good for small/narrow blades).

So I am REALLY looking forward to the solution you are working on w/ the nano-grip application to this vise! Also, another suggestion I would make (and what I will do when I purchase one) is see if you can have the vise tips made out of tool steel (preferably one of the harder ones – not 4160 or anything) then you can go MUCH thinner at the tip without sacrificing strength.

Anyway, that’s all for now, more in the videos 😉

[Zamfir]

I mounted this on the riser block and trimmed my screw a little so it would tighten down without going through the base of the new vise and interfere with the cam mechanism. That puts it up pretty high!

This vise excels at clamping most everything.

I did not have a knife on hand it would not clamp. I thought for sure this Boker dagger would defeat the vise..but it worked! Close, but worked.

I could get to 15dps on everything except my kitchen paring knife..something that size would go to 17dps. None of this would be a deal breaker for me. 17 is the lowest I go on a paring knife. Any knife in general.

I loved the feel of the engagement and how easy it was to adjust and re-clamp. Full flat grinds are a piece of cake!

I did, however not think this vise was up to my standards of holding a blade and keeping it from tilting. The longer the knife, the easier it is to knock it or bump the handle thus causing it to shift. That is important to me. But, then again I have had many knifes that with the normal vise would tilt easier than I like. So I brought out my chamois cloth (shammy? that expensive thing for drying your car spot free) I use for this. I cut a very small square off the chamois and place that in the jaws of the vise (some people use tape). With that in there I was able to lift the marble base off the table by the end of the handle. No more tilting..maybe tilting is not the right word..rotation..if you pull up on the handle the handle goes up and the tip goes down, thus messing up your edge geometry.

With the chamois in there it was a non issue. The low angle adapter will not fit in this version, but I would not be using it in this vise. This vise would be for the day to day normal sharpening. I agree the handle does not need to be as long as it is but once you figure out how it is supposed to work, it works great. Even at this length. I love how it easily comes off. The mechanics and how this works is solid and as long as the spring holds its tension over time, this will be a huge improvement that 99% of the Public would love. Even with asymmetric bevels it is nice to have a consistent center-line reference allowed by the floating jaws to work from. I would like more tension personally. And I would line the jaws with a removable chamois type insert. If the jaws were made of tool steel and made thinner maybe that would be possible. As it stands now it is a tank. I think there are some areas that can be shaved off to allow for easier clearance for lower bevels. There is plenty of meat around the pivot joints in the jaws where you could thin the outside area out.

Not sure how it would be done, but if you could adjust the tension somehow, as the spring weakens over time, you could make up for it by adding more tension. If the jaws had the chamois type material in it you do not need such a high clamping force to stop the rotation.

It took me all of 5 min to install these. (If I do not count having to shorten my screw a bit so it does not interfere) I did not try mounting it without the block riser. There is a bolt with it that is made for it being mounted without the riser but I wanted to see how low I could go.

Pictures are in no particular order..sorry about that..but my brain is cooked..I took a day off my day job to get caught up on my side job..so it is time for me to stop rambling. Very creative and nice design Clay. I will own one in the future.
Thank you for letting me give it a spin!
Josh..yer up pal..lets see what you think!

EDIT:
LOL I see you already have some similar opinions Josh. Looking forward to the videos. That is what I get for having a post in creation for like 3 hrs.. ohh well.

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[Zamfir]

hmm..can not add this one picture..must have hit my limit..Wanted to show the Dagger from the top view. Neat knife my Brother loaned me to sharpen. I would not be able to sharpen this blade in this vise. Oddly enough, I can not get a BIG enough angle for it. This is that strange Bokker. I suspect I may be able to without the riser block.

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[Josh]

Videos will be up in the morning! It headed out to Dan in VA today!

[Bill Kirkley]

Josh, can you pull the pins to remove the jaws? If so a variety of jaws can be made for different blade geometries.

[Zamfir]

Josh, can you pull the pins to remove the jaws? If so a variety of jaws can be made for different blade geometries.

Yes you can.

[Josh]

Josh, can you pull the pins to remove the jaws? If so a variety of jaws can be made for different blade geometries.

Yes i go over this in my video but it is SUPER easy to take the pins out and take the jaws out… bravo to the WE team. You don’t need any tools, they are loose enough to push/pull them out w /fingers.

[Josh]

well i let the video get to 100% upload on YT and thought it was done so I turned off wifi (after 16 hours of uploading) and apparently my video cancelled… I can’t find record of it in my YT channel. So Hopefully I’ll get it up within a few days! ARGH!!!

[Mark76]

Take it easy, Josh! Still looking forward 😛

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Josh]

just popped up! Guess it did finish after all 😉 Here you guys go

[ken vanderhamm]

Excellent job Josh, I really enjoyed your video. If the “bump/hump” on the sides are smoothed down, and if the moveable jaws are made out of tool steel, how much more angle difference would you guess you can expect? I will be buying the Gen 3 but am hesitating because these minor changes will make it a more usable tool. I wonder too if the toolsteel upgrades would increase the price by much. Thanks again for the video,

Ken

[Josh]

Excellent job Josh, I really enjoyed your video. If the “bump/hump” on the sides are smoothed down, and if the moveable jaws are made out of tool steel, how much more angle difference would you guess you can expect? I will be buying the Gen 3 but am hesitating because these minor changes will make it a more usable tool. I wonder too if the toolsteel upgrades would increase the price by much. Thanks again for the video,

Ken

I think you could shave off a couple degrees per side. But even if WE doesn’t offer this it should not be hard to have them made and it is SUPER simple to change out.

[Steven N. Bolin]

just popped up! Guess it did finish after all 😉 Here you guys

I definitely plan on carving out a slot of my evening that’s dedicated to watching this video. Thank you, Josh.

Can’t wait!

[Mark76]

Thanks a lot Josh! It’s a great video as ever. And it gives a very good picture of the new vise, including strengths and weaknesses. I love the ingenious way in which the lever works.

I was wondering whether taping knives like the dagger or the thin knife you showed with foam tape or something similar would make straight clamping easier.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Author]

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