Oh, so much to tell but I will try to make it short. Got my PP1 yesterday morning and with assembly only having to attach the base and arms I was ready to start sharpening. Well not so lucky as the shop started to get busy about then and stayed busy all day. Just before lunch I had a customer inquired about the WEPS that was sitting on the counter. I explained what it was and that I just received it. Out of the blue he asked if I would sharpen two of his knives and I explained that I had not even used it yet but he said "I have faith thay you can do it", and i'm thinking well you have more than me. We came to an agreement on the price and I told him to give me a couple of days. Now, these 2 knives are cheap chinese made surival knives, one blade is 8 1/2 in. and the other 11 in. But what the heck, I've got to start somewhere I just didn't think this is where it was going to be. Well that night I got everything layed out and started sharpening. It took a littlt while to get into the rhythm but things progressed rather smoothly. With the first knife I went thru my diamond stones (100-1k) after getting my burr on both sides. After the burr I completed 50 strokes per side for the 200,400,600 and 100 strokes per side for the 800 and 1000. Then 100 strokes per side with the 5 and 3.5 micron paste. (Running out of space) Knife cut paper like hot butter. second knife went as well. could not believe it. the WEPS is one great system. There's more I didn't get to tell but you get the jist.

Way to jump into the deep end!

Pretty cool!

Well, there were a few things I did not get to discuss.

1. I tried to just sharpen the factory edge using the sharpie but I had to reprofile both knifes which actually was a good thing. One at 30* each side the other at 27* , these were as close to the factory bevel as I could get.

2. And for you newbies (pay attention) this one hurts. While doing the 1k stones on the second knife I guess I was getting a little to comfortable because on one of my heel to tip sweeping motions as I passed the tip I failed to rotate my hand out to the right and brought my hand straight back. The tip of the knife entered my thumb next to the nail, proceeded thru the side of the thumb and laid it open like spliting a chicken breast. Being persistant (after first aid) I still finished the knife. It was a bad cut but not as bad as you would think.

3. I will be letting my thumb rest tonight.

Holy schnikes! I have a couple knicks from my first night too...

I didn't count my strokes but listened and felt when the stone seemed done. Maybe I should count a bit?

I am amazed at how awesome this sharpener is! I have a lot of homework to do as I need to learn how to use the Cube (played with it some but don't presently understand it) ton name just one facet. I ordered an LED 30/60 loupe and am really looking forward to SEEING what's going on as I can't really see what's important. Hopefully it's here soon.

Craig

Hey craig

Thought the thumb would feel a lot worse than it does, so not complaining to much.

Know what you mean about the strops. I have quit a few BIG nicks in mine. I was trying to stroke to fast with not enough experience. I think they will still work OK or at least I hope so. The day before yesterday I ordered the 1200-1600 ceramics. I was really surprized how sharp the knives got with 5 1nd 3.5 paste. I even had a little mirrow finish and hope to have a better finish with the ceramics.

Yeah sometimes I'm so dumb I just can't stand it! My first time out I got to much paste on the strop which put a lot of paste on my blade. So what did I do? Reached up and ran my finger down the side of the blade! Duh!! Laid my finger open! Needless to say? I won't do that again anytime soon!

Yea I know what you mean. Usually doing something like cutting my finger the way I did will differently keep me on guard when sharpening.

Haha, luckily for me my strops have taken most of the beating rather than my hands. Definitely quite a way to dive in head first, Bill! One of the first blades I did after a couple little practice pieces was a Puma Waidblatt, quite the chunky little machete. I've also done a Cold Steel Magnum Kukri on the WEPS (in sections) and it was one heck of a workout.

I've been talking about expanding my WEPS stone selection for a while but I think I might go for the ball joint arms first, since I've adopted the 1000# diamonds with a little cleanup stropping as my gold standard carry/duty edge. It seems like the ceramics are a good next step, so maybe if I'm real lucky in the next couple months I might be able to spring for some new addons.

Glad you're enjoying the WEPS, and get well soon to your poor thumb!

LOL! (About your first post, not about the second.) Being paid for your first knife on the WEPS . That's getting paid for learning.

What kind of shop do you have? A hardware shop or something similar?

Get well with your thumb! (And the only way I use my strops is by using pure down-up movements. Even if I'm careful, I manage to get them nicked one way or the other if I don't.)

Great job bill! Sounds like you researched all the things you needed to cover before you started up! Yeh, I've cut myself several times lol, probably because I removed the plastic edging on my paddles (they get in the way on knives like Spyderco). let us know how he liked his knives!