paper sharpening wheels - when your time is important to you

how many of you with the paper wheels are confident enough to sharpen knives at a fundraiser? its a good way to have fun and help out a good cause (not to mention get customers). when you set up at one, it wont be long before you have a crowd watching what you are doing and wanting their knives sharpened. i watch out for knives made in pakistan since the soft stainless seems to clog the wheels. most of them wont sharpen up and then you have someone complaining because you didnt get their cheap knife sharp. they tend to have a certain color and finish to the steel which i also look out for just in case there isnt any markings on the blade.
 
richard j said:
how many of you with the paper wheels are confident enough to sharpen knives at a fundraiser? its a good way to have fun and help out a good cause (not to mention get customers). when you set up at one, it wont be long before you have a crowd watching what you are doing and wanting their knives sharpened. i watch out for knives made in pakistan since the soft stainless seems to clog the wheels. most of them wont sharpen up and then you have someone complaining because you didnt get their cheap knife sharp. they tend to have a certain color and finish to the steel which i also look out for just in case there isnt any markings on the blade.
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Sounds like a good way to pick up some customers! I feel like I need a bit more experience with different knives before I'm ready for that myself. Only been at it a few weeks!
 
go see your neighbors and offer to sharpen their kitchen knives for free. its good practice
and a good way to get customers. take the wheels along with you to show them what you use and a few knives you have sharpened. maybe even a few to leave with them to use while you sharpen theirs.
 
OK Richard, I am finally sold on the paper wheels. I am a Lansky man with little time to sharpen my knives. I need to buy a grinder and I am a Craigs list kind of shopper. Please provide me the specs of a grinder that I need for the wheels. Also, if I am going to sharpen my knives, possibly family and neighbors, what benefits me to buy the 8" vs. the 6" wheels, and please recommend a turn key set up. I want to bolt the grinder to my workbench. I am also confused as to what web site to purchase the wheels. I was tired last night and now too busy to confirm paper wheel company. There are some knock offs it appears. Thanks,
CJ
 
cj65 said:
OK Richard, I am finally sold on the paper wheels. I am a Lansky man with little time to sharpen my knives. I need to buy a grinder and I am a Craigs list kind of shopper. Please provide me the specs of a grinder that I need for the wheels. Also, if I am going to sharpen my knives, possibly family and neighbors, what benefits me to buy the 8" vs. the 6" wheels, and please recommend a turn key set up. I want to bolt the grinder to my workbench. I am also confused as to what web site to purchase the wheels. I was tired last night and now too busy to confirm paper wheel company. There are some knock offs it appears. Thanks,
CJ
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CJ,
Here's what I did: I purchased an 8" grinder from Harbor Freight. It was this one http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=39798 but was on sale for around $44. I purchased 10" paper wheels from "the source" at http://www.sharpeningwheels.com/instructions.htm Talked to Mike there and told him I learned about them thru Richard and got a discount. Am very pleased with my system. Just sharpened a Puma damascus blade for a guy and can assure you he will be impressed.

Not sure what the pros and cons are of getting the 10" wheels vs the 8". Also, Richard likes the slower rpm stuff (1750). Mine is 3/4 hp 3450 rpm. Richard can help you with the pros and cons of the slower rpm.

There are lots of opinions about how to use them, wheels turning toward you, wheels turning away, knife held near top of wheel or at 4 o'clock. I've tried them all and for me I like the method suggested in the directions. Turning toward and 4 o'clockish.

Best of luck...let me know if I can help. (of course Richard is the wheel master)!!
 
Great thank you BH. I get too caught up in the details.....Sometimes, I just need to git er done and stop freaking out on the little stuff. I thought about the diameter of the wheel, the bigger the wheel, the flatter the edge, drifting away from concave. For that reason, I like the bigger wheel.
Thanks for the help.
 
glad to hear you're going to give the wheels a try. i suggest getting the 8" set so you dont hit the motor housing with the knife handle. sometime or another you'll run into a knife with an antler handle that will curve to the right or left. the handle can hit the motor easily when sharpening on a 6" set and the motor housing is 6". there has to be room for your fingers. if you have a long shaft buffer it wont matter much. i use a 1/2 hp electric motor mounted to a piece of 2x6 to give the wheels some bottom clearance.
the cheaper wheels tend to be unbalanced. i have a set of the cheap wheels that i wish i didnt buy but i couldnt find the good ones.
 
