paper sharpening wheels - when your time is important to you

with all the different paper wheel threads starting up i was thinking of changing the title of this thread to make it easier to find this thread in a search. i was thinking "paper wheels, get your knives shaving sharp in about 1 minute" what do you guys with the wheels think?
 
It is your thread Richard....you helped me get to where I wanted to be with the wheels. Change may be good, a simpler search title.
 
i was thinking that a change in thread title with the paper wheels mentioned first would lead anyone searching for any information on the paper wheels to this thread and cut down on the other threads that have been started on the wheels. i would like to thank art summers for turning me on to the paper wheels. i could get a knife shaving sharp before but with the weels i can get a knife shaving sharp in less time than before.
 
richard j said:
i was thinking that a change in thread title with the paper wheels mentioned first would lead anyone searching for any information on the paper wheels to this thread and cut down on the other threads that have been started on the wheels. i would like to thank art summers for turning me on to the paper wheels. i could get a knife shaving sharp before but with the weels i can get a knife shaving sharp in less time than before.
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As you would like to thank Art Summers, I would like to thank Scoobyaz for introducing me to this fine way of sharpening! IMHO it is by far the most easy way to sharpen! Not just sharp but LAZER sharp! In a time efficent and effortless manner!
 
i asked esav what he thought i should change the thread title to. since he is what i consider the master of words, i'm going to go with his suggestion. dsltech, you and scoobyaz know a good thing when you see it. i cant see spending a lot of money on diamond stones or sprays, numerous belts of different grits and other gadgets when you can get better results for less than $100. when i used to sharpen by hand i would charge up to $15. to sharpen a 3 1/2" blade. now that seems like a ripoff to me since the edge isnt going to last any longer. like the saying about a fool and his money, anyone buying diamond stones, sprays and numerous belts are just wasting their money.
the same goes for any high dollar gadget out there. why put money on their pocket wasting your hard earned money?
 
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richard j said:
i asked esav what he thought i should change the thread title to. since he is what i consider the master of words, i'm going to go with his suggestion. dsltech, you and scoobyaz know a good thing when you see it. i cant see spending a lot of money on diamond stones or sprays, numerous belts of different grits and other gadgets when you can get better results for less than $100. when i used to sharpen by hand i would charge up to $15. to sharpen a 3 1/2" blade. now that seems like a ripoff to me since the edge isnt going to last any longer. like the saying about a fool and his money, anyone buying diamond stones, sprays and numerous belts are just wasting their money.
the same goes for any high dollar gadget out there. why put money on their pocket wasting your hard earned money?
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Richard, once you get your thread named the way you want it....may a suggest a new PR specialist & advertising strategy;)
 
You can be set up with a HF belt sander and all the belts you'd ever need for well under $100. Don't even try and suggest the wheel is some kind of majic sharpener that gets better results than anything else. A belt sander will sharpen just as quick and just as sharp provided your useing the same speed and grit.
 
You should have taken the wording off the package... Sharpening Wheels - Leave the Stone Age Behind! :)

cbw
 
db, i can have a knife razor sharp in the time it takes you to change belts. belts wear out and you have to buy more. i have a set of wheels thats 18+ years old and still going strong. the wheels are around $50. if you find a 1/2 hp motor for $25. thats still less than getting set up with a belt sander plus belts which on average are about $3. - $5. per belt for a 2 x 72. i cant see spending my time going from one belt to another when i can get better results a lot faster.
 
Well the HF belt sander is a 1x30 and I got mine for under $30. I'm also sure the belts for a 1x30 are cheaper than the 2x72 belts. I don't really remeber how much I paid for belts and I did get alot more than I needed for the last 8 years and paid guessing under $20 for all the belts. There are many that just use a leather belt and that should last years for sharpening unless you damage it witch you can damage a paper wheel also. My real point is the belt sander or really anything else you want to use to sharpen will work the same as anything else provided the grit and speed that that grit is used is the same.There is nothing majic about getting a sharp edge. How sharp an edge is has to do with how polished and thin that edge is. How fast you can get that edge has to do with the speed that you move the grit across the edge. Your claming the wheel produces better results than anything else and that is just not true. I'll agree it is probably faster than sharpening by hand on a bench hone, but faster than someone like Hossom or someone else who has used a belt sander with alot of time sharpening on his 1x30 belt sander I have real douts about. I'm also not very convinced it is as cheap as a Belt sander either. For the average knife nut like myself who isn't sharpening every day the belts will last for years. Truthfully for real long lasting there are some really fine grit stone wheels and even the rubber Cratex wheels should outlast the lifetime of more than a few of us. I myself prefer to sharpen on bench hones and will admit the paper wheel does have me tempted.
 
Gotta agree with richard all the money i have spent on stones and strops never tried a belt sander the wheels are the way to go once you get good with them does take practice nothing i have used before or since has even come close to how sharp my knives are now. The only thing i would do different is get a grinder with slower motor but the one i have now cost me nothing so i cant complain just takes a softer touch . Wish i would have known abought them a long time ago . Besides that where else can you get live instructions and all the help you can ask besides right here . Thanks again Rich .
 
well i finally tried them out...all i can say is wow. these things are awesome. i already sharpened up all my users and my kitchen knives...now what???? thanks Richard!
 
i wish i had known about the wheels 10 years before i found out about them. maybe my hands wouldnt be quite as bad as they are. in 1982 i bought my ez sharp which i used instead of sharpening by hand with stones or sand paper on glass. it was easier but still bothered my hands. the day i decided to never use the ez sharp again i gladly gave it to my cousin. i dont miss the 30 40 minute sharpening jobs just for 1 knife even though i would get $10. for a 3"-4" knife.
 
