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which clamp/adaptor accessory for Jende JIGS to sharpen slipjoint/pen knife blades?
- Thread starter murat1983
- Start date
Update: I have bought the suggested Tormek Small Knife Jig and give it a try. It works! Below is the report I have compile for another forum.
Narrow bladed knives such as Victorinox, SAK and the majority of the GEC (i.e. GEC 62) are not possible to sharpen by most of the guided sharpening systems. There are some aftermarket solutions such as smaller clamps, but these are often difficult to find, not interchangeable between different brands (unless specific adaptors are available) and still do not allow very low angle sharpening on narrow blades.
The problem is when the narrow blade is clamped, there is not enough clearance between the clamps and the edge of the blade to allow the stone to touch the edge. Usually, the stone hit the clamps before reaching the edge. The only option (if the blade width allows) is to increase the sharpening angle to a ridiculously high value (i.e. 30 dps) until the stone starts to contact with the edge.
I was looking for a solution for this problem, and someone recommended trying the Tormek small knife sharpening adaptor in conjunction with my guided system. So, I recently bought the adaptor and give it a try.
The picture below shows a typical setup using the adaptor holding a SAK. The important part of this method is to make sure that the spine of the blade is parallel to the metal rod clamped between the clamps. If the blade has a sabre grind, one can simply lay the blade and metal rod on the edge of a table together and tighten the screw on the small blade adaptor to fix the blade at the correct angle. However, most of the small knives are a full flat grind, so if the previous method is applied, the alignment would be wrong. If that is the case, one can clamp the adaptor to the sharpening system and then put the knife into the adaptor and try to adjust the angle manually until the spine of the blade is parallel with the metal rod. This is relatively easy when looking at the edge from the front with 90 degrees angle.
The picture below shows 15 degrees sharpening angle set for this blade, which was not possible before using the small knife adaptor.
Another trick with this system is to check the sharpening angle each time when the knife is flicked. Depending on how well the blade is centred in the knife body (usually the blades of the multiple bladed knives would be off centred) there would be a significant difference between the angles on each side of the edge. For instance, the difference between one side of the edge to the other on the small blade of the SAK was around 1.2 degrees. So, each time when I flick the knife, I had to calibrate the angle cube and set the angle to 15 degrees.
Finally, the small knife adaptor provides decent support for the knife handle but since there is no direct contact with the blade, the blade would not be supported as good as if it was in the clamps. Therefore, it is a good idea to support the blade from below with a finger of your non-working hand all the time and try not to let the weight of the sharpening rod to be on the blade. The smaller blades are less prone to flex, but larger ones are more prone to flexing. I must admit this method requires more attention, care and time to get the results, but the possibility of sharpening small knives using a guided sharpener is great!
The picture below shows the sharpening results using this method for the small blade of my SAK. Previously, I freehanded it and managed to make it sharper than the factory. It was easily shaving hair, but after sharpening using the guided sharpening system in conjunction with the adaptor, I have managed to sharpen it to my usual hair-splitting sharp standard. It could be also be seen from the pictures the width of the bevel on each side is quite equal. However, I could not get a similar result with a longer blade. While the longer blade was still hair-splitting sharp, the bevel width at each side was noticeably different. However, I have tried 12 degrees sharpening angle on a very thin Wharncliffe blade with a very narrow profile. So it was a quite challenging condition for this system and for my experience level with this new setup.
Narrow bladed knives such as Victorinox, SAK and the majority of the GEC (i.e. GEC 62) are not possible to sharpen by most of the guided sharpening systems. There are some aftermarket solutions such as smaller clamps, but these are often difficult to find, not interchangeable between different brands (unless specific adaptors are available) and still do not allow very low angle sharpening on narrow blades.
The problem is when the narrow blade is clamped, there is not enough clearance between the clamps and the edge of the blade to allow the stone to touch the edge. Usually, the stone hit the clamps before reaching the edge. The only option (if the blade width allows) is to increase the sharpening angle to a ridiculously high value (i.e. 30 dps) until the stone starts to contact with the edge.
I was looking for a solution for this problem, and someone recommended trying the Tormek small knife sharpening adaptor in conjunction with my guided system. So, I recently bought the adaptor and give it a try.
The picture below shows a typical setup using the adaptor holding a SAK. The important part of this method is to make sure that the spine of the blade is parallel to the metal rod clamped between the clamps. If the blade has a sabre grind, one can simply lay the blade and metal rod on the edge of a table together and tighten the screw on the small blade adaptor to fix the blade at the correct angle. However, most of the small knives are a full flat grind, so if the previous method is applied, the alignment would be wrong. If that is the case, one can clamp the adaptor to the sharpening system and then put the knife into the adaptor and try to adjust the angle manually until the spine of the blade is parallel with the metal rod. This is relatively easy when looking at the edge from the front with 90 degrees angle.
