??? Cardboard wheel gurus

[Ben Dover]

Just picked up a bench grinder and two 8 inch cardboard wheels at a garage sale!

The abrasive on one wheel would be okay for lawnmower blades, but I wouldn't get near it with a knife.:grumpy: The other seems to be loaded with white rouge.

I have strop abrasives of 20 micron 6 micron, 2.5 micron and .5 micron from HandAmerica. Which of these, if any, would be a good general purpose knife sharpening compound for the "abrasive" wheel? I've already pretty much decided on the .5 micron CrO for the "polishing" wheel.

Naturally, I "found" this goodie (for $10) two days after ordering a belt sander from Harbor Freight, and a bunch of sanding belts from Lee Valley!.

Thanks in advance!

Ben

 

[richard j]

why wouldnt you use the abrasive wheel on a knife? is the grit too coarse? you can get grit and change it. just contact stevebot, a member here and get some. you just sand off the old grit and then roll the wheel in white glue then in the grit. i take an old abrasive belt in your choice of grit, cut it along the same angle but to fit the wheel. get a spray glue and spray the wheel, apply the belt and you are ready to go. i have done this ever since i found out it works better and lasts longer (early 90's). i even made a compressed wood wheel that worke good. ( i made it from the type that is made from sawdust and super hard). if you want, i can send you a pick of how i do mine. if its 320 grit, thats not too bad. the white rouge will polish the edge to a mirror finish fast so i would use it. i'm not sure about the finer polishing compounds but i would imagine it would take longer to get the same results that the white would give you. i do know that i tried some red rouge once and i didnt like how long it took, plus it gets everywhere.

 

[Ben Dover]

The grit on the abrasive wheel appears to be in the 220-320 range just by "eyeballing" it.

With sometning working at the speed of a grinder, I would think that 1200 grit would be a good starter, and not overheat the blade too fast. OTOH, I've never used this system before, so i could very well be all wet!

I hadn't thought about using an old abrasive belt. I'll have to try that!

Thanks,

Ben

 

[richard j]

if you only have a high speed buffer, i wouldnt use the abrasive belt glued to the wheel. too much of a chance the belt would come off. even though the directions suggest a high speed (3600 rpm) motor, i use a low speed (1725 rpm) motor because there is less heat buildup and it makes things easier to control. there is a special wax that goes on the abrasive wheel to cut down on heat which i suggest you get. a candle will do until then but the wax that comes with the wheel works the best. make sure you test fit the belt so there is no hump and the ends match up perfectly when the belt is pulled tight by pinching it together with your index fingers and thumbs. if it overlaps, it wont work. a slight gap 1/32" wont really hurt though. i can send you a pick of a finished wheel if you want to see how its done. take it from someone with close to 25 years experience, these wheels are the only way to go. they save time once you learn how to use them and you can earn money sharpening other peoples knives. they do scissors, pinking shears, sheet metal shears, and basically any straight edge tool. lawnmower blades are too much so stick to doing them with a bench grinder.

 

[Ben Dover]

Richard, I truly appreciate the offer, but I think I've got enough stuff lying around to find somehing that will work.

I just acquired a tube of "555" stick abrasive from Brownell's gunsmithing supply that my brother in law used when he got into bluing guns, and it looks like it might be a good one to try.

The candle idea sounds good also. I have a two gallon bucket that will get filled with cold water and placed on the bench beside the grinder to dunk blades in to keep them cool.

For the next week or two, I think I'll tour the garage sale circuit and get a bunch of old cheapie knives to practice on.

Since the belt sander was already on order, it will be interesting to do a side by side comparison. I have a sneaking suspicion that both systems will work very well once I've practiced enough to learn how to use them properly.

If that turns out to be the case, I guess the leather strops that I put so much love and sweat into making, and learning how to use will end up in the camping trailer with the Sharpmaker!

At any rate, thanks for the advice, I do appreciate it!

I'll post a progress report in a couple of weeks.

 

[richard j]

you can use a belt sander to work up a burr just as long as you are careful not to heat up the blade. if i am working down an edge for the first time, i do use my belt sander to make shorter work of it. the cardboard buffing wheel will strop your blades in seconds compared to minutes as with a manual strop. i have stropped a few straight razors for a friend to bring the edge back which he said normally took him quite a few minutes. practice on the backside of a hack saw blade. if you can sharpen half way around the end and get it all razor sharp, you will have no problem doing any other blades. tanto blades are fun to do, lol. they have to be held and kept flat the whole time you grind the edge on the tip. i have 2 custom tanto's and both were a bear to do the first time. i had to tape the edges so i wouldnt get cut since you are holding the blade and not the handle when sharpening tanto's. i do all sharpening from the back side of the wheel and have a gooseneck lamp just above yet slightly behind where i hold the blade. since the wheel is rotating to me, i watch the shadow and where the blade contacts the wheel to keep everything flat and even. you can also watch the burr work up better. just remember, never go into a wheel, it WILL come flying back at you and could kill you.