Hi team,
Bought a combination belt & wheel grinder (686mm x 50mm / 27" x 2" belts) recently for sharpening my Victorinox 5" boning knives at the end of the day, hopefully with a nice convex. As far as I know they're around 56 Rockwell. I've switched out the grinding wheel for a cloth chamois buffing wheel with the green bar of compound.
I ordered a 6 pack each of A30/800 grit and A16/1400 grit (not sure if that's a typo for A15) from a local company which went missing on delivery. While I'm waiting for a resolution there, I'm putting in a new order to get started.
Keen for some advice on which grit(s) I need based on what I've been sharpening with so far, and particularly whether there might be one grit I could get away with using by itself (no switching, faster):
When I sharpen with my KME system, I go through the base diamond stones from 150 through to 1500. This would be the ideal finish I'd like to achieve - pretty sure that a buffing wheel after this would come close to mirror finish and be more than sharp enough for work.
When I'm in a rush I'll use the floor mounted setter at work (faster, less accurate, industrial version of a KME type system - non-fixed pivot point, has a slot so you can keep the rod perpendicular to the edge) with 400 and 600 grit stones - not sure of the brand/type but the 400 is grey, the 600 is a rust color. This would be the bare minimum finish I need to achieve.
The local Trizact belt supplier has:
A160 (120grit)
A100 (200grit)
A80 (240grit)
A65 (280grit)
A45 (400grit)
A30 (800grit)
A16 (1400grit)
It's possible the missing A30/A16 order may show up, but in the meantime, what do you think I should order?
* Note 1: These knives are already sharp (22 degree angle each side with the shoulders ground down each day on a bench stone, prior to sharpening. I won't need a grit course enough to profile blank steel, just enough to turn the mentioned flat/de-shouldered edge into a smooth convex initially, then a nightly sharpen each day thereafter.
* Note 2: I work in a beef boning room as a trimmer and do some light boning, previously was an apprentice retail butcher. If there's anyone out there in the meat industry looking for advice on keeping an edge sharp through the day, or in the industry and just wants to have a chat, hit me up!
Bought a combination belt & wheel grinder (686mm x 50mm / 27" x 2" belts) recently for sharpening my Victorinox 5" boning knives at the end of the day, hopefully with a nice convex. As far as I know they're around 56 Rockwell. I've switched out the grinding wheel for a cloth chamois buffing wheel with the green bar of compound.
I ordered a 6 pack each of A30/800 grit and A16/1400 grit (not sure if that's a typo for A15) from a local company which went missing on delivery. While I'm waiting for a resolution there, I'm putting in a new order to get started.
Keen for some advice on which grit(s) I need based on what I've been sharpening with so far, and particularly whether there might be one grit I could get away with using by itself (no switching, faster):
When I sharpen with my KME system, I go through the base diamond stones from 150 through to 1500. This would be the ideal finish I'd like to achieve - pretty sure that a buffing wheel after this would come close to mirror finish and be more than sharp enough for work.
When I'm in a rush I'll use the floor mounted setter at work (faster, less accurate, industrial version of a KME type system - non-fixed pivot point, has a slot so you can keep the rod perpendicular to the edge) with 400 and 600 grit stones - not sure of the brand/type but the 400 is grey, the 600 is a rust color. This would be the bare minimum finish I need to achieve.
The local Trizact belt supplier has:
A160 (120grit)
A100 (200grit)
A80 (240grit)
A65 (280grit)
A45 (400grit)
A30 (800grit)
A16 (1400grit)
It's possible the missing A30/A16 order may show up, but in the meantime, what do you think I should order?
* Note 1: These knives are already sharp (22 degree angle each side with the shoulders ground down each day on a bench stone, prior to sharpening. I won't need a grit course enough to profile blank steel, just enough to turn the mentioned flat/de-shouldered edge into a smooth convex initially, then a nightly sharpen each day thereafter.
* Note 2: I work in a beef boning room as a trimmer and do some light boning, previously was an apprentice retail butcher. If there's anyone out there in the meat industry looking for advice on keeping an edge sharp through the day, or in the industry and just wants to have a chat, hit me up!
