Toohr #3 knife sharpener

[Cutlery Butcher]

Scissors Day, today. Setting up of my first pair. They are over thirty years young and never been sharpened.

I started off using Ruixin Pro Diamond 'Whetstones', and quickly switched to Sytools diamond plates. If you look close you'll see that I've modified the clamp bar, indelibly marked it in half inch increments as an aid to positioning clamps.

 

[Cutlery Butcher]

Pizza Cutter Day, today. Setting up with coffee

I'm loving the Leading Edge Magnetic Platform

 

[garson]

Scissors Day, today. Setting up of my first pair. They are over thirty years young and never been sharpened.

I started off using Ruixin Pro Diamond 'Whetstones', and quickly switched to Sytools diamond plates. If you look close you'll see that I've modified the clamp bar, indelibly marked it in half inch increments as an aid to positioning clamps.

What degree for that style scissors? I have several of that type. THX

 

[Cutlery Butcher]

What degree for that style scissors? I have several of that type. THX

Catch me lyin'. I was so up doing my first ever pair that I didn't write it down. Thought I'd remember, I did... Nope!

I just set up those ancient Fiskars U.S.A., again. 22.5 degrees measured on the stone holder, zeroing first on the top flat of the clamp bar spring/bearing, with the scissor blade clamped in the scissors attachment for the Leading Edge magnetic platform.

I knew it was twenty something point 5.

 

[777 Edge]

I'm loving the Leading Edge Magnetic Platform

Awesome, glad you like my design!

 

[777 Edge]

What degree for that style scissors? I have several of that type. THX

C Cutlery Butcher

...zeroing first on the top flat of the clamp bar spring/bearing, with the scissor blade clamped in the scissors attachment for the Leading Edge magnetic platform.

Strictly speaking, you measure scissors sharpening angle and zero your cube very different from how you would a knife in this case. If you really want to measure it, then your angle cube should be zeroed on the same plane as the flat part of the scissors blade, and the sharpening angle measured with this as a reference. For info, on most of my Leading Edge platform designs, the scissors clamping face is 80 degrees different to the knife sharpening face.

The best way by far to do scissors, is just to install in the sharpener and color the edge with sharpie. Then adjust your angle until you remove all of the sharpie and this is your sharpening angle. The second blade of a pair of scissors is often also a complete different angle to the first blade, so again sharpie is the way to go.

 

[Cutlery Butcher]

The best way by far to do scissors, is just to install in the sharpener and color the edge with sharpie. Then adjust your angle until you remove all of the sharpie and this is your sharpening angle. The second blade of a pair of scissors is often also a complete different angle to the first blade, so again sharpie is the way to go.

This is what I did, kinda. With the sharpie and 3000 grit I came up with 22.6 (measured as I described, above), so that's what I set my 200 grit stone at. After 3 - 4 strokes, I had a burr at the tip, at the base, and a small section of the middle blade. After 30 more strokes, I had no new burr, so I dropped the angle to 22.45. A few strokes after, I had a burr down the entire blade, but the measured angle had changed to 22.5 (likely just the accuracy, variability of my inexpensive clinometer), so that's what I stayed with. When I changed to the second blade, I again setup at 22.5, got full burr right away, and went with it.

I've got several pair left to sharpen, and I'll take your advice to sharpie both blades independently.

 

[777 Edge]

22.5 degrees measured on the stone holder, zeroing first on the top flat of the clamp bar spring/bearing,

This is what I did, kinda. With the sharpie and 3000 grit I came up with 22.6 (measured as I described, above),

If you zero your angle cube on the same plane as the scissors blade (the front clamp part of the Leading Edge platform), not on the clamp bar spring/bearing as you mentioned you did, then you'll get the correct angle.

In this case, I'm thinking your actual scissors sharpening angle will equate to 77.4 and 77.5 degrees. You'll have to zero your cube on the front, pointing towards the sky, if you know what I mean? Same plane as the scissors blade is pointing. It's a complete different and reversed way of measuring a knife on a system like this. Not sure if I'm explaining this in the right words here.

 

[Cutlery Butcher]

In this case, I'm thinking your actual scissors sharpening angle will equate to 77.4 and 77.5 degrees. You'll have to zero your cube on the front, pointing towards the sky, if you know what I mean? Same plane as the scissors blade is pointing. It's a complete different and reversed way of measuring a knife on a system like this. Not sure if I'm explaining this in the right words here.

As a counterclockwise kinda guy, standing beside myself I understanding am. Before I clamp in the blade I zero against the platform clamp face, scramble around to the other-normal side, head tilted left ear down, right ear up, and read the display floor to ceiling, correct?

