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View Full Version : Knife sharpening jig ...... what sort of sandpaper ?



steamingbill
22nd Jul 2019, 09:49 PM
https://pin.it/2jqtyulabcdjsg

What sort of abrasive belts would be used on these sharpening jigs ?

Do any of you folk sharpen knives in this way ?

I guess there are probably many sorts of sandpaper off to do some googling and educate myself..

Bill

KBs PensNmore
22nd Jul 2019, 10:26 PM
Hi Bill, Are the knives new or used? How blunt are they, these questions determine the grit to be used. I have the multitool linishng machine that I use to sharpen my woodturning chisels, and I use anything from 80 to 180 grit to sharpen them.
HTH
Kryn

BobL
22nd Jul 2019, 10:40 PM
this is one setuo I use, 120/180 grit belts.

380950

Grahame Collins
22nd Jul 2019, 10:51 PM
Hi Bill,
I sharpen knives all the time.

Sharp, to me means being able to lop the corner off a sheet of A4 printer paper.

The multi tool, I use only when the blade needs re shaping.

The rest of the time I use a hand stone. Most of the makers are using 180 to 600 grit belts of a make not commonly available at most tool and hardware shops. They use stuff like Trizact and ceramic belts which in general are in excess of 1200. They choose the longer belts as they run cooler.

Hers a link to an Australian supplier to give you and idea of what is available :

https://www.artisansupplies.com.au/?s=belts&search_id=product&post_type=product&c=22783a5940ef


Hope it helps

Grahame

steamingbill
23rd Jul 2019, 01:14 AM
Thanks for the tips and photos above,

Main purpose of question was to find out if ordinary folk use those jigs or is it mainly knifemakers ( cutlers ?)

I have only ever used hand stones and grinding wheels and emery paper on glass to sharpen chisels and planer blades, have only sharpened knives as a boy scout with a handstone 50 years ago and dont know much about them.

Have always been intrigued by those fancy gadgets that I sometimes see on the net, am vaguely aware of different types of abrasive paper, I know some people sharpen hss toolbits for lathes on belt sanders with fancy paper and remember Ueee once mentioning ceramic sandpaper as being good for hss.

My wife usually sharpens her kitchen knifes on a spike of steel mounted in a bone handle, and is far better at using it than I am. Recently she asked me if I had any gadgets i the shed that could sharpen knives, so decided its time to start learning.

Will do some googling and youtubing and trawl through the weblink Graham posted to educate self. Main purpose of question was to find out if ordinary folk use those jigs or is it mainly knifemakers.

Saw a good show on telly recently "Forged in Fire" each week a competition between 4 knifemakers to see who can make best knife.

Thanks again for the help.

Bill

Grahame Collins
23rd Jul 2019, 03:28 AM
Hi Bill,
I think I know what you are getting at now.

Do you mean , one of these jigs? This is just one example.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG8mO6NX2Es


There are others out there that are using glued on sandpaper instead of the stone or diamond sharpener, if that's what you require.

Use "Diy fixed angle sharpening jig" as the Google search term and select the images option and go to town.

Grahame

Danger Mouse
23rd Jul 2019, 09:19 AM
Another system to get a quick edge is a “paper wheel”. You can buy these from Gameco Artisan supplies but a quick google will show many YouTube videos of guys using them. They are quick but my experience is that a machine driven edge can get razor sharp it doesn’t last as long as a hand ground edge. There are plenty of guided systems for hand powered sharpening as well. Popular ones include the Apex Edgepro and the Wicked Edge systems.

Grahame Collins
23rd Jul 2019, 01:08 PM
In my humble opinion the impregnated paper wheels are more orientated to the manufacturing maker of knives where time matters.

For the likes of us who sharpen a few knives for the missus and family now and again, the wheels are an unnecessary expense where their high cost could be put to a better use.

To my mind the wheels take far too much material away, not good where the same knife is repeatedly sharpened over the years.

For re sharpening the profile angles are already and a quick touch on the stones followed by a strop on the leather.

A 40mm wide belt glued to a handle serves the purpose. Some how there is something therapeutic about working a knife up to a razor edge.
For those who are able to obtain them, tanned kangaroo tails are superb for this use.

