paper sharpening wheels - when your time is important to you

chapmanpreferred, i just sharpened the hinderer xm-18 passaround knife and the burr took a little more pressure to remove than normal. it took me a whole minute to sharpen the knife. if i were to have tried using a strop to remove the burr it would have taken quite a long time.
 
Received my 10" set of paper wheels from Mike on Friday. Had a busy weekend and didn't even open 'em until this morning (Monday). Read instructions, mounted on my new "el cheapo" Harbor Freight 8" bench grinder, applied wax and rouge and threw and old Gerber folder on the wheels. Took me probably a whole minute to get the hang of it. I had 3 knives with me to practice on and in less than 5 minutes all of them are wicked sharp with that beautiful highly polished edge.

The wheels are for real! Thanks to Richardj, Mike and others for all the advice etc.
 
i just talked to mike and let him know that you were pleased with the wheels. you wont get the same results from cardboard (:rolleyes:) thats for sure;):D
 
Years ago a friend of mine got a set of wheels and used a salvaged clothes washer motor to build a sharpening station. We practiced sharpening knives to the fanatic level, putting the edges under a microscope after we were done to see how tight the edge was and how polished the bevel. I ruined a DWO pocket knife trying to lay the edge down too far (using a wheel you can get an infinitely shallow bevel, to the limits of the blade). I ended up creating a burr that was 1/16" wide in a solid ribbon along the length of the edge. When it broke on the polishing wheel, the edge was pretty much ruined, and the tip was now exposed when closed into the handle, making it a dangerous pocket implement. Yes, you can overdo these things, but it was a learning process, and probably not a bad way to spend $30, though I'd have rather done it with scrap.

More recently, I acquired my own set of wheels and mounted them on a cheap bench grinder. I prefer the wheels to be turning away from me. It makes it easier for me to see the edge near the top of the wheel that way. I've sharpened everything from a little SAK classic to my Leatherman Wave to big butcher knives and even a friend's beat up machete. That machete was a good challenge, it had been abused for years, and you could just about draw the length of the edge across your bare arm and not cut yourself. There were so many dents and chips in the edge it was more like a saw than a blade. I worked it on the grit wheel for a good 5 minutes on a side. When I was done I had a nice clean edge with a uniform bevel on both sides. I put it on the rouge wheel and when I handed it back to my friend I warned him he would need to be careful with it. He took it out and started whacking palm fronds and when he came back he had a nice big grin on his face.

It does take a bit of practice, but I found that I got the knack for it faster than I did for using stones. I have an edge on my Leatherman right now that is sharper than I would've thought possible. It'll cut raw bread dough without wrinkling it, which is always a good test for how sharp an edge is.
 
Thanks Richard,

OK. So, Mike is the guy who has Razor Sharp and I can order direct from him.

The link to the paper wheel thread doesn't work. I figured out the "showthread" part of the link was getting truncated by the site to "sh...d" for some reason just like it looks when viewed. Here it is again embeded in case it is a site problem, we will see if it works when I post it: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=608864

Then I also realized pretty much everything is in this thread and that one just references you back here.

OK, Comprende , I am with you now.

Gary
 
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gary, i just fixed the link to my tips page, i also added the tips to my new website at this link http://sites.google.com/site/richardjsknives/Home you will have to use the site map. i told mike i would talk to anyone new to using the wheels so they will understand how to use them safely and get the most out of the wheels. send me an email please.
 
Just got the Razor Sharp system yesterday and practiced putting an edge on a old hacksaw blade as you suggest. I now have the sharpest hacksaw/knife blade, with almost perfect grind lines, in the world. LOL The wheels are running at 2156 rpm's off of a belt driven shaft with a 1725 rpm, 1/2 hp motor. I had made this set up for buffing and grinding but have changed it over to just sharpening using the Razor Edge wheels. I fabricated a set up gauge to help me with the grinding angles until I have more experience with using the wheels. I have it marked for 11.5, 15, 20 and 45 degrees. Just place the blade on the wheel above the marks (on the band next to the wheel) and you have the angle you want on the knife blade. I can re-mark the degrees on the band as the wheel gets smaller if need be. This system is quite simple and I found it very easy to use. Have done a couple of knives and they came out Razor Sharp.
Thanks for turning me on to Razor Sharp.
Thinking about selling my edge pro if I get a belt sander.
See pics of set up.
http://images46.fotki.com/v1482/photos/1/1192940/6185784/P1010001-vi.jpg

