Great review Vincent , Thank You !
Wow... I'm *really* digging the look of that attachment. If it works half as well as I think it might I'm definitely sold.
Quit reading and just get you one! Cheaper than a Sebbie and also a lot of fun to think of ways to use it other than sharpening knives since it is so portable.
Thank you gentlemen for your kind words.
The Blade Grinder Attachment is very versatile.
Here's my meager attempt to use it more than just a sharpener.
Long Intro (if you want to skip it, search for the heading >Modification below)
I am a big fan of Shigeki Tanaka's kitchen knives - based mainly on his vg10 Damascus Santokus -
I've had multiple samples pass through my hands - so I know first hand of their quality and consistency.
Being so pleased with his Santokus I also purchased a vg10 Damascus Petty 150mm.
It is very sharp and cuts through like the dickens -
BUT 150mm is too long for my regular usage -
I figured that 135mm would be much better for me -
from years of using an original (now classic) Chicago Cutlery Walnut 62S - 5" (127mm) utility/boning knife -
and more recently of a 135mm SETO I-8 vg10 Tsuchime/hammered Damascus "mini Santoku" (same series of the SETO Santoku sharpened and described in
Post #2 above) -
So I ordered a 135mm length -
life should be so simple......
The order turned out to be a fiasco of the first order (pun intended)
First I was sent the wrong knife (yes, this is still relevant....)
It was in the Silver #3 (stainless) steel 3-layer series, instead of the ordered vg10 Damascus -
Not only was it the wrong knife, it looked like it was very crudely cut to shorten to 135mm.....
I obviously complained and returned it for the correct item - the main point of this was to show how badly shortened the blade was from the original 150mm length -
I thought at first it was the vendor taking a short cut (sorry about the pun!)
but when I finally received the correct item - it was also shortened the same crude way - on inquiry this appears to be the way the maker supplies any shorter length.
Not very satisfactory -
but because I like Tanaka Petty so much, except for the length, and it seems the only way to get the right length for me is to accept this.
>
Modification
Finally getting to the point of all this - because the spine/back of the blade was crudely shortened - cut then ground but pretty poorly - I wanted to at least address this.
Started by using a diamond stone to round out the curves on the spine -
although it was working, it was just too slow, and hard work -
Ah-ha! use the blade grinder attachment -
started with trepidation - although I am experienced at sharpening - I am still a virgin at doing any mods on blades......
Started using the X16 grit belt and sure enough I was immediately seeing pleasing results - but it still wasn't reducing the crude cut angles -
so I braved using the coarser X65 belt -
I am pleased to say using my timid and light touch - it was very controllable -
I started grinding with the spine parallel to the belt - this obviously would grind/remove material the fastest for the results I was looking for - rounding the back curve of the spine.
Oh, I did this over quite a period of time - but I'll keep this saga short (yes, another pun)
eventually I realize I would have to be braver if I was going to truly merge the reduction to get a smooth contour on the spine's curve down to the tip.
So being the coward still, I taped the spine further along - then laid the spine so that it was touching along the full length of the back then gradually lifted the blade to follow the contour.
When I finally got the shape I was looking for (days of contemplating later) I then ground with the spine perpendicular to the belt direction, and pressing down a bit harder than my normal timid/light touch -
this allowed the belt's natural character to round the spine's edges/corner more - then processed through X16 and X4 grits.
Result -
the shortened blade at least now looks as if the knife was supposed to be that way...
BUT that's not all -
you do realize when it comes to knives I am a bit OCD.... (not just a bit)
The problem with a shortened blade that has only been cut is that the blade has lost some of the curvature/belly - especially toward the tip.
At this point (ha-ha! pun-ny) the blade was almost like a sheepsfoot or Wharncliffe blade.
So next step took for me what seemed like enormous courage and "risk" -
attempt to ground more of a curve toward the tip -
again started with sharpening grinding -
but again it just seemed too slow -
so throwing caution to the wind, I knew the fastest way to get the curvature/belly I wanted to the literally grind the edge away with the blade edge straight-on to the grit -
too scared to use the belt grinder, so started on the diamond stone -
but again too slow, and not really getting anywhere fast - so I went to the blade grinder attachment -
long story short - using the X65 with blade edge straight-on and to the belt, I ground the the curve belly I was aiming for -
Once I got the shape - I had to put the edge back - using the same idea as the SETO Santoku in
Post #2 above -
set the grinder to 10deg and X65 grind in the new secondary bevel -
then progressively using X16, X4 then 12000MM (1micron) belts to polish -
then sharpen with the grinder set to 15deg ......
Result -
there is now a definite curve/belly to the shortened knife.
The edge seems to merge quite well with the existing edge (the bit I did not modify -it's at about the first Kanji character) -
~110x microscope pic of edge at about where the unmod and modification starts -
Of course it's not perfect - not just for an OCD -
the problem with shortening then re-curving this way is that the blade does not thin the same amount toward the edge any more -
to truly get the same profile I would have to ground the whole face to thin the blade the same way toward the edge - which is beyond my skills at this point.
But the first grind at 10deg kind of helps mitigate the need to do this - although I can feel and see this, it is not enough to bother me - for now......
So the use of the Blade Grinder attachment for more than just sharpening - by a novice - never done it before -
but FWIW - when I do not have the experience, I am very timid and careful about what I do.
--
Vincent
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