How To Would a belt grinder make sense?

C

crowley213

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Jun 15, 2020
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As already mentioned in another post, I started to do also some knife sharpening for friends and neighbors, mostly kitchen knives.

First of all, I am not a pro at all nor do I have any plans to make this a real business. Second, people here in Mexico barely want to spend money for such a service. So this means I neither want nor can charge people a lot of money when doing their knives.

My "problem" now: I get knives for sharpening which, at least in my humble opinion, have been quite messed up by local sharpening services the people used in the past. Please see images below!

My very first knives looking that way I fixed using diamond plates and grinding stones, but that cannot be the solution in a long term. Too slow, too much effort, too much wear of my stones.

My question know: Would this be a task for a belt grinder? If yes, what belt grinder would you recommend?

Herbert

https://flic.kr/p/2n6UDAA
https://flic.kr/p/2n6LwtT
https://flic.kr/p/2n6RtfT
 
A 1”x 30” would work well for sharpening once you become competent at sharpening on a 1”x 30”. A speed control would make a tremendous difference as well. You will make many mistakes on a powered belt sharpener along the way, how quickly you learn from them is on you.
Belts are consumables and have to be treated as such.

You could possibly find an old school peddle powered stone wheel sharpening setup.

You can sharpen knives many ways(as I’ve witnessed many men from Mexico do). Becoming proficient and economical is the challenge.

You stated Mexico, where exactly if you don’t mind me asking?
 
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3fifty7 said:
A 1”x 30” would work well for sharpening once you become competent at sharpening on a 1”x 30”. A speed control would make a tremendous difference as well. You will make many mistakes on a powered belt sharpener along the way, how quickly you learn from them is on you.
Belts are consumables and have to be treated as such.

You stated Mexico, where exactly if you don’t mind me asking?
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Thank you very much for your reply!

I know that using a powered sharpener has its own challenges and that you can mess up things quickly and easily. But as an old school (and age) German precision mechanic I should (hopefully) still have enough skills and experience to handle also such a belt sharpener with minimized screw ups...! ;)

No problem asking... I am living in Querétaro in Central Mexico!

Herbert
 
1x30 works great. I would get an angle guide to start. And speed control you can buy separately to keep the speed down although you don't have to. You can spritz the belt slightly to keep it cool. Don't forget that there is an electric motor on there. It's fast and efficient and an easy way to hog material when you have knives that are in bad shape. I'm in a condo right now. Sold my house. So my paper wheel and 1x30 were left behind. Which means I won't offer to sharpen anyone's knives as I only freehand. And offering to me anyway means delivering. Most of my neighbor and friends knives were disasters.
 
Herbert, perhaps what you want is a belt drive belt sander, so you can tinker with the drive pulleys and slow it down. All the direct drive ones I’ve ever had, including a couple 1x30s, ran too screaming fast for casual sharpening. When I got a used 1x42 belt drive machine, it was simple to slow it down to about 100 rpm, in which range you can use 800-1200 grit belts without them heating up much.

Large diameter (20-24”) pedal stones are cool, and they will definitely remove some steel, but I found it was difficult to keep my shoulders and upper body sufficiently still while pedaling. If I wasn’t so lazy, I’d have built a better tool rest to steady them, but instead I converted the 220-ish grit one to belt drive off a 1725 rpm motor. The stone spins about 180 now and works well, although I’d like to have a simple gearbox to provide a “granny low” for when I want to use more pressure.

Stone only has one grit, belts are available in a wide range. Those two machines used together really please me, I rough on the stone and refine on the belts. Best of both worlds.

Parker
 
A good hand file can be good for recreating bevels, if the steel is soft enough for it to bite.
 
Hmm, quite a plethora of such belt sanders available...!

What about the "Work Sharp Ken Onion Edition Knife & Tool Sharpener" together with the "Work Sharp Blade Grinder Attachment"?

I can easily imagine that this would not be the most potent solution, considering belt width and length, but
- I most likely will not fix five machetes a day 😎
- I have no plans to machine virgin knife blanks to finished knifes
- It doesn't matter for me if fixing occasionally a knife takes a little longer than with a more professional grinder, it still will be faster than doing so on stones
- I also could use this setup for "normal" knife sharpening
- finally this system is even here in Mexico still reasonably priced

What I like about this solution also: I would then have different systems and options for knife sharpening, means:
- bench stones and diamond plates (Shapton Glass, DMT)
- a guided system (Hapstone R2)
- a machined system (Work Sharp KO)

Any other ideas?

