This thread should never been started. This is extremely unsafe and very dangerous. The danger is not in the wheels flying off, but in your knife blade getting caught and flung. I'm all about homebrew solutions for everyday problems, but homebrew power machinery is a different matter. I'm closing this. -- Spark
NOTE: This is potentially a very dangerous project, and should be attempted at the reader's own risk. I have never had a problem, but that doesn't mean something bad can't happen. As with all things spinning at high speeds, extreme caution is advised.
RichardJ has posted stating that homemade cardboard stropping wheels are dangerous. i disagree that they are somehow more dangerous than bought wheels. as with all things spinning at high speed, they are inherently dangerous. as i promised a couple days ago, i am posting up a tutorial on how to make some.
one of the benefits to these wheels, besides being basically free, is that you can easily cut them to a particular shape or make them any width to fit inside gouges and other oddly shaped tools.
i originally made these up looking for a cheap/free alternative to hard felt stropping wheels, and settled on these as a good alternative. they work really well for convex edges, since after the first couple of uses they get ever so slightly cushy on the surface, so they will polish a convex bevel without rounding the edge (like soft buffing wheels can).
anyways, onto the instructions:
i start with a large priority flat rate shipping box courtesy of the USPS. i trace one of my grinding wheels onto the box a number of times and start cutting with a folding razor knife:
then i break out the rubber cement and start gluing up the discs in two even piles. you can make these as wide or narrow as you like. for general knife stropping i suggest a wider wheel, but i find about 7 layers works well.
when i glue them up, i alternate the corrugations:
after lining up all the discs as evely as possible, i set them between two flat things with a weight on top to press out air space but to avoid crushing the cardboard (i found about 1# works well)
once they are dried, i use a 1/2" countersink in my power drill to drill out the center of the wheel to snugly fit the shafts on my grinder. i tighten them up with finger tightness, so that the wheel is held firmly but not crushed.
here are a couple photos of my wheels that have had quite a long life of service, and they are holding up great. i just reload them every couple of knives and they work great for me.
hope this helps someone out. any tips or comments are appreciated!
NOTE: This is potentially a very dangerous project, and should be attempted at the reader's own risk. I have never had a problem, but that doesn't mean something bad can't happen. As with all things spinning at high speeds, extreme caution is advised.
RichardJ has posted stating that homemade cardboard stropping wheels are dangerous. i disagree that they are somehow more dangerous than bought wheels. as with all things spinning at high speed, they are inherently dangerous. as i promised a couple days ago, i am posting up a tutorial on how to make some.
one of the benefits to these wheels, besides being basically free, is that you can easily cut them to a particular shape or make them any width to fit inside gouges and other oddly shaped tools.
i originally made these up looking for a cheap/free alternative to hard felt stropping wheels, and settled on these as a good alternative. they work really well for convex edges, since after the first couple of uses they get ever so slightly cushy on the surface, so they will polish a convex bevel without rounding the edge (like soft buffing wheels can).
anyways, onto the instructions:
i start with a large priority flat rate shipping box courtesy of the USPS. i trace one of my grinding wheels onto the box a number of times and start cutting with a folding razor knife:
then i break out the rubber cement and start gluing up the discs in two even piles. you can make these as wide or narrow as you like. for general knife stropping i suggest a wider wheel, but i find about 7 layers works well.
when i glue them up, i alternate the corrugations:
after lining up all the discs as evely as possible, i set them between two flat things with a weight on top to press out air space but to avoid crushing the cardboard (i found about 1# works well)
once they are dried, i use a 1/2" countersink in my power drill to drill out the center of the wheel to snugly fit the shafts on my grinder. i tighten them up with finger tightness, so that the wheel is held firmly but not crushed.
here are a couple photos of my wheels that have had quite a long life of service, and they are holding up great. i just reload them every couple of knives and they work great for me.
hope this helps someone out. any tips or comments are appreciated!
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LOL