Seriously, your explanation is great. Got it. Thanks again for a fantastic product! I don't think I could have sharpened today's pizza cutter without it. Tomorrow, I tackle a one handle herb chopper knife (mezzaluna)!

 

[777 Edge]

Seriously, your explanation is great. Got it. Thanks again for a fantastic product! I don't think I could have sharpened today's pizza cutter without it. Tomorrow, I tackle a one handle herb chopper knife (mezzaluna)!

My pleasure, enjoy! And keep posting pics of what you're sharpening!

 

[Cutlery Butcher]

Mezzaluna Day, today.

Hapstone R2 Lite clamps with Hapstone R2 Clamp Adapters.
Clamped up.

 

[Cutlery Butcher]

Pizza Cutter Day, today. Setting up with coffee

I'm loving the Leading Edge Magnetic Platform

Notes:
The wood handle rested on the rear of the LE platform. Since the blade is not centered in the handle, every time I flipped the cutter I had to adjust the sharpening angle. Also, since the handle raised the rear of the cutter, the blade was not held at the 15 degrees of the Ketiped clamp bar. Thus, since this blade is flat (approx 5/8" wide 1st bevel is hollow grind), I zeroed my clinometer on the blade itself. I settled on 19 degrees, very close to factory, sharpening angle for this blade.

Low grit diamond plates chattered and skipped, regardless of how lightly, or tightly, I held the red ball. The thin blade, 1.15mm, amplified the vibrations. This resulted in the cutter doing a magnet-skitter back toward the turret. I solved this by wrapping two thick, plastic zip ties around the rear of the LE platform as a stop against the cutter handle. I setup with the center blade edge 1cm from the top front face of the LE platform, and with the zip ties I was able to maintain this distance. When I got to 600 grit, vibration was no longer an issue. Progression was 80, 200, 400, 600, 1000, and 1500 final.

Man, the LE platform magnets are strong. It was a Herculean effort to flip the blade and get it lined up again. Therefore, I did not preform my typical longer count-down stroke finish. For the 1500 only, I went from not counting, to flip and three strokes, flip and three, flip and one, flip and one. Hey, it's a pizza cutter, and now it'll shave pepperoni hair, I'm sure. Deep dish and beer, my place? 2025 Year Long Drive, Merica 0U812

 

[777 Edge]

Notes:
The wood handle rested on the rear of the LE platform. Since the blade is not centered in the handle, every time I flipped the cutter I had to adjust the sharpening angle. Also, since the handle raised the rear of the cutter, the blade was not held at the 15 degrees of the Ketiped clamp bar.

FYI, I also designed a raised and rotatable magnetic platform that mounts on top of the Leading Edge platform.

I specifically designed that for leather knives and similar knives like your mezzaluna with center mounted handles. Not sure why Gritomatic does not have them listed for sale, but they work really well to keep handles like those clear of the platform.

Love my driver holder and stone box in your pics.

 

[Cutlery Butcher]

If you zero your angle cube on the same plane as the scissors blade (the front clamp part of the Leading Edge platform), not on the clamp bar spring/bearing as you mentioned you did, then you'll get the correct angle.

Finally, I had the time...

Front of LE Platform

For info, on most of my Leading Edge platform designs, the scissors clamping face is 80 degrees different to the knife sharpening face.

65 + 15 (factory clamping angle) = 80?

Zeroed

I did the sharpie thang, again, and here ya go...

Sharpening Angle

Please let me know, 777 Edge , that I did it correctly. Thanks!

 

[777 Edge]

Please let me know, 777 Edge , that I did it correctly. Thanks!

Yep, that's exactly the right way to measure your scissors angle.

 

[Cutlery Butcher]

Got all our general purpose/utility scissors sharpened. All with Sytools diamond plates. They are as follows:

Fiskars USA; thumb blade angle = 72.5, finger blade angle = 72.5

Unknown brand; thumb blade angle = 70.0, finger blade angle = 70.0; front of blades are flat ground, resulting in a much thinner, easier to sharpen, cutting bevel

Scotch Titanium; thumb blade angle = 65.5, finger blade angle = 67.5; blades are coated/painted black; I doubt there is any titanium component in these scissors, unless it's in the blade coating.

Kobalt; thumb blade angle = 61.2, finger blade angle = 59.0; front of blades are flat ground, resulting in a much thinner, easier to sharpen, cutting bevel

I did the black sharpie thing on all blades but the Fiskars finger blade and the Scotch blades. For the Fiskars, I just duplicated the thumb blade angle. For the Scotch, the factory bevel was already coated/painted black.

The Fiskars, the first ones I sharpened, were by far the most difficult; getting a burr the length of the thumb blade was a chore. The rest went easy and quick. Learning curve climbed. And I did learn a lot, especially on how to measure scissor sharpening angle; very enjoyable. Thanks again, 777 Edge !

