paper sharpening wheels - when your time is important to you

This is great content people. I have been hand sharpening and only hand sharpening all my life. I'm 51, and the title of this thread says it all. I have been searching the internet and finding some amazing sharpening technologies, but after reading what a lot of you have to say, I'm am so leaning toward a bench grinder and paper wheels. I used to work in a hardware store as a teenager and even thought that was well before the age of Cheap in China, I would marvel at the awesome bench grinder they had there. I would wire-wheel the burr off newly made keys and I just knew that motor would last forever. I'll never find one of them now. But like I said, I'm 51! "Lasts a lifetime" means a little cheaper is OK now. Ha!
 
i started sharpening for others when i was 13 (1973) and i did it all by hand too. in my early 20's i bought an ez sharp to use so my hands would not continue to take the abuse.
i still hand sharpened but on bad blades i used the ez sharp. it did ok with it but like with any guided system, i could never get a blade previously sharpened on it to match up again. and the angle stated was not what you ended up with. a wider blade had a different edge angle than a narrow blade.

with the wheels, i can match just about any angle out there by eye and do it again if i had the knife come back again when it got dull. i'm so glad my buddy art introduced me to them when he did. this fall i will have been sharpening with the wheels for 23 years. when i started this thread i tried to post instructions that were simple and easy so the beginners would be able to get good results and i think i managed pretty well to do just that. i have had to deal with clueless trolls that would post in my wheel thread or threads started by others on the wheels.

now with 1500 posts and 252,565 views, i think i did a pretty good job to help others get a good edge fast without hours or even days by hand like some guys spend to get a mirror edge. i was sent an email the other day from striderco (that was cut once on a bullnose necker i made him) and again just a few days ago on his little finger. he said he is now scared of the necker (he was teasing me saying he was going to sell it :D). guys that say the wheels can damage an edge might think about improving the knives they make if they are worried about their edges being hurt by being sharpened on the wheels. k II is proof that the edges are not hurt by the wheels.
here are some links others have posted about the knives i have made and sharpened (finished off on the slotted wheel after putting on a half convex edge)

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...amed-the-Pitbull!-Kinda-sharp-well-you-ll-see!!

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/960269-Knife-from-Richard-J knife i made for singularity 35

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1092684-Knives-by-Richard-J?p=12533188#post12533188 macks necker

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-Knife-by-Richard-handle-by-unit?goto=newpost

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7iDE2EBzBw my video of k II slicing free hanging newspaper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Esp9tg4ZBpA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hW_XDLecms CWR0401

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q_eMwRaHYg unit vid of k II

r.boreal, where in pa are you at? i have a buddy in philly that has came down twice to learn how to sharpen with the wheels. he eats for free in the local restaurants he sharpens knives for. make sure you get a variable speed buffer. you will be glad you did. i never run my wheels any faster than 1725 rpm and there is no need to. the results i get are proof of that :D.
 
Here are some pics of a Richard made knife he made for me.




Sharp I say.
 
Richard, I feel like I am close to getting the results I want from the wheels. Sharpened two pocket knives and a hunting knife on the wheels. All 3 will cut paper and shave hair on my arm. The knives however are not at the hair popping stage I would like. Any suggestions on getting to the next level of sharpness? I am running wheels on a HF bench grinder which is much faster than 1725 rpms - would a grinder running closer to 1725 produce a better edge? I want to get edges that will amaze my friends. Incidently I will be 78 this month - if an old bastard like me can learn to sharpen on sheels anybody can Anyway thanks for all the help you give us knife nuts!
 
it could be a few things. send me your number and i'll give you a call and we'll talk about what you are or are not doing. then when you figure out what it is, you can make a post to let others know what the problem was. it could be that you are not fully removing the burr.

i use the 1725 rpm motor and i think you will get a better edge, plus it is safer. a buddy has a high speed buffer that he brought down last year. he wanted me to try sharpening on it so i sharpened a teaching blade i use and i'll stick with my low rpm motor. put some sharpie on the blade to see where you might not be hitting.

how do you sharpen on them? the way i suggest with the wheels rotating to you?
 
Great to hear. When you get to feeling better, let me know. I need a little work done.