http://images49.fotki.com/v1465/photos/1/1192940/6185784/P1010002-vi.jpg
 
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Really getting up to speed (no pun intended) with the paper wheels. Sharpened my future son-in-law's Benchmade and he sliced his thumb...not much damage. Stopped by the thumbnail. Sharpened a fishing buddy's fillet knife and he cut himself 3 times over a few crappie (nothing serious). Sharpened everything in the house and the wife cut her thumb twice tonight with 2 different paring knives...again, no major damage. But these knives are SHARP! My fishing buddy called me today threatening to sue and said " These are the sharpest knives I've ever seen!" Guess I need to back off a bit!

Anyway, all this in only a week or so of using the paper wheels. They are incredible! I also sharpened a couple of wood chisels. They are absolute mirrors and will shave hair with any of the knives. I'm also playing with some 1 X 42 belts to prep knives that are badly nicked to "save" the wheel. This too is working out well.

I tried 3 different methods of using the wheels. Ran the wheel "backward" and sharpened near the top, ran the wheel forward and sharpened near the top, ran the wheel forward and sharpened just below center (as the directions suggest). I think I will settle on the latter (forward below center). Seems to work best for me.

Only slight problem I have is that on long knives I get a bit nervous about getting my hand in the other wheel but think that will work out with practice.

Ya'll get you some! For about the price of a 11 1/2" DMT diamond stone you can have a grinder and paper wheels set up and sharpen knives razor sharp in 15 seconds.

Thanks again Richardj and Mike!
 
I got a chance to handle the Hinderer passaround which was just sharpened by by Richard. This thing is SHARP! Just falls through paper. You wouldn't expect a blade so thick to be able to just effortlessly glide through.
 
i wonder what a convex edge would have been like on it? maybe the next time it gets dull i'll put a convex edge on just to see how it holds up. (for free of course)
 
I have not purchased my paper wheels yet but after seeing the job that richard does with his, I can't wait.
 
I'm new to knife sharpening but Richard J has made me a believer with paper wheels. Might get a set of my own in the future as I'm starting to accumulate some decent knives which will see their share of abuse. Recently sent him three knives, two of which he put a convex edge on. Very pleased with the results. One was a Busse Eu-17 which is pretty thick but can now shave hairs off my arm.
 
Well I took the plunge and set up my system yesterday morning. I've sharpened every knife in the house that needed it (at least a couple of dozen including kitchen knives and others that I had not sharpened lately).

I have to say that so far I am very impressed with this system, and find that with a little practice it is not as difficult as I had thought it might be. I'm getting very good and really sharp edges on fixed blades and folders, stainless and non-stainless steel, large and small. I've used a lot of power tools in my life, and this one does what people are saying about it. The key is to start slow with beater knives and get some confidence and technique established.

I talked on the phone to Richard last week, and he was very helpful also. Thanks again Richard. Now I just need to find a good (hopefully local) source for the buffing rouge. I've got a block of the green rouge from Lee Valley which will probably work fine. Any suggestions??

Here's my setup. I got this buffer with these paper wheels. I remounted the motor on the stand so it rotates away from me. It's all good.

IMG_2064.jpg


Sharp, sharp, sharp!! :)
 
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That's basically what I'm looking at doing come July.

I'm interested in getting a slower speed buffer, but my budget will be what my budget is.

Gotta still have money to buy knives! =]
 
fewpop, you can get compound at sears but it comes in a 4 pack with red, black and green compound along with the white. you might check harbor freight and see what they have. lucid, that edge was thick but made from good steel so it will take a good hair shaving edge. i sharpened up another knife with a thick edge last week and it cut just as good but it had good steel also.
 
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