I can't speak to many of your listed choices but I do have the Bark River Bravo-1 in A2 tool steel. With the exception of very high end hand made knives; the finish on this knife is unsurpassed. The attention to detail is flawless. You wont find better in a production blade.

I saw the same thing and it turned out I got one of the kits with a bad heat treatment and my vice jaws were actually bending. Hopefully that is not the case here.

Clay,

In the event you decide not to continue to carry the 1200/1600 ceramics; how will you proceed with their replacement? I have a pair coming for warranty replacement.

You can put me down for a set of those new pivot arms when they become available.

Sorry to hear about your injury Dennis. I've done the same thing myself reaching for my computer mouse to update my knife database. WEP was between me and the mouse with one of my kitchen knives mounted. Got a nice scar on the very edge of my hand opposite my thumb. Luckily it was shallow and did not bleed at all; super glue worked for me.

Cheers.

I just got my Bark River Bravo 1 in the mail. I have to say it is beyond question the best production knife I have every received. Beautiful near full convex grind that is perfect from tip to choil. And as sharp or sharper than I get from my WEPS.

More to follow.

I have a Bark River Bravo 1 in A2 steel on the way as well. Looking forward to it.

I like the Aegis but had to reprofile it from 18 to 22; the edge rolls much too easily for what I paid for it. But live and learn; the steel does matter. I just picked up the Griptillion and am curious to see how the D2 steel holds up.

Here are some of mine:

FNP 45 Tactical
Glock 21SF

SOG Aegis
Kershaw Ken Onion Leek - Sandvik 14C28N stainless stee,Love this knife
Benchmade Griptildion - D2 steel

Assuming the blade is not full flat or an extreme hollow grind and you have good flat spine; it could be the vise. That's exactly how I first noticed that I got one of the vises with a bad heat treatment. The longer I used it worse it got.

Jerry,

Some people, myself included have found that wrapping the spine of full flat and hollow grind knives with chamois works well. A little experimentation with multiple folds will usually allow you to find a way to "backfill" the space between the knife and the vice to keep the edge centered and held firmly. You may not be able to pick up the WEPS base and all by the knife handle but it does the job.

I can't speak to double edge blades as they are illegal in Texas and I don't own any. I suspect that you could probably use chamois and place the widest part of the blade in the vice but that would possibly result in the exposed edge being too low in the vice to sharpen. Perhaps the low angle attachment that Clay is developing would solve this.

Welcome to my obsession!

The first one I tested was from Sonic; but I found the corner store down the street from me had the same one. They are the larger/longer ones for larger drinks About 10 inches long and red.

As I split them lengthwise I am not concerned about the ID and these are larger than the opening for the paddles so they actually "spring open" when inserted into the paddles.

On average the ID of the paddles is 0.270 inches while the swing arms are 0.235 leaving 0.035 "play. The walls of these straws are 0.007 inches thick; so inserting the staw "closes up" the paddles to about 0.255; reducing the "play" by about half. Leaving 0.020 inches free space which seems to work perfect. As stated in my previous post I am now trimming the straws about 1/8 inch so that there is no overlap. On two paddles I believe this is causing a "slight" bind that I can feel but goes away with a drop of oil.

Hope this helps.

One update; I am now cutting a narrow strip off the straw after splitting them so that there is no overlap after they are inserted into the paddles. In two cases it seems that the overlap causes them to be a bit too tight and they drag a bit when used. A drop of oil takes care of it but I'll most likely redo those two.

I've now upgraded all my paddles with the "straw sleeve bushings" and there is no measurable play in them. Between that and the upgraded swing arms there is no play unless you intentionally put torque on the swing arms. So far I've only re-sharpened one knife and I did not see any of the "micro-bevels" as before. And by that I mean being able to visually see two different planes that the stone cut. It never affected the edge but I guess I'm just a little OCD about it.

As you can see in this image there are still micro scratches but the entire bevel is uniform now. Before I could see multiple facets.



The reflection is of the bottom of the Veho microscope.

Oh and for those interested the image is from the tip of one of my Tanto blades.

Howdy,

I still haven't received my nylon bushings but I may have found the perfect alternative. And it doesn't cost a dime.

A drinking staw..

I cut two to the length of the paddles. Split it the entire length. Place one small drop of super glue opposite the slit and slide it into the paddle. Then immediately run the swing arm through it and spin the paddle around the arm pressing firmly.

Voila - instant sleeve bushing. The ID measurse about 0.242 which is only 0.002 larger than the bushings I was ordering and you don't have to worry about the end of the arm slipping inside and off the bushing on the up stroke. One drop of oil if needed and works like a charm.

I thought of this when I visualized how thin the wall of the bushings I wanted to order were; just like a straw. And being an Old Army Grunt you know what came next; field expediency.

I found some nylon bushings I'm going to try. ID is 0.240 so that leaves about 0.005 clearance for the rods. OD is 0.312 so I'll have to ream about 0.042 wider so they fit tight. I'll keep you posted on the progress. Clay have you found one method for counter boring the paddles better than another. I have 5/16 fostner bit that should work well and leave a square surface for the bushings to adhere to.

Clay, what are the specs on the bushing you are using?

Regarding your question, do you mean a slight clicking as the end of the rod near the base of the swivel where it widens?

I've ordered the modified arms; now what is everyone(anyone) doing to remove the play bewteen the swing arms and the paddles? I've used blue painters tape and it does help but must be re-applied over time and it does drag on the paddles a bit.