Cardboard Wheels

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vrod2011

Joined
Dec 22, 2006
Messages
7
I spoke with some other members on this forum trying to find the best way to sharpen knives. I decided on Cardboard wheels on a bench grinder. I ordered the wheels from Steve (which came in very quickly) and a bench grinder from Northern Tools, and put it all together yesterday. I had some very cheap tanto blade knives that I was able to play around on.

I wasn't getting the results I was hoping for, but I was running out of time. I decided to sharpen my SOG Pentagon Elite, and get on the with rest of my evening. I was half expecting to ruin the knife forever (which would be an excuse to buy a better knife :p).

I was amazed at the results. One pass on one side of the blade, then one pass on the other side of the blade, then polished the edge with the cardboard wheel, and I was done. And.. it looks great!

I still have some work to do, but I am very impressed! My buddy who was watching even pulled out his knife and handed it to me to do.

It was so quick and easy, I'm thinking of going around the the gun shops and offering sharpening service.
 
Get a "little" more experience before you offer your services commercially.
Bill
 
Definitely will do. My only problem is the need for more knives to "practice" on. Anyone want to send any of their Warren Thomas's or Bob Terzuola's?
 
vrod2011 said:
Definitely will do. My only problem is the need for more knives to "practice" on. Anyone want to send any of their Warren Thomas's or Bob Terzuola's?
Click to expand...

Get some Old Hickory carbons on ebay. They make good practise knives. I use paper wheels when my neighbors want a free sharpening but only use an EdgePro on my personal good knives.

Buzz
 
after getting used to the wheels, you wont use anything else. i gave away the ez sharp i had to my cousin so he could do his broadheads. did you get the video's that i made? i sent them out to so many people i lost track. (plus my memory sucks) having a good light that you can position behind the knife to cast a shadow in front of the edge helps considerably in getting the edge paralell to the wheel and at the right angle.
 
I've also been thinking about getting a set of these wheels. I've already got the grinder.
Hard to believe that the steel made the dif in your sharpening experience.
If you have any tips to pass along I would be interested in hearing them.

Thanks,
armilite
 
It was surprisingly easy. But, the edge doesn't feel sharp. It is very sharp, sharper than I've ever been able to obtain using any other sharpener. I'm sure with practice, it will get a lot better. I'm looking forward to Richard's video.
 
About half way down this page there is a pic of the side of a paper wheel with degree markings on it. This is one of the best ways to get a good edge by knowing where on the wheel to place the blade edge...
 
thoes marks are for reference that steve drew on his wheels. i had looked earlier and didnt scroll down far enough to see the marks so i thought you were talking about the slots cut in the wheel which aid in keeping the blade cool. it takes practice to learn how to hold a knife. not every blade is ground the same way so the angles will vary. a chisel grind will be held at a different angle compared to a knife beveled on both sides. i sharpen differently than stevebot does, i'm standing to the right in front of the grinder with the wheel rotating to me. this allows me to watch the burr form and allows me to keep the blade paralell to the wheel.
i can also make sure the blade isnt getting too hot.
 
richard j said:
thoes marks are for reference that steve drew on his wheels. i had looked earlier and didnt scroll down far enough to see the marks so i thought you were talking about the slots cut in the wheel which aid in keeping the blade cool. it takes practice to learn how to hold a knife. not every blade is ground the same way so the angles will vary. a chisel grind will be held at a different angle compared to a knife beveled on both sides. i sharpen differently than stevebot does, i'm standing to the right in front of the grinder with the wheel rotating to me. this allows me to watch the burr form and allows me to keep the blade paralell to the wheel.
i can also make sure the blade isnt getting too hot.
Click to expand...

You can easily see the burr form when the wheel is turning away from you as well. Do you mean parallel to the wheel's edge? Please explain why your method produces superior temperature control.

I assume you stand far enough to the right that you avoid the sparks. It all seems so unnecessary.

Buzz
 
Steve used to have an E-mail where you could contact him directly. This address I don't have. Do any of you good people have it? If so would someone be able to provide me with it.

Thanks,
armilite
 
eric, here is steve's email address. steve@bottorff.com buzzard767. the sparks dont bother me since i'm used to it and i dont think there are that many. by paralell i mean to the shaft of the grinder or the face of the wheel. this way i'm not letting one side touch more than the other which if you let one side touch more, there is a greater chance for that smaller area to heat up more rapildy compared to a blade making contact the full width of a wheel. with the edge facing away from you there's no really good way to see this. if you have a set of wheels, try it for yourself on a scrap piece of steel. let one side
touch and see how quickly it heats up compared to letting it come in contact with the full width of the wheel.
 
Vrod,
Did you have any problems keeping the blade straight while you where drawing it across the wheel or keeping the same angle on both sides?
I can see where this might be a problem,

Any advice?

Thanks,
armilite
 
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