Sharpening Freehand On A Slow 10" Wet Grinder

NRA

NRA

Joined
Feb 15, 2014
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286
Tonight, I thought, why not. Give it a go.

Grabbed an old knife, that needed sharpening, and freehand, went to work.

The knife is very sharp. Has its way, with paper, nicely.

However, it is like dancing with the ugly girl at the prom. Sure she can dance, but look at her?

Is it possible, one hundred knives from now, my results will look better?

I will say, it is fast.


13575214775_c676b94fd1_c.jpg
 
Yup, practice makes perfect. You'll figure out techniques to keep your angle more consistent, and it'll look much better.
 
Complete with two support arms, a turntable, and an attachment storage base.

Acquiring stuff, is not a license to use it. lol

Someone want to loan me 99 more knives to get started?


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There's a learning curve with freehand similar to a jig system, it'll get better with time if you're willing. You don't need to borrow 99 knives just grab some out of the case :thumbup:, or swing by harbor freight.
 
banksy said:
Do you not have a jig?
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Yes, but so many people kept saying to do it freehand, I tried it. I would have to say, the convex edge I made on my first freehand, looks better than the fifth knife I did with the jig.
 
On the Jet, you get a 9" leather wheel, and a 10" grinding wheel. Does the Tormec sharpener have a sarcastic sense of humor as well?
 
How fast were you able to get the bevels set? I'm starting to lean towards getting a powered system to set bevels then finish with waterstones if I want polished bevels.
 
Seconds. You can see the bur form, if you have the wheel going away from the blade. Blade then blocks the water, so you can see the bur.

You can see a bur form on a belt sander also, but that heats up the steel.

I am thinking, bring a edge back on this wet sharpener, then keep it sharp on the SharpMaker, might make a good combo.
 
Cool! :thumbup:

Is that set up (the grinder) something you could set up at home? I currently live in an apartment and am somewhat hesitant to pick up powered systems until I buy a house.
 
The Tormek and Jet wet grinders are slow speed with no vibration and pretty quiet. They would be fine in an apartment, if you have a couple cubic feet spare for storage. They can be a bit messy with some water splash or spillage but could easily be set up on a formica tabletop or a counter with a small tarp beneath
 
NRA said:
Yes, but so many people kept saying to do it freehand, I tried it. I would have to say, the convex edge I made on my first freehand, looks better than the fifth knife I did with the jig.
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I guess it's not as easy as it looks then? (and he does make it look very easy!)

[video=youtube;fYURcwkKGPs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYURcwkKGPs[/video]
 
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I have watched this video frame by frame, and if the tip of that knife is properly sharpened, after this video, I'll be a monkeys uncle.

I understand this is a demo video, and not a customers knife being sharpened, but some of us are watching with an eagle eye to detail.


IMHO, with very little experience on one of these, you get better results (as a novice?) by working the front of the machine, rather than the back of the machine, hovering way above it.

One thing, the wheel is cutting away from the knife edge, pulling the jig tighter. Easier to control the jig. Another thing, is it cuts slower, easier to learn, when you slow down the process a little. Also, the bur is visible, not lost in a torrent of water, as the water is under the blade, not over it.
 
Something I notice in this video, is the gentleman has his jig axis pointed towards the tip. Notice his knife movement along the wheel, and how his jig, is always ridding up on the micro adjustment knob. So when he rotates his tip, it does not vastly change his degree of cut.

Everyday, I learn something new.

My head is spinning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[video=youtube;KXGGT8Pyb0U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXGGT8Pyb0U[/video]
 
The tormec official video has the main body of the blade, and the jig jaw parallel. In the consumer trade video, the guy has his jig clamped on at an angle.

What this does, it is forces his jig, to not change his angle of cut, at the tip. I do not know if this was dumb luck, or a procedure of this guy, but I cannot get over this revelation, as I have been battling with working with the tips of blades on this machine. Can't wait to try this
 
NRA said:
On the Jet, you get a 9" leather wheel, and a 10" grinding wheel. Does the Tormec sharpener have a sarcastic sense of humor as well?
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Yup, it's designed that way so you have better clearance working a knife or tool on the grinding wheel. (Most of the work on the leather is done freehand). Eventually though, if you use it enough, the grinding wheel can become smaller than the leather wheel anyway, which is why, on the Tormek anyway, the leather wheel is easy to take off.
 
BTW, I don't know what comes with the Jet, but the Tormek has a pretty good manual that shows a lot of what you're talking about. It can be downloaded HERE.
 
It takes practice, but I'll concur that freehand is the way to go. Holding your angle against a wheel takes some getting used to because you don't have a flat surface to use as a plane of reference. Basically you need to work in reference to a plane 90° to a line drawn from the center of the wheel to the point of contact with the stone. I'll draw up a li'l diagram later when I get a minute. :)
 
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