attempting to make your own paper wheels could be dangerous or deadly

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richard j

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a suggestion has been posted to make your own paper wheels. this is very dangerous and could even be deadly and never should have been suggested. the forces built up in any spinning object increase with diamater. this can be demonstrated by spinning a ball on a string in a circle around you. the ball gets heavier as it gets farther away from you. the same thing applies to anything spinning and if by chance a piece of cardboard comes loose it becomes a projectile. is saving some money worth the loss of an eye or even death? it only takes once for an accident to happen and its not worth the risk.
 
Are your paper wheels not made by someone? Can you specify what features of wheels made by people other than you make them more dangerous than the wheels that are made by you?

It seems to me that anything spinning at high speed would make a potential projectile, no matter who fabricated it initially. I don't want to die trying to get a sharp knife, so I'd like to know more.
 
nmb, take a look around here. richard has a deal with the manufacturer, and can get BFC members a good discount.

I'm sure he will reply with specifics soon.
 
i do not make my wheels or the ones being sold. the paper wheels are made by my friend in california from a special paper, not cardboard that could fly apart. he gets the 4x8 sheets of compressed paper in 1/4", 3/4" and 1" thickness and cuts the wheels from these sheets. this paper is tested to run in excess of 3450 rpm and it doesnt give when you press your blade against it like cardboard will and removes the burr completely in just a few passes and polishes the edge at the same time. this takes less than a minute to do and you wont have to do anything else. i have a set of wheels that are 17 years old and will last another 17+ years. why fool around and take a risk on loosing an eye or even your life on something home made. this should be a no brainer. it only takes one time for an accident to happen like i said. if your life isnt worth the money to buy something thats safe then go ahead and make your own wheels. but when something happens its too late to go back.
 
Well I agree with you richard. Maybe the homemade ones wont come apart. But when you spin something like that at the speeds a grinder can get up too it becomes very dangerous. It's just cardboard, it can easily come apart especially by holding a blade against it that is slowly tearing it apart as it sharpens the knife. I have had dremel wheels shatter right in front of my face. And they're especially designed wheels to be spun at that speed.
 
i'm glad there are at least 3 people who sees that its dangerous to make your own wheels. if someone gets hurt or killed we'll know who to tell his next of kin who to sue :D
 
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Richard, I went to your site and the link to the wheels. Where are the prices? It seems like the last time there was a discussion about these wheels, I went to a site and they had prices. I can;t find that one now. I sent them an email.
 
you have to give him a call and order direct from him. make sure to tell him you're a friend of mine to get your discount. i'm glad to see you value your safety and life enough to not try something dangerous and not very smart. plus if you go somewhere to sharpen knives for someone you'll look more professional ;).
 
i hope the guys that are thinking of saving a few bucks wise up and open their eyes before they loose them.
 
I don't know about those wheels.
No matter what you glue them up with there still is a good chance for them to come apart.
I have had a batch of micarta unravel on me even though I correctly mixed everything together.
You just can't trust glues/resins to hold.

Me being a reckless teenager, I would try that if I didn't know any better.
 
Richard, do you wear safety glasses at all? not trying to sound smart, but i always wear safety glasses, too many things flying when grinding and buffing to not wear them...
 
Which one is you? The one with no shoes or the one with no safety glasses. And is that alcohol I see involved in the background?

100_1971.jpg
;)
 
that's me without shoes. noone had brought glasses, that's why we stopped there.

that's alcohol in the background, but neither of us had any.
 
i always wear glasses but they wont protect you from a flying blade. what scares me is when the tip of the edge get caught in the spaces and rip a piece of cardboard up and catch the blade which in turn will probably throw it somewhere. i care enough about the members here not to post somethign potentially dangerous, obviously you dont. if your wheels work so good, why do you have to use a leather strop? thats the whole purpose of the wheels, to eliminate the need to strop because the wheels do the same. your contraption is just plain dangerous and in no way can produce the same results as the wheels. you said so yourself in my other thread on the wheels. to me it makes no sense in wasting time on something thats going to cause someone to get hurt and in no way can work as well. are you going to be responsible if some 13 year old kid gets hurt and his parents find out he learned how to make them here, from your thread? these wheels have been around quite a while and you only made yours recently. your setup scares me and i would be scared to have any expensive knife sharpened on a contraption like that for fear of it being damaged. if you want to use something potentially dangerous then thats you. it was a bad idea to post what you did for someone else to have the potential to get hurt on. to me that seems irresponsible.
 
Thanks for the details on where your wheels come from Richard. I'm not in the market for sharpening supplies (or much of anything other than food or shelter these days) but I will certainly keep the paper wheels in mind as I may have recently come across a bench grinder.
 
Richard, i never intended for these wheels to act as a replacement for, nor ever claimed that they do the same thing, as the wheels you use. i expressly state every time i mention them that i use them for polishing an already sharpened edge to a higher grit level.

i use a strop because i have found that while the compound i use on my wheels minimizes the burr, there is still a burr attached to the blade. as far as my experience dictates, it all comes down to what grit your compound is. it is my opinion that there is no way to totally remove a burr, that there will always be some metal left from the polishing action occuring, even at the ridiculously small level. i do what i can to minimize that burr as much as possible, which means using the finest finish methods i have available.

if your wheels remove the burr, then that is great. i don't have your wheels, and i find with mine i still have a burr. my wheels are not designed to be a sharpening system, but a sharpening aid.
 
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