A very sensible sharpening system..

[D_W]

..not what you think - it may not help much with woodworking. I've not heard of this guy before, but courtesy of youtube recommendations.

This guy runs a small part time business sharpening things and he uses nothing that costs much (the jet sharpeners are probably expensive now, but I've had two tormeks and am glad to see them gone - I do recall that the jets were inexpensive early on).

At any rate, what's impressive to me is that he uses concepts to set up his system and it would work with "gooder" stuff or not.

For example, I have beaten everyone over the head about using buffers. But one of the things you can do if you don't love a buffer is use felt at a lower speed, or use small diameter felt. This guy uses a makeshift drill setup for his regular sharpening gear cheaply doing an end-around over the speed problem for light bevel touch up on knives.



It will take some of you folks a little bit of restraint to not go into the BUT BUT BUT's of some of the things he's doing. This is kind of a lost art on youtube - a truly original video from a guy doing things making a video after he figured those things out, and not making a video with bits and bobs taken from somewhere else and then telling you that you're his friends and here's the links to buy things so he can get revenue.

Certainly not posted as the main point of his video (starting a business), more just a good reminder that you can think your way through whatever you're doing and often come up with a better solution than you could buy.

 

[Jacob]

..... But one of the things you can do if you don't love a buffer is use felt at a lower speed, or use small diameter felt. .....

"Buffing" as in "stropping"?
I use an MDF disc on my lathe spindle outboard end. Slowest speed. Wipe over with Autosol or similar and spread thin with a palette knife. Instant shiny bevels on blades, chisels and gouges! Use edge of disc for inside the gouge.

 

[Rorschach]

Awesome video, I love guys like this, very much of my own mindset.

 

[Awac]

I have always wanted to try the Koch sharpening system. Expensive yes, (Jeez, I would hate to add up what I have spent collecting gouges over the years-don’t think about it) but I see many people just buy the wheels as they are supposed to be very good and use them on lathes etc.

https://www.koch.de/grinding-sharpening/grinding-sharpening/

 

[D_W]

"Buffing" as in "stropping"?
I use an MDF disc on my lathe spindle outboard end. Slowest speed. Wipe over with Autosol or similar and spread thin with a palette knife. Instant shiny bevels on blades, chisels and gouges! Use edge of disc for inside the gouge.

The whole buffing thing is a bit specific (at least in how I use it), but I know a lot of knife folks use loaded wheels, carvers use buffs, etc.

Leather, MDF, Etc - any of it can work - the speed just has to be a match. E.g., hard felt at 3600 RPM on a 6" wheel leads to hot tools and too much removed. Same with leather.

Felt and leather at a lower speed work great (they're more like hones at that level, and lower speed - less heat - less unintentional heavy metal removal)

 

[mikej460]

Great practical video, I would prefer to modify my grinder so anyone know of a low cost way to reduce the speed of the induction motor on my grinder?

 

[D_W]

I'm not aware of any other than using it to run another arbor with a pulley reduction (that'd be a bit power soaker). I think most grinders, etc, rely on speed to cool, but I could be wrong if they're enclosed.

 

[TRITON]

"Buffing" as in "stropping"?
I use an MDF disc on my lathe spindle outboard end. Slowest speed. Wipe over with Autosol or similar and spread thin with a palette knife. Instant shiny bevels on blades, chisels and gouges! Use edge of disc for inside the gouge.

I did the same, mdf disc but contact adhesived a leather strip around the edge, half lapped the joint and have it wound so when turning the edge doesnt grab the join and strip it off.

 

[D_W]

I think one of the reasons that people don't share sensible stuff is the assumption that they may get shouted down for "such a stupid idea".

I share stupid stuff all the time (like rounding over tips of tools with a buffer to make them last *longer*) - it's freeing to realize we're all pikers and it's OK to chance being told you're a boob.

 

[JSW]

This is kind of a lost art on youtube - a truly original video from a guy doing things making a video after he figured those things out, and not making a video with bits and bobs taken from somewhere else and then telling you that you're his friends and here's the links to buy things so he can get revenue.

He really is quite unique, reminds me a little of Matthias Wandels dad, that guy seemed to have his own spin on things as well, and . . . I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Amogla Camp

 

[Orraloon]

Well I learned a few things from that. Dulling the edge before you start was a totally new one. Taking the burr off the knife also different as most kitchen knife sharpeners are creating a burr. That said the way I was shown chisel sharpening on an oil stone (still use that) the burr is taken off at each stage so doing it with knives too makes sense. All up a good no nonsense video and I will have a look at some of his other stuff.
Regards
John

 

[Just4Fun]

Well I learned a few things from that. Dulling the edge before you start was a totally new one.

Oh, I thought he only dulled the edge for demo purposes, so the viewer could not suspect that he was starting with a pre-sharpened blade. I didn't think he did that normally.

 

[Rorschach]

Oh, I thought he only dulled the edge for demo purposes, so the viewer could not suspect that he was starting with a pre-sharpened blade. I didn't think he did that normally.