Thanks Richard. I watched your video, it appears you are applying a few lbs. of force on the blade to the wheel. I deduce this by the way the blade drops off the wheel at the end of the pass. Am I observing this correctly?
 
if you're talking about the video that macgregor22 helped me make, that knife is his busse ash that i was buffing after convexing the edge on my belt sander. light pressure didnt work to remove the burr so i had to use some pressure to get the burr off. some knives dont take much pressure but i have found that some busse knives dont give up the burr easily.
 
Got one and still learning how to use it. Quick question, on the paper wheel, is the compound supposed to be left over on the blade a bit or is it not supposed to be left over at all?
I noticed that at steeper angles I get more residue on the blade.
 
blan, you'll get some compound sticking but just wipe it off. what method are you using? is the wheel rotating to or away from you? what position are you holding the blade at in relation to the wheel as if it were a clock face?
 
Richard,
I have the wheel rotating away from me and usually have the knife from 11-12 o'clock. I've been having better results trying to keep the blade at 12. The grinder is near my mid-section so it's the most comfortable location to put the blade in, plus that way I can angle the blade as I would do when using a flat stone.

I can put in a razor sharp edge if I use the coarse wheel first, rebevel the edge, then follow the same procedure with the polishing wheel. However I do not get nearly the same result when trying to "refine" a good existing edge on an already set bevel that I do not want to use the coarse wheel on. I know my problem is that I am not finding the right angle.
My question was whether I can use the compound residue on the blade to determine if I am at the right angle or not.

For example, if the residue is all at the very very edge of the knife, does that mean I am polishing the entire edge? If the residue is behind it, at the sides of the edge, does that mean my angle is too low and I need to raise it some to catch the entire edge?
 
I talked to Mike and he is actually going to be able to drop by my house to demonstrate his paper wheels! Good thing living local to the maker of the highest quality paper wheels around. He recomended a Ryobi bench grinder (6") to mount the 8" wheels. It looks like for under $100 I'll be in business with the wheels, and since I have a $150 gift card to Home Depot I will be only having to pay the costs of the wheels. It will be fun to try out some power sharpening to save my surgically repaired back from hunching over benchstones for long periods of time. Thanks Richard for turning me on to the real paper wheels.

Mike
 
Hi Richard,

Thanks for sharing you experience with paper wheels. I've got a pair on order and can't wait to get them and learn how to use them.

In you experience and generalizing, how well does a paper wheel edge hold up?
 
Richard,
Does this look like the right amount of wax applied on the wheel?
Thanks,
Ron
P1010006-vi.jpg
 
ron, i rub the wax on with the motor off but that looks like its on the high spots. try rubbing the wax around with your finger if it looks thick.
Benaiah, how well the edge holds up depends on the kind of steel the knife is made from and what you are cutting. for example a cheap pakistan knife wont take a good edge with the wheels and it wont hold that edge very long either. i wont even sharpen knives made in pakistan on the wheels since its a waste of time, grit and polishing compound.
 
Richard,
It does look heavy in spots to me. That's why I'm asking. I applied it while running and I think only the high spots picked up the wax as you mentioned. I will attempt to rub the high spots in using, maybe my finger, as I still want to have fingerprints when done. ( no I'm not doing it while its running).:D Then will add more by hand.
As for pakistan knives:
never owned one
never will
never will sharpen that _ _ _ _
Thanks,
Ron
 
Richard,
My finger didn't do a thing so I went with scotch brite (green) on the high spots of wax, using care not to remove the grit from the wheel. Then applied additional wax, your way, by hand.
It now seems evenly distributed on the wheel. Do I need to apply any more? I'll get it right if my wife would stop bothering me about mowing the lawn.
Thanks,
Ron
P10100021-vi.jpg
 
it looks good to me. you didnt need to use scotchbrite to remove the wax since it wouldnt hurt anything. the wheel looks good to go but you might have it a little thick in spots. you'll learn how much wax to apply once you sharpen some knives.
 
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