The picture below shows 15 degrees sharpening angle set for this blade, which was not possible before using the small knife adaptor.
Another trick with this system is to check the sharpening angle each time when the knife is flicked. Depending on how well the blade is centred in the knife body (usually the blades of the multiple bladed knives would be off centred) there would be a significant difference between the angles on each side of the edge. For instance, the difference between one side of the edge to the other on the small blade of the SAK was around 1.2 degrees. So, each time when I flick the knife, I had to calibrate the angle cube and set the angle to 15 degrees.
Finally, the small knife adaptor provides decent support for the knife handle but since there is no direct contact with the blade, the blade would not be supported as good as if it was in the clamps. Therefore, it is a good idea to support the blade from below with a finger of your non-working hand all the time and try not to let the weight of the sharpening rod to be on the blade. The smaller blades are less prone to flex, but larger ones are more prone to flexing. I must admit this method requires more attention, care and time to get the results, but the possibility of sharpening small knives using a guided sharpener is great!
The picture below shows the sharpening results using this method for the small blade of my SAK. Previously, I freehanded it and managed to make it sharper than the factory. It was easily shaving hair, but after sharpening using the guided sharpening system in conjunction with the adaptor, I have managed to sharpen it to my usual hair-splitting sharp standard. It could be also be seen from the pictures the width of the bevel on each side is quite equal. However, I could not get a similar result with a longer blade. While the longer blade was still hair-splitting sharp, the bevel width at each side was noticeably different. However, I have tried 12 degrees sharpening angle on a very thin Wharncliffe blade with a very narrow profile. So it was a quite challenging condition for this system and for my experience level with this new setup.
Below are the pictures of the knife I have sharpened yesterday and today. I have sharpened one blade yesterday and the other today. The process took too long (about 4-5 hours for each blade) as this knife was particullarly challenging. This is the thinnest and narrowest knife I have and decided to sharpen it to 12 dps as this is essentially a whittling knife. So, I thought a sloyd knife edge geometry would suit it. There was a great deal of flex on this knife and the grind on the smaller blade was getting thicker toward the point, so the uneven bevel heights. But the main thing is the knife is very sharp now and that was not the case out of the box like most of the GEC knives. I can not stand blunt knives, there is no point carrying them. I prefer perfectly sharp tool to cosmetically imperfect pocket jewellery. Of course, I would prefer both
But I need more time and practice with this setup. I do not think knives with thicker spine thickness would be as challenging this one.
777 Edge
Yes, I saw these but I was not sure what are the capabilities of those in terms of sharpening angles for very narrow blades like the one I have on GEC 62. I have sent them an e-mail asking about this, but the reply I got from
Gritomatic
was not very clear and it was risky for me to pay for the associated international shipping cost on items which I was not sure if they are up to the task. If they are, I would happy to consider them as the method I am using now is more time consuming and requires more attention compared to the traditional clamp system.
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2009
- Messages
- 13,432
A Lansky clamp will handle blades down to ~1/4" wide or so. It has a notch at the end of the clamp's jaws for very small blades. The blade shown below is the pen blade in a Case 5344 small stockman - that blade is maybe 9/32" wide, just a hair over 1/4". Using the notch in the clamp, the hone still has clearance to the blade's edge using the 20° setting on the clamp. I was using a DMT Dia-Fold with a Magna-Guide accessory (also DMT), in trying this with the Lansky clamp.
Very small, thin-stock blades like these in traditional knives generally don't need very low edge angles to cut well. A cleanly-apexed edge @ 40° inclusive (20°/side) will have such a blade cutting effortlessly. The thinness of the blade is what makes most of the difference in cutting.
Very small, thin-stock blades like these in traditional knives generally don't need very low edge angles to cut well. A cleanly-apexed edge @ 40° inclusive (20°/side) will have such a blade cutting effortlessly. The thinness of the blade is what makes most of the difference in cutting.
Obsessed with Edges
Yes, I agree very low angles are not as important as a spine and grind thickness in these knives. But I only use those small blades for very light duties and I like how they cut at low angles. The only reason that I took the GEC 62 to the extreme (12dps) is that I am planning to use it as a wood chipping /carving knife. If it does not hold up I will put a micro bevel on it, but I do not see why it should not. I have used 1095 sloyd knives with 11dps and they hold up even against heavier duty tasks.