Romo
 
romo, i hope in a few weeks i'll be back at it. the only thing that bothers me is my incision. i have to be careful since one is lateral and reaching up is not a good idea for me. i had weak spot from being startled by a fly last week and making me jump. while i was in the shower i reached up and back behind me to turn up the water. i was just finishing up other parts and getting ready to wash both incisions when i seen i had a gusher in the weak spot but luckily i stopped the bleeding after soaking a paper towel and part of another. it will do me some good to take a few weeks more off :D
 
Richard, thanks for the offer to help me. I have e-mailed you my phone number. I sharpen with the wheels rotating towards me with the knife edge at the 1:00 position. As I mentioned the knives are very sharp to me, but I would like to get to the hair poping stage if possible. Again thanks.
 
richard j said:
romo, i hope in a few weeks i'll be back at it. the only thing that bothers me is my incision. i have to be careful since one is lateral and reaching up is not a good idea for me. i had weak spot from being startled by a fly last week and making me jump. while i was in the shower i reached up and back behind me to turn up the water. i was just finishing up other parts and getting ready to wash both incisions when i seen i had a gusher in the weak spot but luckily i stopped the bleeding after soaking a paper towel and part of another. it will do me some good to take a few weeks more off :D
Click to expand...

Richard,

Take all the time you need. Your getting well is the only thing that matters right now. Just give me a call when you get ready.

Rob
 
Hey there. I just got my Razor Sharp Edgemaking System yesterday. I've only been messing with it a short time, but I am extremely impressed with the results. My consistency isn't there yet, so I don't always get an edge fast, but when I get it right - holy cow. I've attached a picture of my slotted wheel. It's showing black areas. Am I not using enough rouge or is this just what happens?

Oh forget it - that's right I can't post attachments on BladeForums. Well you get the idea - some of the slotted wheel is still paper colored, and some of it is black. Approx. half of the wheel is looking black. Does that mean more rouge is needed? I'm not using a lot of pressure at all when finishing the blades - hardly none at all. I'm turning the RPM's a little bit down from full speed on my Craftsman 6" vari-speed bench grinder.

And also I'm using that guy's tip who did the YouTube video, where he turns the grinder the opposite way and sharpens away from him. Mostly because of all the metal and grit dust flying about.
 
turning black is normal. just put a little compound on before using it. you do not need to load it up with the compound, just turn the wheel on and swipe the stick across the wheel a few quick times and you are good to go. if you have the wheel facing away from you, it is hard to see what you are doing. get a face shield if the dust bothers you. i'm hardcore and let it fly :D
 
Been reading this thread for past couple of days..... My wheels are in the mail! Can't wait to start practicing with them. Right now I'm using the Lansky system and getting good results, just takes forever and I'm turned off by the setup and breakdown of the system. Not to mention the inconsistent bevels it produces. I'm creating a nice apex that shaves hair and cuts newspaper ok. Ready to take my sharpening to the next level! This thread is a great resource and I would like to thank richard j and everyone else who has provided feedback in this thread.
 
I'd also like to say thanks for all of the info given. I'm sold on the paper wheels. I'd like to ask what grit equivalent the white rouge is. Is it necessary or even desirable to go to something like a high grit diamond paste at say 1 micron or lower? I hear guys constantly refer to razor sharp mirror finishes, but what, for example chosera, stone produces an equal finish?
 
the white compound is a medium grit. i'm not into diamonds for sharpening so you have to experiment to see what happens for yourself. there have been guys try diamond sprays on the wheels but i forget what their results were. i use the compound that comes from mike and i get the knives i make sharp enough to treetop hairs. (the compound comes from jackson lea)
 
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Thanks Richard. Would you say beginners can get actual mirror finishes? What really sold me was your ability to raise money for charity at bike rallies. Genius, especially if it's as easy as pretty much everyone says it is.

Anyone have any experience with the Grizzly bench grinders and the wheels sold on their site? I can get a wheel set and 6" grinder for about 70 bucks total. Not a bad price to get into this.
 
yes, beginners can get mirrored edges. its kind of like a by product of the wheels. now not all steels can get a mirror edge but they will get sharp so check your edge to see how sharp it is before getting aggrivated that your edge is not shiny.

i would not get a 3400 rpm grinder, get the variable speed from lowes. i have a link to the one they have in my paper wheel tips thread. you can get the wheels from them. i myself like the 10" wheels.
 
First wanted to thank Richard for this thread :)

I have an old 1/3hp furnace motor that runs at 1750rpm, and it has a 1/2" shaft. What would I need to be able to attach the wheels onto a 1/2" shaft (it also has a small flat spot where the pulley was attached)?
 
richard j said:
it takes at least a 1/2 hp motor to run the wheels.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure, but I think the 2.5 amp, 6" Porter Cable variable speed grinders that a lot of us are using with the paper wheels is maybe 1/3 hp.

Horsepower rating compared to electric motor ampere rating - http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/electrical-motor-hp-amps-d_1455.html


Then again the Harbor Freight 6" buffer that many use claim to be only 1.6 amps, but 1/2 hp. :confused:

Specifications
Name 6 in. Buffer
SKU 94393
Brand Central Machinery
Amperage (amps) 1.6
Diameter 6 in.
Horsepower (hp) 1/2
Maximum speed (rpm) 3600 RPM
 
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