Laser Guided Paper Wheel Sharpening

cbwx34

cbwx34

Joined
Dec 27, 2004
Messages
2,270
First and foremost, you can get knives plenty sharp without doing this. Just thought I'd show it.... adds a bit of consistency/accuracy between passes.

I sharpen on the paper wheels at the top of the wheel, wheel turning away, holding the blade level and setting the angle by moving down the wheel. Described here: Paper Wheel Sharpening

Saw this laser level guide at Lowes for around $12. (The orange thing at the top of the picture). Has a magnet in the base so I just stuck it on a clamp above the wheel. Made tick marks on the grinder body for certain angles. Now I just line the laser on the mark, turn the wheel on, and I have a nice guide to maintain the angle. So, in the picture, this would put roughly a 20 deg. edge (per side). Works especially well for unusual shaped blades. Sharpen with the blade just below the line, so it doesn't get reflected back. Works great! Just an FYI!!

cbw

Laser-Paper-Whl.jpg
 
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one bad thing about that setup, what if the laser shines in your eyes? i wouldnt try that. its a good idea but not being able to see with a sharp knife in my hand isnt my cup of tea. with practice you wont need anything.

one other thing about sharpening with the wheels rotating away from you. its hard to see exactly where you are placing the blade on the wheel. it would be too easy to place the blade down on the wheel above the edge. sharpening with the wheel rotating to you at about the 1:00 position allows you to see where you're setting the blade down on the wheel while allowing you to watch the burr form and tell if its forming evenly.
 
Hey Richard,

I appreciate your input. Hasn't been an issue for me, but it's something I watch out for.

As for which way to sharpen.... I've tried them all, including the method you use. The way I do it works best for me..... I can actually see what's happening better (burr forming, etc.) looking down on the blade. Lighting (in any position) as more to do with it. But like anything else it just takes practice.

To me, no right or wrong, just what works best. This worked really well for me, so I figured I'd pass it along... but I know it's not necessary, and not for everyone.

cbw
 
i thought of the same thing many years ago. it only takes one time for something to happen. you have to think about your eyes and protecting your vision. maybe tape on the blade if its real shiny to help cut down on the chance of the beam reflecting back into your eyes.
 
Speaking of bench grinders for the paper wheel setup, and I hope I'm not hijacking too much......I know Richard says he never needs too much more than around 1700 rpm if I recall correctly. The harbor freight model you mention runs at about 3400. I've got a pretty gentle hand on a grinder, but is 3400 too fast? I've got a new in box Ryobi 8 incher that runs at about 3400 also, but I kind of want to return it because of the guards and light hardware that make it hard to turn it around, and so I'm looking at other grinders with a slower speed.

What do you guys think?

BTW, I have a laser level in my work bench that hasn't seen use in a while. I just might give this method a shot:thumbup:
 
Hmmm, looking around the net a little more it seems like most 6 and 8 inch grinders run at about 3400 rpm. Where do you find a slower one? Or do you need to build one yourself to get that speed?
 
jonnymac44 said:
Speaking of bench grinders for the paper wheel setup, and I hope I'm not hijacking too much......I know Richard says he never needs too much more than around 1700 rpm if I recall correctly. The harbor freight model you mention runs at about 3400. I've got a pretty gentle hand on a grinder, but is 3400 too fast? I've got a new in box Ryobi 8 incher that runs at about 3400 also, but I kind of want to return it because of the guards and light hardware that make it hard to turn it around, and so I'm looking at other grinders with a slower speed.

What do you guys think?

BTW, I have a laser level in my work bench that hasn't seen use in a while. I just might give this method a shot:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Jonny,
Return that grinder and get a variable speed one. I am getting tired of sharpening at Mach 1. The speed suit is getting weathered from re-entry. You will be better off with the 1750 or such.
 
find someone who puts in furnaces and get a belt drive squirrel cage blower motor in 1/2 hp. you'll need an arbor which i can make. (or get the variable speed buffer or router variable speed control)
 
Richard and Cj,
Looks like I might be building my own setup. There don't seem to be any grinders available at cheap prices that run at slower speeds. There are plenty of cheap grinders out there but they all run at above 3000 rpm.

