Manual Regrind; stone longevity

[AF]

I've never been satisfied with diamond stones in terms of longevity. I've heard it said that excessive pressure is the culprit but in any case, I haven't been satisfied. I recently used an Atoma 140 to manually regrind a couple knives and that pretty much killed the stone. Granted, that is a demanding task compared to simply sharpening.

I know for grinders they make ceramic belts that work best with high pressure. They cut aggressively and last a long time. Is there nothing equivalent for manual use? I wonder how it would work to cut up one of those belts and glue to a flat surface for manual use?

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

You might consider something like the Manticore series bench stone as an ultra-course stone option for high pressure. If dealing with broad bevels you may also need a softer stone to follow up with as the bevel widens and the spot pressure decreases. Green silicon carbide in a soft bond would be a good option at that stage, if you can find such a stone.

 

[AF]

Thanks, I'm interested in trying that out. I'm talking about laying the primary down for a thinner flat grind so the pressure is spread out over a wide area.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Something like one of the coarse Norton waterstones might work. I know they often have been criticized for being very soft, and that's just what you want for a large contact area.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I've never been satisfied with diamond stones in terms of longevity. I've heard it said that excessive pressure is the culprit but in any case, I haven't been satisfied. I recently used an Atoma 140 to manually regrind a couple knives and that pretty much killed the stone. Granted, that is a demanding task compared to simply sharpening.

I know for grinders they make ceramic belts that work best with high pressure. They cut aggressively and last a long time. Is there nothing equivalent for manual use? I wonder how it would work to cut up one of those belts and glue to a flat surface for manual use?

I've done that to regrind damaged or extremely worn (rounded) tips on blades, grinding from the spine side down to the cutting edge. I've used a 120-grit (3" x 21") zirconia-alumina belt for that, gluing it to a 24" board and then clamping that to a table or bench. For that sort of task, it works impressively well and pretty fast - these belts are very aggressive. For grinding the flats of a blade's primary grind, I'm sure it'd be more work (more time). But for some jobs, it's a pretty handy and inexpensive 'hack' for some types of repair work. It's worth experimenting with it, to learn what it's capable of doing for you.