Yeah I never purposely dull and edge unless there are chips I need to remove.

 

[clogs]

what a nice ol guy.....giving freely.....
does anyone remember the guy on a bike that traveled around sharpening knives etc....
(pedal powered stones)......
eventhe rag n bone man.....

 

[Auldfart2010]

He talks about the wheel rotation going away from him at the top of the wheel. Every bench grinder I've used has the rotation coming over the top of the wheel towards me.

 

[D_W]

He really is quite unique, reminds me a little of Matthias Wandels dad, that guy seemed to have his own spin on things as well, and . . . I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Amogla Camp

Definitely reminds me of what Matthias talks about. Matthias is inclined beyond what his videos suggest (his work at what became blackberry - RIM? includes a combination of creativity and genius that most people aren't capable of), but in general what he shows reminds me of where I grew up (central PA - a very thrifty german area where people like to run small businesses or work for themselves and they aren't very inclined to spend money or be influenced by external pressures).

The other thing that's common (nothing to do with matthias in this case), or was, was for someone to be a pretty strong hard worker and do something at below market cost and constantly be told by people moving into the area that they should charge more.

I live in an area now where there were urban germans, and the sentiment is different. Not at the very least because few germans where I grew up drank any alcohol other than church wine (and definitely in a protestant church). But the social aspect and community is way different - community is strong in the rural areas, but independence of the individual was more valued. Sometimes the uniqueness and headstrong kind of way wasn't very pleasant, though!!

 

[raffo]

what a nice ol guy.....giving freely.....
does anyone remember the guy on a bike that traveled around sharpening knives etc....
(pedal powered stones)......
even the rag n bone man.....

I do, but in Perú. A pedal operated grinding stone. They would run around playing a small plastic Pan flute, a distinctive tune. When you heard it, you knew one of these guys was in the neighborhood.

 

[D_W]

in a much less practical way, any time I went to one of my mother's shows (she painted folk art stuff and sold it), there was often a guy in the back of a truck or on a trailer running a demo of a sandstone wheel. Sometimes the wheel was pedal powered and sometimes it was powered by a hit or miss engine, but I would be surprised of the demonstrator didn't sharpen several hundred knives in a day at a dollar each (this would've been about 35 years ago, so figure something like $500 to sit at a wheel and chew the fat with people). Never any follow up honing or burr removal, just a fine sandstone wheel back and forth and on to the next.

I didn't actually know anyone in my youth who had their knives sharpened. Can openers back then came with a coarse wheel and that's all we ever had. There was nothing in the house that was actually sharp other than disposable razors and a tiny carving knife that my dad kept up on a strop as he'd learned (with the yellow compound) in a bird carving class.

My parents are intelligent, but lazy thinkers in terms of something like that - nothing about sharpening a bird carving knife ever struck my dad as worth doing to other knives. When I discovered that he had a washita stone in his hunting kit (one that he described as too slow to do anything) we cleaned the surface off and sharpened a bunch of knives. My mother cut herself within an hour and I had to knock most of the sharpness off of them and that as the end of that.

Part of that is pa german thrift (there's zero chance that they'd take 10 knives to some guy and give him $20).

 

[Rorschach]

My mother cut herself within an hour.

That was my mother too when I first sharpened her knives. I don't go as sharp on hers as I do on my own but she can handle a sharp knife better now.
I have lots of knives and sharpen them in different ways according to how and what they are used for. My general purpose kitchen knives for instance get sharpened on an "Anysharp" followed by a steel to refine the edge and remove any burr. People may scoff but it gets a knive very sharp, very quickly and the coarse edge it gives is excellent for slicing meat. I find I actually prefer that type of edge for my boning knives, I tried sharpening them to a mirror like razor edge that would hang a hair no trouble, problem is it slips in the meat and doesn't bite and as soon as you nick a bone the edge is ruined, I'll take the anysharp edge any day for that task.

 

[D_W]

Larrin thomas here in the states actually quantified the coarse edge for slicing vs. pushing (everything we do in woodworking is generally push cut except maybe for some carving moves). Knives do best in terms of slicing durability at high hardness with an acute and *coarse* edge. Even something like a 150 grit sandpaper edge with the burr removed will slice longer than a perfect edge. The trick is, I guess, getting someone to understand how to remove the burr on a coarse edge as we do it as a matter of the honing routine.

I tested coarse edges years ago in a plane iron durability test. 5 micron loose diamonds create an edge that only lasts about 65% of the footage planed vs. 1 micron, but on top of that, the experience planing is far more miserable (even the last 65% of the footage planed by the fine edge is brighter and better looking than it is with 5 micron diamonds).

Fine oilstones last about 80-85% of what 1 micron diamonds will last in terms of edge life, but it's much more pleasant than the more coarse diamonds.

Long story short, woodworkers may not believe that a coarse edge is better or lasts longer in meat slicing because they're thinking about meat slicing like planing wood, and cooks or chefs may think that a coarse edge always lasts longer for everything because they've not tried a fine edge in wood.

A fine edge makes for a really attractive prepped vegetable, though.