Now, onto the wife's craft and sewing scissors, as well as my fishing and precision scissors.

I've not sharpened any regular kitchen knives, nor EDCs, with my Ketiped yet. I've got play (way more than I like) in the clamp bar when I flip it. One side up is rock solid, but flip it 180 and it wobbles. Flip it back and it's rock solid, again. I've had it apart numerous times, and I can't figure what the cause is. So, I purchased the TooHr model without the sliding turret from Aliexpress. Good price, I think. It's on the way. Hopefully, its four bearing and spring assembly works better. I'll have lots of spare parts, anyway. Anybody have any ideas on why it gets so sloppy when I flip it?

 

[garson]

Just a thought: Use some masking tape and build it up on the bottoms of the rail feet, layer upon layer, until you reach the desired thickness to stop the rock. Then get a roll of neoprene/rubber or weather-strip tape as close as you can to the same thickness, but perhaps a hair thinker to account for compression. I see some as thin as 1/32" on big A.

Of course, make double sure the bench/counter top that you are normally working on is flat, and not the cause of the rock. My thick cutting board, that I place my Ketiped on so I have clearance to flip the clamp bar, is warped (so I turned it over), and my work top is flat but it is also out of level, enough for my digital angle finder to notice.

Got it all leveled, new rods, new bearing. I set the bevel to 20 degrees and I can't get it sharp to save my life. Any thoughts? Maybe try 15 degrees for the red Cuisinart?

 

[Cutlery Butcher]

Got it all leveled, new rods, new bearing. I set the bevel to 20 degrees and I can't get it sharp to save my life. Any thoughts? Maybe try 15 degrees for the red Cuisinart?

Don't set the bevel angle to start. Do this -

, then measure what angle you're at. In other words, do the sharpie thing first, with a high grit stone, just to remove the black ink, to try and match the factory bevel. If you intentionally want to change the factory bevel, you'll probably want a much coarser grit stone to do that. If you've already tried to sharpen at 20 degrees a lot, obliterated the factory bevel so you can't sharpie measure it, and you're not getting a burr, then go more (bigger) angle (or coarser grit). Get a burr on one side and you're set; it's not hard to then flip and get a burr on the opposite side. Finish sharp is just removing the last burr, and even the highest grit stones leave a burr.

 

[garson]

Thanks CB! Will try tomorrow as I'm having a martini before dinner. No knife (or gun) play while imbibing.

 

[Cutlery Butcher]

I've not sharpened any regular kitchen knives, nor EDCs, with my Ketiped yet. I've got play (way more than I like) in the clamp bar when I flip it. One side up is rock solid, but flip it 180 and it wobbles. Flip it back and it's rock solid, again. I've had it apart numerous times, and I can't figure what the cause is. So, I purchased the TooHr model without the sliding turret from Aliexpress. Good price, I think. It's on the way. Hopefully, its four bearing and spring assembly works better. I'll have lots of spare parts, anyway.

Well, that was a bust. Either Toohr's design and manufacture of the model without the sliding turret is different, or they are making big changes to everything. Most all of the cast aluminum parts are much thinner. Cost reduction by using less aluminum? From an efficiency standpoint, I'm thinking that Toohr would likely use the same casting molds for all similar models. Can we expect smaller, thinner cast components, as well as other, cheaper, parts, going forward.

Image is deceiving; the bars are about the same length
looking down
Top of tower
Stone holder

The blade clamps are exactly the same.
The clamp bar is much thinner. The clamps, out of the bag, now slide fairly freely along the new bar, but still stick in my older bar. The LE platform, as well as my Hapstone clamps still mount fine.
The clamp support upright is much thinner. The spacing and size of the four bearings is the same.
The brass flip/rotating block is the same.
The turret upright rods, while the same diameter, are now held in place by set/grub screws, instead of female threaded ends and bolts.
The threaded turret rod has smaller threads and is much thinner in diameter, and there is no locking it in place, as the thumb knob set screw was removed from the design. There is much higher friction turning the angle adjustment wheel, and maybe that's a good thing, as it now can't be locked.
The adjustment wheel now sits on some kind of washers/spacers, and 3/16", or so, above the top of the upright rod assembly. (I have not yet taken it apart to examine.)
The turret gimbal seems the same, but the platform that it sits on is much thinner.
The stone holder assembly is shorter, and the main sharpening rod that slides in the gimbal bearing is longer. Total length is about the same.
I've probably missed other changes, as time was limited; I was told to get my off the counter

Bottom line: Because of the changes in sizing of component parts, what I was hoping to accomplish is limited, and regardless of what available combinations I try I still have the play, the wobble. The newest, as received, has the same wobble. One side up is solid, the flip side is not. I guess I live with it.