Hi, I have a belt grinder and I would like to reprofile my knives to factory edges. I can keep a consistent angle, but the problem is, the edge always end up convexed. Do you guys have any tips on how to make a v-grind on a belt grinder? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
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belt grinder help!
- Thread starter stun279
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- Dec 1, 2012
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I believe you can do flat v grinds on a belt sander but, you'd have to have a flat plate behind the belt or something like it and even then I imagine it'll be slightly convexed. Convex edges slice better do to their geometry and seem to be a little stronger anyways. I also like the look of them.
- Joined
- May 31, 2011
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You CAN do a V-grind on a belt grinder just fine. The difference will be that you do the sharpening on the platen (the vertical support piece behind the belt near the table) instead of in the slack. You will always end up with the same slight convexity that you will on a freehand-sharpened knife, since no matter how careful you are, each pass across the abrasive (belt or freehand stone) will inevitably have SOME degree of variation in it. Practice will reduce the amount of that, and let you approach a perfect v-bevel more closely, just as with working on freehand stones.
Honestly, I prefer a large-radius convex myself, that is to say, to sharpen in the slack about a half-inch above the platen. That serves two purposes. First, it gives a mildly convex edge, which seems for ME anyway (YMMV) to be a bit more robust than a plain V-bevel. Second, the slight convexity is more forgiving to sharpen, since the belt tends to slightly contour itself to the edge and reduce pass-to-pass variation.
Honestly, I prefer a large-radius convex myself, that is to say, to sharpen in the slack about a half-inch above the platen. That serves two purposes. First, it gives a mildly convex edge, which seems for ME anyway (YMMV) to be a bit more robust than a plain V-bevel. Second, the slight convexity is more forgiving to sharpen, since the belt tends to slightly contour itself to the edge and reduce pass-to-pass variation.