Thread: Cannot get a straight bevel to save my life.

Originally Posted by derekcohen

Okay, RM, the basic price on your linisher from Machinery House is $2400. This is not apples vs apples here. A CBN wheel-based machine is about $300-400.

I would LOVE a Radius Master 48! I could find many uses for it. However the CBN set up is better for the use it is put to here, that is, hollow grinding blades. For one thing, the CBN wheel does not wear, unlike belts. The set up never needs to be altered or adjusted, unlike the upkeep on any belt-based machine. The linisher would be very wasted on sharpening blades alone. What do you use it for?

Regards from Perth

Derek

I use it for everything, almost every day I would use it for at least a couple of different things. Fabricating metal, shaping wood , cleaning up fibreglass moulds, sharpening all sorts of stuff, I was given some micro fine belts, they feel like paper, and they sharpen all my filleting knives like a razor, as well as my daughter’s scissors she uses for making sails. I turn the wheels around and change a belt and I can sharpen tools or grind tools for use on the metal lathe. I can notch pipe to scribe fit to other pipe. I can use the slack belt part to sharpen the cutters for the dog clippers, It’s an incredibly useful machine, and whilst being more expensive, I think it effectively covers the jobs that several other machines could do. Yes, the belts wear out, but then I cut them up and use them for polishing turned pieces on the lathe, and fine fitting shafts and parts on the mill. With regard to your comment about hollow grinding, the belt linisher I have does this admirably, and that is why it is the preferred machine used by knife makers around the world.

Quick update - I remounted the jig and having a much better time with things. Still find it a bit finicky at times but its providing an acceptable result for primary bevels.

Actually realised a lot of my troubles were at the stones, watched and rewatched Rob Cosman's recent videos on sharpening and it cleared up a lot of problems. Biggest revelations were the ruler trick, even distribution of pressure and listening to the process. Once I started slowing down and listening to the stones I could tell when I was varying my pressure or wandering off my established bevel.

And actually cambered my first blade last night, took me most of the evening to clean up the 500 established bevels on the old SW blade and then camber it but I'm fairly happy with the result.



So much muscle memory involved though. Would have been quicker if I tidied up the primary bevel at the bench grinder but wanted to break in a new diamond stone. Now I need to camber all my other smoother and jack blades! Only 4 or 5 planes [emoji23]

That's a huge camber bueller. Don't think I've seen such a tight radius camber even on a scrub plane. Why would you want to set up all your planes with a camber like that? Am I missing something?

Trick of the eye? Looks a lot less cambered than my Veritas scrub blade.

Fluting?