Wow, great group here i can easily identify with so many of you... Hope to learn lots and make a few new friends.

I'm Thomas (elpasotom), age 43, living in El Paso, TX. Originally from WI, then as an Air Force brat lived everywhere, Korea, Germany, Japan, TX, NM, MI, ME... Ok you get the idea... Lots of great experiences growing up in the north woods of WI, and MI. Hunting, fishing, learning real skills i'm grateful to have today.

stayed adventurous through high school and college... Private pilot, Rescue SCUBA diver, spelunking, anything to et away from studies on the weekend.

Met and married my wife at NM State Univ. did a stint as a police officer where i really developed an interest in knives ( and guns), then worked for GE Capital for several years. now run my own private money management firm ( only 100 clients) since 2006. Now spend summers playing taxi to 4 kids and trying to pass on some outdoor skills to them during the summers as we camp around the US and Canada.

I've never really been comfortable sharpening knives and have really no experience. However, after watching many videos from Clay and others i really feel good about this system i'm about to order. So i hope to meet many more of you on the forum and i'll contribute what i can.

Hey Thomas, welcome! You're not too far down the road from, as far as Western states go. Thanks for joining the forum, there are a lot of great people here with a ton of knowledge. Please let me know if there is ever anything I can do for you.

--Clay

ElPasoTom wrote:

Been backpacking and hiking for almost 40 years. Also love to go camping and shooting since that can include beer and whiskey. Still trying to go on my first hunt.

I have been using a lansky kit for a long time and wanted to upgrade so after spending a lot of time checking out other systems, got the WE sharpener, granite base, 800/1000 stones and the 1200/1600 stones (back-ordered).

All my knives are used pretty roughly. No presentation or display models example: the serration on my 940 Osborn serration lasted about 4 months before being ground-down.

I don't have any plans for mirror finishes but instead wanted a more accurate and efficient method to keep a good working edge on my knives. I am thinking I will only use the ceramics only on my kitchen knives.

Planning to work on the 940 tomorrow and see if I can get some of the nicks out of the blade.

Appreciate all the tips people are posting on this forum

Hi, I'm PG5768 (AKA Mark) on all the other forums. I've never been great at sharpening knives and tried stones, a Lansky system, etc. Then I heard about the WE and did some research, read reviews, etc. that compared it to the Edge Pro and other systems. Bought mine about a year ago and have been very happy with it. Still learning to sharpen with it and love reading Clay's sharpening blog for tips and inspiration.

Hi Mark, welcome to the forum and thanks for introducing yourself! There is a wealth of information here. You seem one of the more experienced users (although I actually don't know when the first version of the WEPS came onto the market), so if you've got any veteran tips or experiences: they're very welcome.

Enjoy!

Mark.

Hi Folks. New WEPS user here. Real name is Dick. I'm from NH, the Live Free or Die State.

Up to now, my main interest has been sharpening kitchen knives. I cook a lot, and enjoy it much more when I have really sharp knives. Safer too. Alas, as all of you know, most "sharpeners" for home use are hardly worthy of the name. I ruined a lot of knives with the Chefs Choice, and I never got the hang of freehand sharpening with a whetstone. Then, a few years ago, I stumbled across the Edge Pro system and bought the Apex. It was the first sharpener that truly put a good edge on my knives. But even though the system has a lot of merit, over time the inherent shortcomings resulted in my using it less and less.

Then I happened to read a comment on another forum (about coffee, no less) that brought the WEPS to my attention. The first time I saw the system, I knew it was going to work for me: every issue I had with the EP was addressed in a very well thought-out way.

My timing wasn't great, and I got caught up in the recent backorder. But after several months of waiting, my Pro-Pack 1 finally arrived. I've only sharpened one knife with it so far, but the results were everything I had hoped for! Much easier than the EP and I got a razor sharp edge. I'm looking forward to going through the whole kitchen knife collection and putting great edges on all of them.

In an effort to do the best I can with that, I've been trolling through this forum, and I must say I'm very impressed with the level of knowledge and experience here. I don't think I've made it through 20% of the posts yet, but I've learned a ton about the WEPS, sharpening in general and knives. I got so caught up in it that I took the plunge and bought my first really good non-kitchen knife: a Spyderco Sage 1. What a beautiful instrument! Ordered the super fine ceramic stones, too.

I've got three posts in mind already, which I'll do in the next few days. First, I'd like to get some advice on sharpening strategies for my new Sage 1 and my best kitchen knife -- a Masamoto VG10 Gyutou 8.2". Second, I've made a nice case for my WEPS and would like to show off some pictures of it. Finally, if it's acceptable, I'd like to post an honest comparison of the WEPS and EP systems from the perspective of someone who is not (yet) a knife hobbiest.

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. (10 points if you can guess where peppersass comes from without looking it up on the Internet.)