Looks like I've got my answer.

Jonny
 
Since it came up, does anyone know where to get the double ended arbors?
 
you can get a set of pillow blocks for a 3/4" shaft and have a machine shop turn the shaft to fit the wheels and thread the end. i have some shaft stock that i can turn and thread if anyone cant find a machine shop to make one.
 
I guess you can chalk this up to my carelessness, but on the other hand, I think it might be pretty easy for anyone to make the same mistake. I had a regular grinder rotating down and towards the floor and a specially set up paper wheel rotating up towards the ceiling so I could see the edge of the blade. I went from the grinder to the paper wheel one time, forgetting to flip the blade and it cut into the paper and nearly got thrown into my face. Thankfully, the knife was so sharp it cut deep into the paper and flew loose at 12:00 instead of 10:00. Also, I had a good "golf grip" on the handle, loose but firm. Long story short, I held onto the knife handle as the blade threw itself loose from the paper wheel at about 12:00 high.

So, my personal recommendation.... I recommend against having the paper wheel turning towards your face so you can see the edge of the knife. The possibility of a tragic moment of carelessness exceeds the upside of watching the blade edge. It's safer to have buffers and grinders always turning towards your feet rather than your head....

This is my 2 cents. I know we are all masters of our own fate and capable of making these decisions on the merits.
 
Motor RPM is related to HZ. Reasonably priced single phase motors come in 3450 and 1725 RPMs (60HZ in the U.S.) Here in Australia, it's 50HZ and the RPMs are 5/6 the speeds.

I'm using 10" wheels that increase the surface speed, but I'm using a low RPM motor on an dual arbor. I can replace the sheaves with any size to achieve any RPM as long as I have adequate power. It's obvious that different strokes for different folks is the rule here, but if you want to get into it, you might consider all the options.

A single phase variable speed motor would seem to be the best; one that has dual shafts far enough apart to mount both wheels so that they won't interfere with each other. Other ways to achieve motor control are with DC motors or a 3-phase motor run by a VFD.
 
if you're used to a regular grinding wheel rotating to you and then you switch to paper wheels rotating away from you, the chance for an accident are greater since you're already used to the regular grinder. in my 18+ years of sharpening with the wheels i have never went into the wheels since i know better. it would take someone being distracted, not having the proper mindset for the task at hand or pretty absent minded to do something like this. i teach members who come over how to sharpen like i do and they do just fine.
 
Thanks for this.

Are you able to perhaps provide suggestions as to what you think of ways of holding a laser pointer into place?

Ive been looking on ebay and come across this:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Dial-Ind..._15&hash=item460a4742cd&_uhb=1#ht_1805wt_1139

Or if anyone could even suggest another method to me of somehow marking that point on the wheel so i always know where to place the knife at a 20 degree angle. Maybe not having to use a laser?

Also how do i mark the angles? with a protractor tight?

Thanks guys.
 
Hey MartyK welcome to the board. I took a protractor and marked the grit wheel on my wheels and extended the mark almost to the shaft hole. I then Marked a line across the body of my grinder motor at the 15* mark with the 0* mark lined up at the top of the rotation point. Since the 15* per side is what I use the most, I can adjust for other angles if I need to. I just eyeball the edge of the blade with the line across the motor body and start grinding. Works great for me and was easy to get used to it. My blade grinds are nice and even on each side. Maybe not as accurate as a Wicked Edge, but you would be hard to tell the difference by looking at them.

Blessings,

Omar
 
Hi omar thanks for your reply!

Ill give that a go!

Do you always hold the blade horizontal.. like dead flat? So would i always hold the blade so the blade is always 90 degrees?

thank you :)
 
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