Herbert
 
I just opened the forum tonight to see if I could find a recommendation for a replacement for the Ken Onion sharpener, so I figured I'd toss in my experience with those and the blade grinding attachment for you.
Mine just up and died yesterday in the middle of some sharpening. I bought it in late 2018...If I had used it a lot I'd say that's not too short of a life span, but I never wore out the first set of belts it comes with. So I'm not really sure I want to buy another.

However, before it died I'd have said with the blade grinding attachment its a handy tool, and it really helped with a few blades I had that needed some form of reprofiling. IMO it needs the attachment to be worth buying. It would be perfect to fix the kitchen knives in your picture. I never used it to sharpen any machetes but I actually was about to the day it died...size wise it would be doable but not ideal. But, I don't think its heavy duty enough to use very much...unless you can make enough money to replace the machine on a somewhat regular basis.

Last thing I'll add, if it were me sharpening other peoples knives, I'd have to use some sort of powered belt system...just to make the work easier. Having both some sort of belt system and a water cooled wheel set up would be in my plan.
 
RDog said:
I just opened the forum tonight to see if I could find a recommendation for a replacement for the Ken Onion sharpener, so I figured I'd toss in my experience with those and the blade grinding attachment for you.
Mine just up and died yesterday in the middle of some sharpening. I bought it in late 2018...If I had used it a lot I'd say that's not too short of a life span, but I never wore out the first set of belts it comes with. So I'm not really sure I want to buy another.
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Ha! I was just about to recommend the KO with grinder attachment. I've had mine for about three years and have probably used it, on average, 3-4 times per week. It's definitely not rated for commercial (constant duty) work, but I know that there's one pro sharpening service that does use them. I think it would be a good solution for friends & family sharpening tasks. It's *relatively* quiet and takes up very little space.

Another option would be a Tormek knock off wet grinder. Wen and Grizzly make them for about half the cost of a Tormek T-4.
 
I have a 48 inch by 6 inch belt grinder but my shop burned down and is being rebuilt. But as soon as it is rebuilt I am extending the drive shaft 18 inches from the platform and placing the grinder but not the motor for sure in a constantly recirculating water bath to keep heat down. I researched the blade grinders that size finding they cost 5,000 dollars but the shaft can be extended. There is no real difference in design so I just decided I will convert one that cost a few hundred rather than spending thousands. You can get water proof belts in massive sizes but keeping heat down is the most important thing. So that is what I am doing is just converting. Then a recirculating pump will just constantly pour water on the belt while sharpening. Which is really handy with long single beveled knives
 
I bought a Wen 1x30 set up and some knife sharpening belts to go along with it as my replacement to the KO work sharp. Today was the first use, and while its probably not right to compare yet, I need more time with it to get the right "feel" of it. I do have some first impressions.

I think this is going to be a good tool for more than just sharpening some knives...I'm glad I bought it.

It is nowhere as easy to sharpen knives as the KOWS, changing belts is slower and more involved. It is harder to maintain the angle I want free hand (at the moment) than with the WS.

I had to make a base with back to mount the set up so I could flip the whole thing onto its back to get a more similar feel as the WS had.

Absolutely feels like its more tool than toy as the WS felt. But I do miss the WS.

In the end, after the first use on around a dozen blades, from folder up to a machete, while I like the Wen 1x30, I probably will buy another KOWS to go with it...but I'll play with this 1x30 alone for a bit first.
 
That Makita 9820 is a step up in cost (if you buy it new), but you can sharpen chisels, planer blades and lots of woodworking tools with it. The 1000 grit red wheel (they all turn gray from swarf after extensive use) produces a nice working edge. I consider it more in the Tormek class, not a Worksharp equivalent. Plan on upgrading the water delivery system though, that’s their kinda weak point.

Parker
 
RDog said:
In the end, after the first use on around a dozen blades, from folder up to a machete, while I like the Wen 1x30, I probably will buy another KOWS to go with it...
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Not getting through one set of belts is unreasonable service for a home user. You should contact Worksharp (go to their subforum here at BF), to see if they can inspect and repair your unit. If it is the motor, it was defective, if wires or switches, could be assembly errors, housing, as well as defective switch. If your handy with a meter, and careful you could easily test motor, switches and wire.
 
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