Anyone used the Kasfly Ultimate Sandpaper holder?

[annr]

If one could drill micro holes in the base & apply a vacuum to secure the paper. Like a vacuum form molding machine.

Perhaps, but above my pay grade! I use mine in work settings, and it needs to be simple, portable, and quick...

 

[Diemaker]

If one could drill micro holes in the base & apply a vacuum to secure the paper. Like a vacuum form molding machine.

There is also foamed aluminum that would work well, if you have a vacuum pump handy that filters the incoming air. A shop vac would work but it would be noisy and use a lot of electricity.
IMO adhesive backed sandpaper on a flat plate would be best. Sure the paper is more expensive but the flat plate is a lot cheaper and you get to use all of it since none is used to clamp onto. But I still think stones are better.

 

[Glock Guy]

Rockstead uses something like this to sharpen their knives. You can see the pics at the bottom of their "Maintenance" page here: LINK

Somebody was able to buy one of these (at least years ago), as they sold one here on Bladeforums as well: LINK

 

[jpm2]

looks like it could be really nifty... also comes w/ a piece of rubber for backing for creating convex edges easily. Of course, this is free hand. I'm thinking about getting it just for flattening things...

I've been meaning to make one of these for years, but without the hinged camlock and tensioner, which is really nifty.
Looks very well made and finished, much better than I would do. Just now ordered it.

 

[REK Knives]

I've been meaning to make one of these for years, but without the hinged camlock and tensioner, which is really nifty.
Looks very well made and finished, much better than I would do. Just now ordered it.

Yeah I just wish it was a little bigger haha

 

[kreisler]

The product seems to be from 2016, almost 4.0 yrs ago, by Kasfly China. In the beginning it was sold for 75US$ in the States and there was even a 20%OFF coupon in the beginning, and it was/is(?) shipped from China. The main (or only?) dealer is in the US, named James (YU CHEN KITCHENWARE INC??), his FB page shows 8units in stock remaining. People on other forums seem to like it a lot (KKF link1, KKF link2, KFF link3). When i enter a EU address, the shipping shows USPS 60US$ (i thought it was shipped from China direct??), for a total of 199US$ shipped ouch.
So one turns the adjustment screws against an anodized aluminum surface, yes? Doesn't that scratch/damage/wear down the anodization coating sooner or later?
I have tons of experience with anodized aluminum (from flashlights). Even the hardest anodization wears down if you rub whatever against it long enough. Surprisingly fast. Yes it is "hard", i.e. harder than aluminum (which is a hilariously soft metal like copper), but it is not wear-resistant.

200 bucks is prolly too much for me. Ah lemme get back to my $7 product, plenty to enjoy!

 

[Diemaker]

A good type 3 anodize is incredibly wear-resistant, except to the few things that are harder than it. It definitely makes aluminum a lot more wear-resistant. I do agree that pushing a screw end against it isn't a very robust design though.

 

[jpm2]

Yeah I just wish it was a little bigger haha

I was going to make a 3x8 to accommodate 3 strips from the standard 9x11 sheets of paper I get.
The length on this one is ok at 8.5", I hope. Width is a little odd at 2.36". Being metric there, maybe a standard size aluminum bar stock in that area? But I think it'll be ok.

200 bucks is prolly too much for me. Ah lemme get back to my $7 product, plenty to enjoy!

$138 shipped from New York.
Still seems high, but don't figure I could make one of that apparent quality for that price, figuring materials, finishing, and time.
The hard anodizing will eventually wear, but that's ok.
Looks like the device itself will probably last forever if used properly.
I often use sandpaper on one of my diamond plates, so it'll get used a lot. To me it seems a decent value.​

 

[REK Knives]

I was going to make a 3x8 to accommodate 3 strips from the standard 9x11 sheets of paper I get.
The length on this one is ok at 8.5", I hope. Width is a little odd at 2.36". Being metric there, maybe a standard size aluminum bar stock in that area? But I think it'll be ok.

$138 shipped from New York.
Still seems high, but don't figure I could make one of that apparent quality for that price, figuring materials, finishing, and time.
The hard anodizing will eventually wear, but that's ok.
Looks like the device itself will probably last forever if used properly.
I often use sandpaper on one of my diamond plates, so it'll get used a lot. To me it seems a decent value.​

Yeah totally agree, I'll hopefully get one in the near future. Would love to hear your thoughts after you get it!

 

[HeavyHanded]

This is the set-up I ultimately went with, although when I use my personal board I found it just as easy to simply wrap the paper. Having it overlap the long edges greatly reduced the incidence of cutting the paper. For heavy duty shop use, I recommended replacing the base/wedges with 1/4" steel flat stock - very stable but have to watch out when picking it up or the wedges like to land on your feet.

 

[bikerector]

^that's a neat setup. HeavyHanded did you make that or is it available somewhere? Kind of makes me think I should try that with one of my paddle strops, and then you have the leather underneath for a final strop job.

I recently tried and did a quick review of a convex sharpener put together by @sharpside. It's a reasonably simple way of doing the mousepad sharpening method and it looks like it gets nearly the functionality of the item in the OP, but for a lot less money. Knuckle room is probably the biggest negative I noticed but that's a pretty simple adjustment. I imagine you get get a rubber pad attached to the plexyglass base as well, or maybe sharpside could do neoprene on one side and rubber on the other for options of firmness.

I thought it was a pretty interesting, neat little package. I've used it a few more times since the review and I do think a firmer base would be a nice option for some knives, but it works as advertised.

His picture

Sales listing
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/convex-edge-knife-sharpener.1709601/

My review
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/sharpside-convex-sharpener.1714663/

As mentioned in the review, working on convex edges is new to me but I was surprised how simple it was having already been free-hand sharpening for a while now.

