paper sharpening wheels - when your time is important to you

banksy said:
It's the tip I'm having trouble with. My tip after sharpening on the wheel looks more like your 'before' photos. How do you keep the angle so even on the point?
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if you do like kwakster said and slow down and lift the blade off when you reach the tip that will help but make sure to do it in 1 smooth motion. over the years i have learned to "flip" the tip up when i reach the tip.
 
Richard,

Great to hear from you. Is this going to fix you up, or will there be more. Best of luck on a speedy recovery.

Rob
 
RoMo said:
Richard,

Great to hear from you. Is this going to fix you up, or will there be more. Best of luck on a speedy recovery.

Rob
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i still have to get the colonostomy reversed yet. i go in on the 1st of next month for a colonoscopy so they can see if the apriso is working on the colitis. if it is and the colitis has cleared up enough, i might get put back together soon :D.
 
An older one, a user custom Jens Anso from a Dutch knifeforum member after a tune-up by a Dutch knifemaker.
Part of the tune-up was a two-step stonewash treatment of the RWL34 blade, which unavoidably also removed the original edge.

I put on a new edge using a standard Paper Wheel with silicon carbide grit, refined it with a second Paper Wheel coated with 15 micron diamond paste, and finally removed the very small burr on the Tormek leather wheel with some 1 micron diamond compound
This leaves an edge that looks almost polished, but has more bite than when finished with the polishing Paper Wheel using standard aluminum oxide.

Before sharpening:






After sharpening:






 
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Also an older one: a DPX Hest folder with D2 steel blade from a Dutch forum member.
This one was reprofiled to an ever so slight convex edge of between 25 and 30 degrees inclusive on a standard Paper Wheel with silicon carbide grit, then refined on a second Paper Wheel with 15 micron diamond paste, and finally i removed the very small burr on the Tormek leather wheel.






Close-up of the 15 micron finish:

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Another earlier one, this time a user Spyderco Military in S90V steel from a Dutch forum member who requested a little more bling.
First i used a standard Paper Wheel with silicon carbide grit, followed by a second Paper Wheel with 15 micron diamond paste as well as a third Paper Wheel with 6 micron diamond paste, after which the tiny burr was removed on the Tormek leather wheel.
It's not a true mirror edge, as with the magnifying glass in my Victorinox SwissChamp i can still see fine scratching, but with the naked eye it's close.
Sharpness is hairwhittling (both to and from the root) and it can also slice single layer toiletpaper with ease.






 
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I intend to pick up the paper wheels and a bench grinder today and I'm curious if I should invest a little more and get a grinder with variable speed, or is the 3100 or so RPM's of the standard bench grinder what works best?
 
i have told mike to change the suggested grinder to include the 1725 rpm motor which i feel is a lot better and safer in the long run. some directions were wrote up by a woman and need updated :rolleyes::D
 
Does the "woman" or the directions need updating? Slower is better, but slower running machines are more expensive and harder to find. Why is that? I guess you could build yourself one if you can find a 1725 rpm motor. Good to see you back up and at em Richard.

Blessings,

Omar
 
richard j said:
i have told mike to change the suggested grinder to include the 1725 rpm motor which i feel is a lot better and safer in the long run. some directions were wrote up by a woman and need updated :rolleyes::D
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Thanks so much! I ordered the wheels yesterday, but held off on picking up a grinder until I was sure what worked the best. I'm sure glad I did as all the Harbor Freight models I looked at all turned at 3450 rpm.
 
roosterscrow said:
Thanks so much! I ordered the wheels yesterday, but held off on picking up a grinder until I was sure what worked the best. I'm sure glad I did as all the Harbor Freight models I looked at all turned at 3450 rpm.
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I have the Harbor Freight model and have had no problems with it. You just have to be careful and mindful of the speed it is turning. I keep a good amount of wax on the grit wheel which helps keep it cool and the sparks at a minimum. I don't do any major re-profiling with the wheels. I use my Work Sharp for that, and then do the finish and fine tuning with the wheels. That said, if I could find a good, slower running buffer/grinder at a reasonable price, I would pounce on it in a flash.

The Harbor Freight buffer will heat up if used for an extended period. (20 minutes or so) I seldom need to run it much longer than that unless I have several knives to sharpen at once. Then, I usually shut it down for a few to let it cool down. I have had it for about 2 years and it is still going. It just does not have enough power to run for an extended period. Probably has more to do with it's design and small air intakes than its power. If you can find a good variable speed buffer that runs slower and has a good power output (1/3 hp or more) you are probably better off. Good luck on whatever you get. You will love what you can do with the wheels once you get them figured out. Get some "practice" knives to learn on. Shouldn't take long to get good with them.

Blessings,

Omar
 
I also have a HF grinder running at about 3100 rpm. Been using the paper wheels for about two months and have not had issues. I use a very light touch between the blade and the wheel. The motor does get warm after 10-15 minutes, but I rarely use it any longer than that between rests for cleaning and polishing an edge. Slower would be better, but not yet worth the price since I already had the grinder.
 
I ended up picking up Porter Cable variable speed grinder and have the new paper wheels on it.

My next concern is whether my unheated barn workshop is a good place to keep the paper wheels? Will high humidity (rainy) days cause the wheels to swell or warp? I hate to carry the unit back and forth to the house when not in use but will will if anyone has experienced a problem with the wheels distorting from environmental conditions.
 
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They will probably warp if stored in an uncontrolled environment. My set up is just sitting on a table in the basement (same enviro as the house). I have carried it upstairs and set it on my kitchen table and used it there. I just set it on some rubberized place mats and it works out fine. I then stick it in a closet to use again whenever, if I am not ready to take it back to the basement. I would recommend that you try to keep it in a controlled environment if possible. (maybe a good time to heat/cool your work area in the barn:))

Blessings,

Omar
 
I recently picked up the sharpening wheels and ahve started working with them. I had a brief conversation with Richard, but had to leave before I really had much time on the wheels.

In the last week, I had something happen to 2 different grit wheels. The grit appears to be coming off, and I have what looks like smooth patches on the wheels. I don't think I'm applying too much pressure (little/no sparking, no rapid grinding, etc.,), but I'm obviously doing something wrong.

In addition, I've not really been able to get things razor sharp quite yet. I started with a hacksaw blade (as per Richard's recommendaiton), and I'll put up some photos of the wheel(s) and my sharpening methodology later today. In the meantime, I'd love to hear if anyone has any recommendations or suggestions.

Thanks,

G.
 
Feedback from a paper wheel newbie.

I got the chance to try out my new paper wheels yesterday and I'm more than impressed with how fast it produces a hair popping edge. I stared with an carbon Opinel and after 2 light passes on each of the wheels it cleared a patch on my arm. I then sharpened 3 more Opinels with the same ease so I moved on to a Rat1. I wasn't as impressed with this blade (aus8) after my initial passes on the wheels so tried again and this time it came out hair shaving sharp the entire length of the blade but not quite at the sharpness level of the carbon Opinels. Being that I was having no trouble to getting a nice even edge I decided to give my Benchmade 940 a shot at the wheels and had equally good results. I have sharpened and stropped on a belt sander with excellent and fast results, but found the wheels to be even faster than the belt sander.

:thumbup:
 
Daley,
Just a guess, but I wonder if those smooth patches are from using too much wax. Go back and look through the thread, but if I remember correctly, you can use a wire brush and take some of the wax off.

Romo
 
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