Richard,

I respectfully disagree with you about wasting money on diamond stones. I had the paper wheel system and then I bought stones too. I wanted to learn various methods. I challenged myself to learn free hand stone sharpening. It is very fulfilling to learn and get better by free hand as well. I am probably as about a regular do it yourselfer as it gets. Challenges are pursued, not run away from. If you get overly zealous about how the paper wheels are so much greater than anything else, everything else is obsolete, you may end up turning people off to what is a great product. I wanted to learn hand sharpening, and I did, even after I can get awesomely sharp with the paper wheels. Just giving you some straight talk. Yes, work on your PR a little there friend. I know you spent many years sharpening by hand prior, so I am aware of what your angle is. You get more flies with honey than vinegar.
 
To say the paper wheels give you better results than anything else is a little arrogant. I'm sure they bring very good results but its not on the same level as a edge that has been worked through the grits. The way the edge is established and the way its finished will determine how sharp it is, finishing with white buffing compound will bring you sharp but finishing with 1 micron diamond compound after working up to that point will produce edges
on the level of a straight razor.

Paper wheels have their place, they are great for a person that has a lot of knives to sharpen or for a business but for every day maintenance its a bit excessive. Some of us like to take our time because we feel it is a art. I've seen a few knives ruined by the paper wheels in the hands of a beginner and more than enough bad grind jobs to realize suggesting them to a new sharpener is not a very good idea.

Calling those of us that use expensive stones and compounds fools is a bit out of line. I don't share my thoughts of the wheels or point out all the flaws in the edges I see produced by them out of respect for you but if you would like that can change.
 
My two cents:

I have the paper wheel set up, the ones recommended in this thread. They work just fine, they can get a knife VERY sharp, very quickly, but in the end, not as sharp as I can get using other methods.

I get FAR better results using a belt sander than I ever did using paper wheels, FAR BETTER. I know you advocate not going through all those "expensive belts" etc.. To be honest, my belts lasted me quite a long time, reprofiling A LOT of knives. Not just edges, but full grinds reprofiled to full convex, and satin finished. I have a lot of belts, from 40 grit, to 15 micron, to leather with .5 compound. Although it takes a little bit more time, I can take the knife fresh from the 15 micron belt, hand strop it a few times per side on green compound, then switch my strop bat over to pink compound for a few times, then bare leather a few times. In the end, the edge is simply sharper than any results I got off the paper wheels, and I could get knives quite sharp on it. Sharp enough to shred newspaper.

I don't think there's any reason to knock other sharpening methods, like diamond stones, strops, sanders. There's something for everyone, and I've found that the wheels are not THE BEST out there, but they certainly are great.
 
After an in-depth scientific study of sharpening, it was determined that the best method of sharpening a knife is:

Sharpening Wheels - as demonstrated by Richard J
Diamond Stones - as demonstrated by Knifenut1013
Belt Sander - as demonstrated by 230grains
Waterstones - as demonstrated by Murray Carter
HF sander - as demonstrated by Jerry Hossom
Shapton Stones - as demonstrated by Harrelson Stanley
Tormek - as demonstrated by Jeff Farris
Edge Pro - as demonstrated by Ben Dale
Uh-Oh...........

In other words, the 'best' usually becomes a quality method that a person uses the most, and learns all the little subtle tips and techniques of getting the best edge on a knife. The main factor in getting the best edge on a knife is the skill of the sharpener.

(The winner was actually the Furi Sharpener - demonstrated by Rachael Ray.) :D

cbw
 
cbwx34 said:
After an in-depth scientific study of sharpening, it was determined that the best method of sharpening a knife is:

Sharpening Wheels - as demonstrated by Richard J
Diamond Stones - as demonstrated by Knifenut1013
Belt Sander - as demonstrated by 230grains
Waterstones - as demonstrated by Murray Carter
HF sander - as demonstrated by Jerry Hossom
Shapton Stones - as demonstrated by Harrelson Stanley
Tormek - as demonstrated by Jeff Farris
Edge Pro - as demonstrated by Ben Dale
Uh-Oh...........

In other words, the 'best' usually becomes a quality method that a person uses the most, and learns all the little subtle tips and techniques of getting the best edge on a knife. The main factor in getting the best edge on a knife is the skill of the sharpener.

(The winner was actually the Furi Sharpener - demonstrated by Rachael Ray.) :D

cbw
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I read that same scientific study and thought Arkansas stones and Naniwa Super Stones were the top two choices??
 
on some of the other forums that i frequent, me bringing up the paperwheels was a first so they all wanted pictures. well i can't take a pic of an edge like some of you guys with the macro lenses so i made a video, it is a great one of my hand:o...but it does show some of the paper i was cutting too, fortunately. i was using an endura wth the solid zdp189 steel reground by mr krein and then sharpened by the paperwheels. i was cutting some of that thin paper that the manuals are made of for every product. anyways here is the vid. as for this method vs stones vs whatever other sharpening method, i would say this is the quickest and gives very good results. some people like working their way thru all the wet stones to stropping etc. i tried it and it takes too long for me. especially the way the guys at the firehouse treat the kitchen knives, you sharpen them up the day you work, 2 days later they are butter knives. for me the paper wheels are better

oh, here is the vid..lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56BDi8Qc6X4
 
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