paper sharpening wheels - when your time is important to you

I guess it would not be a good idea to try another type of compound on the slotted wheel.....? I've got some Matchless HF1 compound I bought to use on my belt sander and was thinking of trying it. I'm happy with that C5 compound but am curious how the HF1 would be.
 
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I guess it would not be a good idea to try another type of compound on the slotted wheel.....? I've got some Matchless HF1 compound I bought to use on my belt sander and was thinking of trying it. I'm happy with that C5 compound but am curious how the HF1 would be.

Well, I have an extra set of virgin slotted wheel. I like the white (c-5) for general use but I would like to try for a finer polish. I have some diamond paste but (not Richard, someone else) said he was not getting good results with diamond on the slotted wheel. So I'm wondering if the green compound used by almost everyone on their strops is a good candidate. I have a lot of that sitting around.

Edit: The green compound I have is .5 micron chromoxide. Does anyone know the grit size of the white compound? I'm seeing "1200" grit for the white compound. That's 9 microns? If so, the green compound would make a big difference when following the white compound.
 
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If you're getting the results you want then that's great. Personally, I wouldn't subject any of my knives to a grinding wheel. If you're enjoying the edges you're getting now I think you'll particularly pleased with paper wheels. Good luck either way.

The thing is that I'm really bad at trying to hold the same angle. What I mean by that is that if I hold an angle once, I really can't match it again on the next pass, so I end up double beveling. So I need something that will rebevel the knife in one try.

It does remove metal very quickly, but it doesn't make the blade width any shorter (spine to edge) if you do the pass quickly enough.

So this method is working for me. If I got paper wheels, then I'm afraid I'll end up double, triple, or quad beveling my knives every time just to sharpen them.
 
I am also curious about what dsmegst posted in #642. The white compound seems coarser than the green Veritas bar, but not as coarse as 1200. Of course, my reference is a diamond stone, which cuts aggressively for its grit.
 
I emailed Jacksonlea today asking what grit the C-5 compound is. I got a response from a Chris who wrote, "I was told 2 micron."
 
The thing is that I'm really bad at trying to hold the same angle. What I mean by that is that if I hold an angle once, I really can't match it again on the next pass, so I end up double beveling. So I need something that will rebevel the knife in one try.

Get a throw away knife. Use pretend Di-Chem - Sharpie on bevel. Hold blade flat. Practice until you can remember a mental picture of where you hold the blade.
 
I emailed Jacksonlea today asking what grit the C-5 compound is. I got a response from a Chris who wrote, "I was told 2 micron."

Hi, Splat.

That sounds right. I knew something didn't seem right even as I was typing. 1200 was way too low, especially with the results I am getting. But that was the only number I could find. Thanks a lot for going the extra mile and calling them.

So I did go ahead and loaded my spare slotted wheel with the green compound. The .5 micron seems pretty accurate. I only had time for 2 blades, S30V and H-1. The resulting edge is sharper than before. Now I can create those long curling springs of hair, way thinner than the ones I showed before. This was done with a brand new wheel and a single layer of compound. When this baby gets worn even, I think I'll get even better results.

The most telling result is what I see through the microscope. At 100x, the white compound leaves behind millions of perfectly aligned scratch marks. Mind you, these are only visible due to a very bright light source. (I've got a 180 lumen LED light rigged up to shine on the spot.) The normal little light that comes on the microscope is not bright enough to reveal these tiny marks.

The green compound left behind an almost perfectly smooth surface. 100x is not enough to show the resulting scratch pattern, no matter how much light there is. There's a real difference in the resulting edge. :eek::D
 
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I have a power strop leather wheel. I use white rouge on it. Do you think it matters whether the substrate is a paper wheel, or leather, since the compound is (should be) doing the work? FWIW I get good results, my knives cut very well, shave, blast through paper, and just today, my Vic Soldier could push-cut through a few 30-pack beer boxes from the weekend with almost no effort. Sometimes the edges feel too smooth to the touch, but they do cut.
 
thg, with the 60 grit grinding wheel, you're probably taking off more metal in that 1 pass you make than what the grit wheel will remove in several passes.

if you have the wheels set up with good light and in a comfortable hieght, you can practice on a cheap knife and learn how to control the knife angle before going on to your good knives. you should be able to match the same angle that is already on the knife or change to another angle with some practice.

i pick a spot on the wheel and keep the blade on that spot as i draw it across the wheel. i only make enough passes to work up a burr before switching to the slotted wheel to remove the burr and polish the edge.
 
Like I said, it's a 1-time thing with the knives I work on; it's just to set the bevels. I do all of my sharpening freehand, so I find it easier to hold the angle with my own hands and work at the top of the wheel.

You work with the knife completely horizontal and contacting the wheel at a certain position, correct? So you just follow the curve while remaining horizontal?
 
thg, i hold the blade around the 1:00 position and like you said, i follow the curve while holding the blade horizontal. its not that hard to do once you learn how and holding it at that position, its easy to see what you are doing.
 
How do do order c-5 chrome buffing compound, made by jackson lea is there a place on the internet to get it. Do they sell to single people?
 
I did call and they sell by the case but they could not help me on the single bars:mad: Maybe I'll have to get married to buy from them;)
 
I did call and they sell by the case but they could not help me on the single bars:mad: Maybe I'll have to get married to buy from them;)

I've used the white metal polishing compound from Lowes with good success. It doesn't seem to be much different than the white compound that ships with the wheels. The did not ask me at checkout if I was married or single. :p
 
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So I did go ahead and loaded my spare slotted wheel with the green compound. The .5 micron seems pretty accurate. I only had time for 2 blades, S30V and H-1. The resulting edge is sharper than before. Now I can create those long curling springs of hair, way thinner than the ones I showed before. This was done with a brand new wheel and a single layer of compound. When this baby gets worn even, I think I'll get even better results.

Sweet! Good work, Dan! :thumbup: FWIW, I'm awaiting a response from Matchless. I emailed them asking what grit their HF1 and 525 compounds are. I have practically whole bars of both of them so it'll be interesting to hear what they are. If they're finer, which I think they are, then it'll be interesting to see the results from progressing from the green to 525 to HF1. It might be overkill, eh? :p I think I'll have to pick up more wheels! :)
 
Sweet! Good work, Dan! :thumbup: FWIW, I'm awaiting a response from Matchless. I emailed them asking what grit their HF1 and 525 compounds are. I have practically whole bars of both of them so it'll be interesting to hear what they are. If they're finer, which I think they are, then it'll be interesting to see the results from progressing from the green to 525 to HF1. It might be overkill, eh? :p I think I'll have to pick up more wheels! :)

You know, I'm not sure if going too fine was such a good idea. The edge lost all the bite it used to have with the white compound. I can do some pretty nice hair whittling tricks but as far as EDC use, I prefer something with more bite.

It worked but I'm not sure if it was worth the trouble. :confused:
 
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