I have even trained my dear bride not to toss the sharp knives in with the general eating irons in the sink and to wash them individually. Subsequently I only need to sharpen our blades about every 6 months.

.

Grahame

BaronJ
23rd Jul 2019, 06:17 PM
Hi Guys,

They want a small fortune for a leather strop here ! I tried to buy some off cuts from a firm that makes leather covered furniture and they wouldn't entertain me. They were binning loads of narrow strips that would have been useful.

Grahame Collins
23rd Jul 2019, 08:02 PM
Hi Guys,

They want a small fortune for a leather strop here ! I tried to buy some off cuts from a firm that makes leather covered furniture and they wouldn't entertain me. They were binning loads of narrow strips that would have been useful.

Try the local Op shop.They should have old leather belts. I am sure there will be one there good enough to make a strop.

Grahame

Danger Mouse
23rd Jul 2019, 09:21 PM
Try the local Op shop.They should have old leather belts. I am sure there will be one there good enough to make a strop.

Grahame

This is good advice. There is always eBay for kangaroo tail or leather off cuts but the op shop will be cheap and should be quite reliable. A bit of rouge or buffing compound on the leather will make a nice strop. What you won’t be able to do with a strop however is reset bevel angles or do some serious edge restoration such as removing chips etc. This is where a guided system with aggressive abrasive will certainly help. The other thing to consider is blade steel as there is a lot of difference in sharpening a high carbon steel such as 1075 versus a so-called supersteel such as M390.

You can can also make a very good strop from balsa wood - plenty of ways to skin a cat as they say....

steamingbill
23rd Jul 2019, 10:33 PM
Thanks for all the suggestions. Very useful.

Yes Graham, well done, that is the other jig that I have bumped into on the internet. That looks like a great video to help make a jig. Didn't really understand the difference between what the two jigs are for until I read the responses above.

Will google the paper disks to find out what they are all about.

A mate of mine is always talking about stropping blade tools on leather - looks like I get to learn about that as well in the near future.

Bill

BobL
23rd Jul 2019, 11:06 PM
This is a sort of a strop made from a left over piece of rawhide I used to line my woodier vices.
The finger joints have beveled edges and sewn together with dental floss, - I've only used it a couple of times.
I really need to drag to out again and see what it can do.


380953

Metalman
25th Jul 2019, 10:59 AM
I have a piece of an old leather belt from which I would like to make a strop. What is involved and would this leather be suitable, it is about 400 mm long by 40 mm wide?
Thanks.

Grahame Collins
25th Jul 2019, 11:39 AM
I have a piece of an old leather belt from which I would like to make a strop. What is involved and would this leather be suitable, it is about 400 mm long by 40 mm wide?
Thanks.

Hi Metalman,

Simplicity itself.Take your belt and cut it somewhere about 300 to 400mm in length.

Glue it to a suitable length stick 40x 12 with a handle cut at one end. If you have enough belt glue it on both sides.

380966

Metalman
26th Jul 2019, 10:09 PM
Thanks for that Grahame, will give it a try.
Mm.

Grahame Collins
7th Aug 2019, 09:53 AM
Hi Guys,

Something that I have just remembered when I go to sharpen a pocket knife .

Ok! For many of us,we sharpen on a stone on then strop and get a razor edge, ie shave the the hair of the arm.

You can pick the folks that sharpen lots of knives. Shaved arms. :D

To go a step further to prepare an edge that lops of the corner of an A4 printer sheet-try this.

Try some metal polish.

Me, I use Autosol Metal polish liquid. I place 10 cent diameter dot of it on the strop and give the blade say, 20 passes or so per side.

It does not not have to be Autosol. It was just what I had on hand at the time. I am sure similar thick creme like metal polish should have the same effect.

Perhaps you might try it and let us know your results.

Grahame

steamingbill
7th Aug 2019, 11:25 PM
Further to Graham's post.

I've read about people using toothpaste to polish the knifeblade. Google finds lots of examples.

Bill

Steamwhisperer
8th Aug 2019, 08:18 AM
Further to Graham's post.

I've read about people using toothpaste to polish the knifeblade. Google finds lots of examples.

