Paper Wheels For Stropping?

[murari]

I have lurked here for a while, but rarely post. From what I read here, I know many of you sharpen your khuks yourself with great success. For months I tried the sandpaper mouse pad method and the free-hand stone method – but all I could get was scraping sharp. Could never match the hair whittling straight edge I was able to put on my folders with the DMT hones.

I then sent over my 16” Sirupati to Richard J. over at the “Maintenance, Tinkering…” sub forums. After initial profiling with a belt sander, he used paper wheels to strop the edge to an unbelievable level of sharpness. The edge now looks like a mirror, and has a glassy finish. It does not just shave, but actually pops hair off the skin. Such an edge on a knife of this size and heft reminds me of this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM60prhzj_o

To maintain this edge, all I need to do is buff it myself with the paper wheels every now and then. Dings/chips of course would require the belt sander but those those don't happen too often in my use. For a novice in sharpening, I think this sure beats sandpaper and leather strops. I am planning to get a set of the wheels very soon.

I posted this since I don’t recollect reading about paper wheels for khukris in the sharpening threads here and thought it may be useful for some. Have any of you tried this before? How do you think it compares with the other techniques? Any inputs will be helpful.

Thanks.

 

[munk]

I'm glad you asked this question because I'd like to know also. It sounds terrific. Does your blade become hot when you apply the wheel? Do you cool it with a bucket of water? I'm careful when I use motors for blade sharpening.


munk

 

[richard j]

munk, murari sent me his khuk to get it sharpened. i put a convex edge on his knife using a belt sander to work up a burr and removed the burr and polished the edge with a paper buffing wheel. the wheels are nothing like a regular grinding wheel. there is very little heat buildup and any that does build up is minor. i keep i check the blade often and if it gets too warm i quench it in water. when i'm buffing with the paper wheel it never gets hotter than what it would rinsing a knife under the hot water tap or when tempering a blade in the oven. if you want to see some vids of the wheels being used check out my new website http://sites.google.com/site/richardjsknives/ i also have a thread on the paper wheels at this link along with some safety tips at the next link. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=578787 http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=608864