paper sharpening wheels - when your time is important to you

http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/aws750.htm

I'm wondering if some of these abrasives might make a useful alternative to the standard 120 grit silicon carbide that comes with the wheels.

Since I'm not really in the market for a new bench grinder with a slower speed, I figure a finer grit abrasive would make a nice Plan B.
 
i had a wheel like that and it worked ok for certain things but knife sharpening wasnt one of them. mike gets his grit in 330# drums from detroit abrasives. would you want to try some 500 grit? :D. i have some but its like dust. its used on a motorized steel lapping plate for sharpening hair trimmer blades. its a simple machine and works good for making anything flat and sharp on the corners.
 
noctis, do you have an old hatchet laying around that needs sharpened? i dont have one and i have an idea that i'm curious to see how well it works.
 
i was just checking out alaska bow hunting supply and they have a picture of a guy shaving his face with a 2 bladed broadhead sharpened on the wheels. i thought that was pretty cool.
 
Noctis3880 said:
http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/aws750.htm

I'm wondering if some of these abrasives might make a useful alternative to the standard 120 grit silicon carbide that comes with the wheels.

Since I'm not really in the market for a new bench grinder with a slower speed, I figure a finer grit abrasive would make a nice Plan B.
Click to expand...

I thought the grit pack with the Razor Sharp system was closer to 220 grit or so. Since I rarely go to the grit wheel, the 320 grit they offer might be the hot tip. Thanks for the link.

richard j said:
... mike gets his grit in 330# drums from detroit abrasives. would you want to try some 500 grit? :D. i have some but its like dust...
Click to expand...

Richard, 500 sounds even better! For those complaining about the wheels taking off too much metal, this is an excellent idea. You can raise a burr just as easily (might take a minute or two longer), and perhaps at 500 grit "heavy handed" users might not screw up their blades as easily.

I really don't understand the need to go to the grit wheel once you have established the base bevel. The slotted wheel acts as a power strop, and as long as you don't chip or otherwise damage the edge, there's no need to keep going back to the grit wheel. Touch-ups are fast and efficient with the slotted wheel.
 
At a gun show I witnessed one using the slotted wheel to put a mirror edge on a pocket knife. Took about 20 seconds. Pretty impressive!
 
i went to a gun and knife show with my buddy who showed me the wheels. his buddy was there sharpening knives with the wheels all day. i watched him for quite some time so i could get an idea of what to do. i thought it was neat that a guy could hand him a dull knife and in under a minute get it back razor sharp.
 
ricklee, thats why i like the wheels, it wont matter how hard or tough the steel is, it only takes a minute or so to get a knife shaving sharp.
 
i have helped a lot of people learn how to sharpen with the wheels. i am glad art summers turned me on to them. they saved my hands from cramping. i added a link to this thread at my website and i updated my paper wheel myths section too :D
 
Happy 3rd Birthday Paper Wheels thread!

The wheels keep going 'round and 'round! :D

number3.jpg
 
FWIW, Mike at Razor Sharp told me that the grit wheel takes 180 grit silicon carbide. That is what he puts on them and also what he ships in the little plastic jar for re-gritting the wheel. The high speed plus the wax make it act like a much finer grit than 180.
 
you can get different grits to put on the wheels if you like. he chose a happy medium in grit size. a buddy has some 500 grit powder that he uses for his motorized lapping plate which is special made for sharpening hair clipper blades.
 
Well, somehow I shut my browser tab that I was writing in so there goes that post. I ain't writing it all again so I'll just be brief.

Wow. Holy frig, wow. First knife, achieved hair-shaving sharp and used it for dinner prep and eating. End of meal it was still very sharp, though not shaving-sharp. I proceeded to sharpen my pocket knives and they are now all hair-shaving sharp with a bevel around 20º-25º/side. I am impressed, to say the least! The only thing I must still work on, though I got it perfect a few times, is working the wrist turn when nearing the curve on a blade. It'll take time, but even if I don't get better I'm still happy with the results obtained so quickly.
 
The paper wheels in the sky keep on turning. Don't know what they'll sharpen tomorrow!

I think someone wrote a song about the paper wheels, sometime ago in the 80's.
 
cj65 said:
The paper wheels in the sky keep on turning. Don't know what they'll sharpen tomorrow!

I think someone wrote a song about the paper wheels, sometime ago in the 80's.
Click to expand...

[youtube]RGbVoDVWZsc[/youtube]

This one?
 
SPXTrader said:
I thought the grit pack with the Razor Sharp system was closer to 220 grit or so. Since I rarely go to the grit wheel, the 320 grit they offer might be the hot tip. Thanks for the link.



Richard, 500 sounds even better! For those complaining about the wheels taking off too much metal, this is an excellent idea. You can raise a burr just as easily (might take a minute or two longer), and perhaps at 500 grit "heavy handed" users might not screw up their blades as easily.

I really don't understand the need to go to the grit wheel once you have established the base bevel. The slotted wheel acts as a power strop, and as long as you don't chip or otherwise damage the edge, there's no need to keep going back to the grit wheel. Touch-ups are fast and efficient with the slotted wheel.
Click to expand...
Actually I find myself going back to the gritted wheel maybe every other week for some odd reason. Sometimes after taking my knife to the slotted wheel, it will push cut paper, but it might "fold" the paper when cutting or catch on some parts of the blade. I find that raising a burr and taking that to the slotted wheel again fixes the issue.

And as far as I can tell, I still have plenty of blade left:thumbup:.
 
use light pressure on the grit wheel and if you sharpen the way i do with the blade around the 1:00 position, you can watch the burr form. its a lot easier to match an angle this way too.
 
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