What are you guys using to sharpen kitchen knives?

If I establish my edges on stone and not my grinder I start with a green 220 waterstone


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I'm pretty spoiled by sharpening my personal knives on a 1000 then a 6k King waterstone, then stropping on newsprint...FRESH!
 
200 SFM ... even slower on a very hard edge like Hitachi white.

400 will be safe enough if run wet, but faster than that and edge damage may happen with no indication of a problem. "Dip and Grind" isn't the same as running wet, BTW. When you feel it is time to dip again, it is already too late.
 
Then I'll definitely set up my second grinder with a smaller pulley, as I was kind of envisioning running that one wet anyway. Thanks.

Man even a 3" drive wheel on a 1750 RPM motor at 30hz is 687 fpm. My current setup will run smooth as can be at 25-30 but below that is when things get bumpy.

Looks like I'll need a 2" drive wheel to get to 450 fpm at 30. With a top end of 1800. I guess that wouldn't be the end of the world. One grinder set up to do 400-1800 sfm and the other 1800-4500ish.
 
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set the bevel on a dmt dia sharp or lately a Norton coarse SiC stone and then go up the grits. Water stone or dmt dia sharp plates depending on the steel.
 
kuraki said:
I'd like to know, what is "low speed" for you guys on your belt grinder? The way I have my variable speed set up, at 50% I'm at 2,290 sfpm, I can go down to 1,145 sfpm, and at 100% 4,500 sfpm.

Just curious. I sharpened a knife last night at the 1,145 setting with a 30 micron mylar belt and then finished it with a felt belt and white compound, then leather strop and green compound. I liked how that turned out.

The way my VFD works I can't go much slower than that without bringing down my top end SFPM, and if I go much lower my motor runs a bit rough.

That didn't really generate much heat for me I'm just curious what "Low" is for others.
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I have a low speed setup. I have an 800 rpm motor driving a 3" drive wheel, so at 60Hz I have about 650 SFPM. low would be 20Hz or about 250sfpm. It takes a bit longer to grind, but no sparking.
scott
 
kuraki said:
Then I'll definitely set up my second grinder with a smaller pulley, as I was kind of envisioning running that one wet anyway. Thanks.

Man even a 3" drive wheel on a 1750 RPM motor at 30hz is 687 fpm. My current setup will run smooth as can be at 25-30 but below that is when things get bumpy.

Looks like I'll need a 2" drive wheel to get to 450 fpm at 30. With a top end of 1800. I guess that wouldn't be the end of the world. One grinder set up to do 400-1800 sfm and the other 1800-4500ish.
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You could use almost any motor with pulleys to get to the speed you need. It would be a dedicated edge setting grinder then. I've been thinking about this, as well as a dedicated high speed 5hp hogging machine. The 2hp vs would be for everything in between.
 
I don't think I'll need to use pulleys. There's no problem making a 2" or even 1.5" drive wheel and a VFD with a 1750 RPM motor, and that way I don't have to fabricate anything new really, on my grinder design.

I'll leave it set up like I originally set up my first 1hp single phase grinder. A 1.5" drive wheel with another 3 or 3.5" sleeve that fits over the drive wheel for when I ever want to get outside the VFDs speed range. But I'll make it out of stainless this time so it doesn't rust together like my first one :)

But I am going with your idea of a higher HP hogging machine. I'll use the 2hp 1750 motor I have now on my finish machine and source a 3-5hp motor for my hogger.
 
The steel I had treated + cryo from Peter's is Aeb-L and ats-34 both at 62.
I haven't used any laminated steels yet.
I went a little thinner than I probably should have, but I think they'll do fine. The Aeb-L is .070 and the ats-34 was .060 I think. I also wanted to make myself a sushi knife for the house.
I wasn't brave enough to do a yanagiba yet, but it's on my list.

Do the India stones have different grits or are they all the same? I started researching the different stones and plates you guys have recommended so I can make a better decision.
 
The Norton crystolon will sharpen pretty much anything, its a little better on steels like 3v,s35vn and the like than a India stone . They can be had in coarse,med and fine but you an get a coarse/fine combo stone for less than $30 shipped..
Waterstones are a rabbit hole. seems like you cant buy just a few, they multiply if your not careful. Im down to two waterstones right now. A king 1000/6000 and it does a good job on many steels. Its not as nice as the arashiyama and kitayama stones Ive had in the past but they get carbon steels and aeb-l screamin' sharp..for the high alloy stuff I like DMT dia-sharp plates..Not cheap but they will sharpen anything and if you take care of them will last many years.
 
Kentucky said:
The Norton crystolon will sharpen pretty much anything, its a little better on steels like 3v,s35vn and the like than a India stone . They can be had in coarse,med and fine but you an get a coarse/fine combo stone for less than $30 shipped..
Waterstones are a rabbit hole. seems like you cant buy just a few, they multiply if your not careful. Im down to two waterstones right now. A king 1000/6000 and it does a good job on many steels. Its not as nice as the arashiyama and kitayama stones Ive had in the past but they get carbon steels and aeb-l screamin' sharp..for the high alloy stuff I like DMT dia-sharp plates..Not cheap but they will sharpen anything and if you take care of them will last many years.
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I have arashiyama stones in three grits. They're bloody expensive here in Canada, about the same price as DMT plates. They do get an unbelievable edge on simple carbon steels with refined heat treat. :thumbup:

I stopped using the edge pro to set the edge bevel as I was going through 5 or 6 120g stones setting the edge, while the rest of the stones last a long time. The financial approved (my lovely wife) agreed very quickly that a diamond plate would pay for itself quickly, and it has.
 
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