paper sharpening wheels - when your time is important to you

kwackster said:
And how the knife looks now.
While keeping the edge angle about the same so the bevels would not widen too much per owner's request, i resharpened the main edge completely and the bayonet grind only superficially to come to a sharp point with a 15 micron diamond compound Paper Wheel, then cleaned up the bevels a bit and removed the tiny burr with a 1.0 micron diamond compound Paper Wheel.
The edge angle again measures ~55 degrees inclusive, yet the new apex is just sharp enough to shave the hair on the back of my hand a bit on skin level.
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Would you suggest going with 2x paper wheels with diamond compound, over the factory 1x Grit and 1x Paper polish wheel?

And what mix of grits would you say is optimal for sharpening 'sharpish' pocket knives? IE restoring a knife that slices paper, but a bit roughly, and bringing it up to shaving / super shaving sharp?

And whats the best way to apply the diamond paste to the wheels?
 
mark greenman mark greenman :

In general i think it would be best to start out with just a standard set of Paper Wheels, consisting of the wax cooled SiC gritted sharpening Wheel & the forced air cooled slotted deburring/polishing Wheel (on which you use the provided block of white aluminium oxide)
Then practise a lot on cheap knives to find out if this system might work for you or not.
A couple of naked Wheels to charge with various diamond powders/pastes/sprays can always be bought later if you want to do more high (vanadium) carbide volume steel types and/or ceramic knives.

Provided they are not too far gone, edges on simpler steel types can often be touched up fast & easy using just the slotted Wheel (and the block of white aluminium oxide)
But sometimes i just take a Spyderco medium or fine ceramic stick to create a microbevel with a few passes.

For me the best way to apply diamond paste to the surface of a Paper Wheel is with a clean index finger.
That's how i've been doing it for years.
 
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I'm going to be controversial and say that IMHO anyways, there is no 1 perfect way to sharpen everything that needs to be sharpened. Try sharpening a 18 - 24"" machete on a 6" or 8" bench grinder. I think that most of us end up with a multitude of sharpening equipment. Which is good if you sharpen a multitude of different types of things.

Time is important, no doubt. But there is also a lot to be said for being able to sharpen by hand, just in case the power goes out long term. For many, the therapeutic value is an added bonus. I have a variety of stones both oil & water. I have a 1 x 30 belt sander with a variety of grits and a leather stropping belt. I have ceramic sticks, a ceramic buba stick, a Tormek T4 Bushcraft machine & the Japanese waterstone for it that works friggin awesome . And many others. But none that I have work excellent for everything. I do still use them all, depending on what I am doing.

Hard to beat the Tormek for fixing an uneven grind on a 1/4" thick hard use outdoor knife or changing the angle of the cutting edge. Hard to beat the paper wheels for a quick touch up when the edge is already about there & they are also excellent for small pocket knives.

I am currently considering a HF 8" grinder/buffer & putting paper wheels on it. It is a never ending quest for me, lol.
 
TwinStick said:
Hard to beat the Tormek for fixing an uneven grind on a 1/4" thick hard use outdoor knife or changing the angle of the cutting edge.
Click to expand...
How about a horizontal wheel grinder? I find them much easier to use. Tormek is capable of doing concave grin but for the rest of the stuff I like to keep things horizontal.
 
First post on here so, hey everyone.
I am in the process of setting up a couple paper wheels on a Rikon variable's 8” grinder with 10” paper wheels. I am interested in finding/buying/making a couple Forward Vertical Bases for controlled sharpening. Does anyone have any source for such a piece of equipment?
Another question I have is in regards to Nano-oil. Does it cause the paper wheel to swell or lose any integrity? I will be using slotted wheels applying my own diamond paste.
 
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