Powered knife sharpening

**rsser** · 23rd January 2013, 02:44 PM

I've played around with a Tormek (with jig) and didn't much like it. Slow, limited & fiddly. Moved onto a Sorby ProEdge freehand which I like better given the range of abrasive grits and types available. But you can't get in close on the left side due to the choil fouling the roller arm.

Having acquired the ProEdge for turning and WW tools my little-used Ryobi 1" belt sander was worth a play. I was going to make up a decent platform for it to sharpen turning tools but that's no longer necessary.

The plus with the Ryobi is that there's space above the platen to freehand in. And various abrasives are also on the market inc. a leather belt for fine honing. The minus is that changing belts is a bit of a pain. So batch production is rewarded.

I did a few Western knives going down the grits (in microns): 80, 40, 20, 9. And the result was pretty good, easy to achieve and well worth the effort. The #80 was a custom-made Zirconium and the others were 3M Micro-finishing abrasives from Lee Valley.

**Ben Dono** · 25th January 2013, 07:48 AM

I'm a huge fan of belt grinder sharpening! It's such a flexible tool to use. About 4 years ago I built a copy of a kmg knife grinder. It has become one of the most used tools in my workshop.
The zirconium belts are worth every penny! I get mine made up from Bestons in Sydney. They can be 'country town ish' when it comes to answering the phone or calling back but the advice is great, price is good and they are nice guys.

The technology abrasives keeps getting upgraded and they will keep you up to date.

New sharp belts cut fast and cooler. The worn out belts are still very useful so don't throw them out too quickly.

They go as big as 36grit in the zirc belts and they are gold in my book for really hogging out steel. They are really stiff, thick belts too so I'm not sure if your
Machine will run them. There is a huge difference between the 36grit and 40grit.
They go up to 400grit in brown oxide and they have their place. The oxide belts dull very quickly but are great for polishing convex edges.

There are other sharpeners out there that use your size and style machine. I think you can modify them so you can change belts faster. Google it. It's one of the reasons I went with a kmg style machine.

**rsser** · 30th January 2013, 07:23 PM

Thanks for the tips Ben Dono, esp. re Bestons.

**Corin** · 21st February 2013, 08:07 PM

I have the Wilmont Triple arm Grinder and the Radius master, the variable speed on the TAG makes it the best I have ever used, that and the tracking, which is great.

I use ceramic belts only, with the J Flex belts and trizact to finish. Ceramic belts are worth the extra expense if you are working with tough steels.

For me, belt grinders are definitely the way to go (with a paper wheel on a bench grinder to finish)

**rsser** · 24th February 2013, 04:29 PM

Ceramic is good IME for ripping off metal but tends to leave deep scratches. #60 does a stonking job; have learned to start at #120!

Ben Dono, yeah, a half-worn #240 AlOx comes close to polishing HSS (my turning tools).

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