Lets see your home made knife sharpening devices

Im going to revive this old thread...anyways, there are some Slick machines here ! here's mine
 
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Here's mine - One block, many uses, does it all.

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Lag (if you're still reading this), the 2nd sharpener that you list in your first post (where you link others works) is a file guide. These are used to apply the flat grind/plunge for knifemaking.

I just built my forge, next will be a file guide.

Great thread, and awesome work. :)
 
Hey Sticky,
Your sharpener looks really good. Is it practical for a layman to make? You should post more pictures if you have them.

I like this thread. I don't plan on building anything elaborate, but I like to see how it's done!

Good sharpening,
Dave
 
The V stone holder is adjustable to 0.1 degrees using a digital clinometer and the turnbuckles. Just point the edge toward the ground and grind away. The second picture is the power version. You have to walk to the other side to sharpen the other side of the blade.View attachment 395948View attachment 395950
 
FANTASTIC, I got some great ideas from this thread, thanks for posting. Right after he holiday I am going to build one of these, out of wood of course. Thanks again and may you all have a very enjoyable Thanksgiving.
 
Thanks David!, it may be a bit elaborate with the bracket with the arc slot in it etc. But you could make one that adjusts like the EP does with the pivot moving up and down on the rear upright, or use a spherical rod end (from Mcmaster Carr) mounted on top of an upright then make it so the whole mast goes up and down. the stone holder could be made with stuff from home depot (spring, collar, rod etc). Mine is Probably not practical unless you have access to a mill and some free metal :) You could simplify the design however and make it out of hardwood. If you make one I would definitely make it to where the angle adjustment is done by moving the pivot up or down so that you could use the stop collar trick like people do with the EP. Another is to drill a couple of 3/8" diameter holes about 3/8" deep on the underside of the blade table an epoxy a couple of Neodymium magnets in to hold the blade for you. Here's a close up of the bracket with the arc milled in it. The blade rest can be seen on the top of the blade table. Its made out of Lexan and is milled to fit over the edges of the aluminum table, has a slot milled down the center for adjustments, just screw the thumbscrew down when it is where you want it.
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Tiguy..that is a killer V-Rod rig. I have been wanting to do something like that to use regular old bench stones on.
 
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Call me a caveman if you will but my sharpening system consists of a drill press vise to hold the blade, a 3ft long 1x2 with a file or sandpaper or whatever taped to it and a cinder block. Place the cinder block behind the vise and lay your 1x2 across it and your blade. I like this method because I can set it up anywhere, you can file bevels as well as sharpen and the angles are infinitely variable, the closer the block is to the blade the shallower the angle and vice versa. The cinder block is heavy enough that its not going to move on you. I'll usually throw a few layers of duct tape on the edge so it doesn't eat into the wood. It's not as precise as some of these ingenious contraptions posted here, but I like it because it makes you take your time; much like a single shot rifle as opposed to one with a magazine. There's an intimacy to hand filing you just don't get with a belt system and is much more forgiving of mistakes.
 
If you use a fixed pivot sharpener like the Wicked Edge and you are sharpening a knife with a straight edge (like a sheepsfoot) then you can NOT get a uniform bevel along the knife edge unless you constantly reposition the knife in the clamp. Imagine sharpening a very shallow edged knife that just barely sticks out of the clamp. Then you set the angle of the rod to 20 degrees. The part of the blade that is directly above the pivot (90 degrees) will be sharpened to 20 degrees, but the heel and the tip will be sharpened to a more shallow angle. That is unless you reposition the knife constantly like with the Edge Pro sharpeners. How can I make this claim? Here is my proof: Without changing the rod setting, put in a very deep knife like a Chinese cleaver. Imagine this knife sticks out of the clamp a good 3 inches. What do we notice? We notice that the rod will now be at a much shallower angle because the knife edge is further away. I measured this with an angle cube to verify. So the lesson to be learned is the rod will move to a shallower angle if the edge moves further away from the pivot. Therefore if a straight edged knife is centered in a fixed clamp sharpener and the pivot is also fixed, then the bevel angle will become shallower toward the heel and the tip because those parts of the edge are further away from the pivot.
 
I disagree. If you use a fixed pivot sharpener like the Wicked Edge and you are sharpening a knife with a straight edge (like a sheepsfoot) then you can NOT get a uniform bevel along the knife edge unless you constantly reposition the knife in the clamp. Imagine sharpening a very shallow edged knife that just barely sticks out of the clamp. Then you set the angle of the rod to 20 degrees. The part of the blade that is directly above the pivot (90 degrees) will be sharpened to 20 degrees, but the heel and the tip will be sharpened to a more shallow angle. That is unless you reposition the knife constantly like with the Edge Pro sharpeners. How can I make this claim? Here is my proof: Without changing the rod setting, put in a very deep knife like a Chinese cleaver. Imagine this knife sticks out of the clamp a good 3 inches. What do we notice? We notice that the rod will now be at a much shallower angle because the knife edge is further away. I measured this with an angle cube to verify. So the lesson to be learned is the rod will move to a shallower angle if the edge moves further away from the pivot. Therefore if a straight edged knife is centered in a fixed clamp sharpener and the pivot is also fixed, then the bevel angle will become shallower toward the heel and the tip because those parts of the edge are further away from the pivot.
 
Very interesting to see how different minds work when coming up with ways to put an edge on a knife with as little variance as possible!
 
Mostly similar to other bright ideas.
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Used it with som cheap diamond plates on my Busse SHBA.
Reprofiling just took a couple of minutes!
 
Sticky said:
Im going to revive this old thread...anyways, there are some Slick machines here ! here's mine
ry%3D400
Click to expand...

Nice sharpener Sticky! I like how you used a gimble to guide the sliding rod. :)
Seems very user-friendly too, with the adjustable tilting platform.
 
I made this copy of the EdgePro ten years ago.I really like the Igus plastic rod ends
as they wear well and make no noise. It was a fun project.

 
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