Bill
Hi Bill
That brought back a memory.
I used toothpaste to lap steam valve and safety valve seats. You could comb your hair in the reflection after you were done...when I had hair that is. :D

Phil

simonl
8th Aug 2019, 08:57 AM
That show forged in fire is a ripper!

I have a knife sharpening jig that works on the same principle as that shown in the series but it's smaller and more portable.

The brand is lansky.

The various stones you see are different grits ranging from very coarse to ultra fine.

Here's a pic.

Simonhttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190807/e6d14668144b9f894350e93f3a4f629a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190807/6293c5103f9b3666cfbefc1ca32b1c09.jpg

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190807/f4a5081e983b02816589d68457e81c1a.jpg

azzrock
13th Aug 2019, 10:33 PM
Hi mate id never sharpen a knife with a linisher.
I use the lanski knife sharpener.
https://lansky.com
Ive had mine for years .i take it with me when visting family friends and take it when im at sea to sharpen the chefs knifes. It workes great.
.
Ive used linishers to make knifes . The belt i go for are green in colour.
Aaron

Diy or die.

Grahame Collins
13th Aug 2019, 11:31 PM
Hi mate id never sharpen a knife with a linisher.
I use the lanski knife sharpener.
https://lansky.com
Ive had mine for years .i take it with me when visting family friends and take it when im at sea to sharpen the chefs knifes. It workes great.
.
Ive used linishers to make knifes . The belt i go for are green in colour.
Aaron

Diy or die.

Aaron
I am similar to you with a Grandpa Ray sharpener - nearly identical but lacks a base. While it could get the small knives sharp it struggles as the length and width of the larger blades increase. I have used stainless electrodes to increase the length of the sharpening stroke but basically the stones are still too short for the big knives.

Some of the Ruixin fixed rod sharpening kits can do a wonderful job as well. If they are tweaked to remove the poor tolerances they work pretty well

The 150 x 20 x 5mm stones are long enough but very poorly fixed to some flexible plastic backing which allows the stones to move and crack.

Overseas vendors they were asking the equivalent of $70 Au each for decent quality stones. some of the finer stones cut a paper lopping edge (when stropped)

I"ll trying gluing the plastic to strips of 5mm ali.

PIC coming.

Grahame

azzrock
14th Aug 2019, 09:30 AM
Aaron
I am similar to you with a Grandpa Ray sharpener - nearly identical but lacks a base. While it could get the small knives sharp it struggles as the length and width of the larger blades increase. I have used stainless electrodes to increase the length of the sharpening stroke but basically the stones are still too short for the big knives.

Some of the Ruixin fixed rod sharpening kits can do a wonderful job as well. If they are tweaked to remove the poor tolerances they work pretty well

The 150 x 20 x 5mm stones are long enough but very poorly fixed to some flexible plastic backing which allows the stones to move and crack.

Overseas vendors they were asking the equivalent of $70 Au each for decent quality stones. some of the finer stones cut a paper lopping edge (when stropped)

I"ll trying gluing the plastic to strips of 5mm ali.

PIC coming.

Grahame
Ill have to goggle that one Graham.
With bigger knifes i just move the jig part.
Sharpen in two spots. The trouble i have when i try to sharpen thin blades on the 10 or 15 deg slot . I cant get cleareance some times.
I recantly sharped a mundell carving knife for my brother. A medium size one. He was very impresed . Its held its edge very well . I used the 3rd slot from the blade.
Ive tried using steels like ghe butchers use h as lf the time i think i blunten the blade.
I thjnk the the goid thing about the lsnsky is it can be used and stored in tv he kitchen. Not that theres any thing wrong with a linisher in your kitchen.
I broght a diamond med stone for my set at my local market for $30. A few years ago.
Aaron

Diy or die.

Grahame Collins
14th Aug 2019, 10:03 AM
Not that theres any thing wrong with a linisher in your kitchen.

Either you are an exceptionally brave fella or you must live alone.:D:D

Grahame

azzrock
14th Aug 2019, 07:24 PM
Either you are an exceptionally brave fella or you must live alone.:D:D

Grahame
i actually do have a grinder in the kitchen. its a 10 " polisher under the kitchen table
waiting for a spot in the shed.
your right thou currently i have no female cohabiting with me at the moment.
aaron