Well for the time being, I appear to be in the good luck group, since I received mine in early Dec, too. I never looked closely when it was new, but now that I've clamped a few different blades, I can't see any jaw-end deviation. I do always use chamois, though, so I don't have to get too torque crazy, though I will say I also don't baby it that much either. I don't have a blade movement problem when I do get it tight, and as I said the jaws seem to be okay for now.
Good to know that thigs will be taken care of if something pops up.

My replacement vise is in the mail. After "straightening" my original vise twice now I find that I can not match the angles on knives I have profiled. I end up with multiple facets on the profile if I try; even on knives with good square spines to clamp to.

I got my replacement vise jaws in yesterday and sharpened two knives and was very careful not to over tighten the lower screw. However there is already a measurable gap at the top of the vise jaws. I don't know what the solution is. Is there anyone one on the forum with CNC experience or access? What would be the best metal to replace this "aircraft aluminum" with because it obviously is not the answer.

I have had my WEPS for nearly 18 months now and have had no such problem. I have been communicating with many others who have also not had this or any problem...most other owners have not, so I think the aircraft aluminum is not the problem or we would all have the same complaint.
I believe that Clay is doing his best to get to the bottom of the problem. I certainly understand your concern,but my private opinion is that your complaints should be forwarded to Clay privately at the WE rather than here. If you were not receiving support then it would be a different story, but you are and it has been explained that this is a flawed batch and they are trying mightily to discover which of the many new vises are the culprits, no easy task as there are no arrows pointing to the faulty units.You may rest assured that Clay is seeking the advice of experts to help solve the problem and that he will report here when he has answers for us all. Until then patience is key.
Having said all that you have the freedom to speak out here on Clay's Forum. I again hasten to add this is only my private 2 cents worth.

Regards
Leo

Well said Leo; however to date Clay has been totally silent on the matter. And to my knowledge any and all communications on this issue has initiated by the users with the bad vises. Maybe they should at least acknowledge this issue and notify the possible affected customers.

And why in the world would you sent out a warranty replacement part without making sure it did not have the same defect?

[quote="babo"

And why in the world would you sent out a warranty replacement part without making sure it did not have the same defect?[/quote]

I think the problem is that the defective ones are mixed in with the good ones and there is no way to tell one from the other. There is no sign or mark that separates out the clinkers. As to Clay's silence, one has only to hear the story he has told about finding manufacturers who will make the small, high quality quantities he requires at a good price with suitable quality controls. It sounds like there should be hoards of companies that can/will do it for small batches of vises, but that is not the case. He is trying to get as much of his stuff made in the USA as possible, but the vagaries of business keep on pushing him elsewhere.
I just noticed that my DeWalt Reciprocating saw was made in Mexico as is this Mac Pro computer I am typing on. My Japanese Pentax Camera is manufactured in the Philippines while most of my lenses are made in Viet Nam. Businesses must get their items made where they can get a decent price point and the best quality they can find. In his own small way, Clay faces similar problems,so he will speak out when he finds a solution rather than make excuses.He also is constantly facing complaints that the WEPS should be totally made in the USA, yet sources and prices here are either not suitable or the price point for such an item skyrockets.
No easy solutions here mate. I am simply saying give the guy a chance to do what he needs to do.

best to you babo

Leo

I think it is very reasonable for people to come to a public forum to discuss problems like this. They are bound to happen and I don't think anyone is upset with the quality of customer service when it comes to the way this issue has been addressed. I can't blame people for being frustrated with the problem but I personally don't think the wicked edge folks have done anything wrong in the way this has been handled or in the way they do business.

They will get it worked out and things will be fine in the long run...I'm sure!

I believe that this forum and forums like it should be used to discuss concerns and best product practices. They are a tool for consumers to help each other and help manufacturers gain, retain or lose customers based on how they react to issues.

I for one do not agree with how the bent vice situation is being handled. This has been my first experience with WE. I think the customer support regarding the hardening issue has been excellent, however if it were my decision to make I would definitely not be sending out any vice jaws with potential problems once they were discovered. It is horrible to think that someone paying top dollar, $350 or more for a knife sharpener, would receive two bad vice jaw sets in a row. That is absolutely inexcusable to me and I don't think frustrated would correctly describe me demeanor if that happened to me.

Why hasn't the issue even been acknowledged publicly by WE? Why hasn't there been a recall? Why isn't' whoever did the hardening being held responsible? If a third party didn't harden the vice jaws correctly they should be paying for a full recall and taking the blame for all problem vices. If hey followed WE engineering instructions than WE should man up and take responsibility and recall all the potential problems.

These vices took months to ship. I'm sorry but with that kind of lead time you better get it right or do something about the problem if you don't. Answering the phone and sending out a potentially defective replacement quickly doesn't cut it for me at all.

Could I really place an order right now and receive an improperly hardened vice? That's absolutely ridiculous to think that could occur and if I were deciding weather to spend $350 on this system and I happened to see this thread I would have second thoughts for sure. I'd be glad to know about the potential problem before deciding to place my order.

Hi Kevin
My opinions again!
The 'bent vise situation' as you call it, out of the many hundreds of units sold, consists of less than a dozen units delivered so far and Clay is doing everything he can to ameliorate the situation for these few people affected. We have not heard from the hundreds of happy customers who have flocked to this sharpener and that is the way it usually is especially on forums like this. Those hundreds have units that deliver what is advertised and do it in spades. They are happy and content with the WEPS. I am one of those happy customers and my unit continues to deliver knife after knife with edges I could never produce before. I suspect there are others by the score who feel the same way.
Clay will respond when the extent of the faulty units has been discovered. If it is a wide spread problem then I am sure there will be a recall and rest assured the company responsible will deal with it at their cost.But that seems not to be the case!
Meanwhile we are asking for your kind patience. If that is not possible for you or others then I guess you will have to decide what to do. But to speculate that Clay is not dealing with the issue with grave concern, means you don't know the man. He has kindly put up this Forum at his cost for the use of all of us interested in the WEPS and his customers. I believe it behooves us all to trust that he is doing all he can and more. It is easy to criticize, more difficult to wait patiently.
Once again my own two cents worth.

Regards
Leo

I am a new customer. I don't' know Clay and he could be a saint for all I know. I do know that out of the few responses to my thread at least one customer has had 2 bent vices. That is a major problem in my opinion. Why are they still being sold and shipped?

I posted a simple question a while ago on here about using my new vice correctly and it went unanswered. Fine. I'm using the new one just like the old one. If I bend it, oh well I guess I'll be getting another new one again. Instead of instruction I read a post more or less asking not post problems with the sharpener.

The more I read this thread the more aggravated I get. I didn't know my vice was bending and it damaged my very expensive Shun kitchen knives. Should I be complaining more about the scratches my bent vice put in them. No. Or the fact that I have to resharpen every knife that was touched by the bent vice because that angles are wrong. No. I haven't heard from Clay. If there ware 12 bad vices maybe he should make it a point to have conversations with the people effected so we don't get on his forum and speculate.