 

[HeavyHanded]

^that's a neat setup. HeavyHanded did you make that or is it available somewhere? Kind of makes me think I should try that with one of my paddle strops, and then you have the leather underneath for a final strop job.

I recently tried and did a quick review of a convex sharpener put together by @sharpside. It's a reasonably simple way of doing the mousepad sharpening method and it looks like it gets nearly the functionality of the item in the OP, but for a lot less money. Knuckle room is probably the biggest negative I noticed but that's a pretty simple adjustment. I imagine you get get a rubber pad attached to the plexyglass base as well, or maybe sharpside could do neoprene on one side and rubber on the other for options of firmness.

I thought it was a pretty interesting, neat little package. I've used it a few more times since the review and I do think a firmer base would be a nice option for some knives, but it works as advertised.

His picture

Sales listing
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/convex-edge-knife-sharpener.1709601/

My review
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/sharpside-convex-sharpener.1714663/

As mentioned in the review, working on convex edges is new to me but I was surprised how simple it was having already been free-hand sharpening for a while now.

Those were the base back when I was selling my version of utility sandpaper sharpening base with reduced footprint surface area - "The Washboard". I stopped selling them because the cost of the machining on the top plate made the whole unit very expensive, the base portion was only a few bucks and one could whip one up using a piece of glass, plexi, steel plate, whatever for a flat surface.

That set-up takes some getting used to but has advantage of drawing the paper tight as you insert the combination base/wedges.

 

[Hurrul]

I have a Washboard Sharpener from HeavyHanded. For me at least, it has worked nicely for larger blades, such as the Bill Siegle camp knife below (blade length just shy of 9). The Washboard is forgiving, in that allows for slightly rounded edges due to the sandpaper overhanging the flat surface, which helps the sandpaper contact to be more consistent while in motion when working with the upward, re-curve portion of the blade.

For me at least.

 

[jpm2]

I can certainly see the advantage of having the sides lapped over and secure.

 

[jpm2]

Would love to hear your thoughts after you get it!

Got it in, been using it.
Well packed and came in a nice wooden box.

It included a couple silicone rubber mats cut platen size. One measures .060" thick, the other .040", combined for .1"

Also included was a textured sticky back square of rubber/plastic. As there are no instructions, I assumed this is meant as anti-skid for the base. Right or wrong, I cut mine in 4 pieces and attached them to the bottom to keep it in place on a slick surface, works well.

Measurements are
base 11-1/4" x 2-5/16"
platen 8-7/16" x 2-5/16"
height 2-3/4"
Weight 40 oz.
I cut my thickest paper to size, 50 grit (.045" thick), and it fit the slots with a little coaxing. With a little wear on the abrasive, it slides in and out easily. The thinner paper, .01" thick, of course fits easily. Both papers clamp securely with no chance of slipping.

The tension adjusters are solid brass screws. I don't have a gauge handy at the moment but the outside of the threads measure .235" and are coarse, smaller than 1/4-20, larger than #10, #12 maybe?. The head is knurled and beefy, .7" diameter and .25" thick, offers excellent grip and makes it fast and easy to tension or loosen the paper.

I'm happy to report that standard 11" length paper cut 2 and 3/8ths wide fits perfect, with a little length to spare.
With paper clamped and tensioned, it lays perfectly flat. So far I've had no trouble with the edges. Loosening the tension allows enough slack to slide the mats in and out from underneath the paper, without unclamping the paper, which is convenient.
While using, it's rock solid with no wiggles, rocking, sliding, etc.

All I've used so far are the 2 sand papers mentioned above. Eventually I'll cut strips of plain paper, cardboard, denim, etc for hard backed stropping. I'll also cut some thin foam like material, like a mouse pad for softer backing than the included mats.

Wear points I see are
1) where the cam contacts the abrasive,
2) the brass tension screws,
3) the tension pivot.
I figure the cams would require thousands or tens of thousands of cycles to wear significantly, if at all. But if it did to the point of no longer holding the paper in place, shims could be used to take up the gap.
The screws shouldn't be a problem as long as they aren't cranked down so much as to cause galling and/or stripping. Reasonable tightening will make this a non issue.
The pivot is probably a steel pin, so the wear would be the sleeve. Worst case, like the cams, a little slop after a couple hundred years, maybe? Good thing it can be tensioned out.

The only thing I'd like to see different, and this isn't a complaint, just my personal opinion of an added feature, is the hinged side slotted like the non hinged side so the paper could slide straight through from side to side. This would eliminate the need to cut paper to an exact width. It would also allow a whole sheet to be used, and quickly repositioned as fresh abrasive is needed.

I like good quality functional craftmanship. The unit as a whole seems to be very well built and finished. I figure someone will be using it long after I'm gone, and them too.

At this early point, I'm very happy with it, glad I got it, and do recommend it, if it's something you might use often. Mine will see a lot of use.

 

[kreisler]

Congrats to the acquisition, beautiful and useful product! i'd want to keep it in mint condition like all my anodized aluminum flashlights. i'd stick a 3M adhesive rubber foot on the aluminum counter plate where the big brass screw touches. this way the screw touches the rubber foot not the anodized aluminum, leaving no usage marks (signs of wear). Doesn't the 50grit paper scratch or abrade the anodization of the cam? For sure i'd tape that thing with thin duck tape, packaging tape, masking tape, or similar. with sharpening devices (EdgePro, Hapstone), it is actually quite common to tape areas to protect them against scratches/abrasives, no big deal.

 

[tinfoil hat timmy]

I've had pretty good luck with sandpaper taped to a granite floor tile.

After using a known straight edge to make sure it was perfectly flat that is.