Honing Wheel and Compound

[Herman Trivilino]

This was a learning experience for me.  It has potential.  I grabbed a couple of old paring knives that had been delegated to the scrap pile and practiced.  I got 'em sharp, but they don't look pretty.

It's going to take a lot more practice with this homemade jig before I can make a judgment call.

I will say this, though, I'm glad I practiced with knives that I don't care about.

I think the first knife that people sharpen with a Tormek should be a knife they don't care about.  One that they could just as well throw away as sharpen.  Once sharp they can use it if they like, or move on to a knife they do plan on using.

[ionut]

Hi Herman

That looks good, if you grind a bevel on that metal piece, to a very thin edge,  it will allow you to get very close to the stone and then you could rest the entire blade of a small knife on the support and control the angle perfectly, That would only needed for very small or narrow knives. And if you turn the clamps upside down they'll be out of your way. Your version is cheaper than mine
I am not much of a knife sharpener, but when I put that thing together I had a very small pocket knife and it all went perfectly almost the entire blade width was supported by the rest.

Ionut

[grepper]

Very Herman.  Come up with some chunk of steel plate and..., Bob's your uncle.  Heavy duty too!  Ionut's idea of grinding it to an edge about finishes it off.  Huh... Cool.

[Elden]

Herman,
Along with your idea of using a knife you don't care about, I picked up three serrated knives and a little bottle of peppermint oil today at a rummage sale for $1. The knives are for practice. One knife is made in Germany, the second is Sheffield steel from England (has cheap looking handle), and the third from China. The one from China is beveled on both sides and the points are rounded, different than any I have seen before. Thought it might be fun to play with. Suppose I should have picked up the rest of the Chinese made ones with them going for that kind of price, but didn't. My wife wanted to know why I was getting them, but let it go when I said they were for practice!

[Herman Trivilino]

It's always interesting to see just how soft the steel is on those cheap knives.  I don't think they were ever intended to be sharpened, just used for a while then thrown away or sold.

I remember when I was a child my brother made a butcher knife from an old industrial power hacksaw blade.  I bet he still has it.

[Herman Trivilino]

That looks good, if you grind a bevel on that metal piece, to a very thin edge,  it will allow you to get very close to the stone and then you could rest the entire blade of a small knife on the support and control the angle perfectly, That would only needed for very small or narrow knives. And if you turn the clamps upside down they'll be out of your way.

I took your advice and am happy to announce great success.

I will post pictures in a new thread.

[RobinW]

Rhino commented - "So when you are using the honing wheel, should the paste come off as a paste on your knife?  Or should it flake off as powder?"

I did oil the honing leather when new, took it easy using small amounts of a thin oil, until I was satisfied it was evenly absorbed by the leather.

If I apply paste and start honing I try and spread it over the whole width of the leather using my finger or a chisel. However as the honing starts it builds up on the back of the chisel, so I wipe it onto my finger and re-apply it to the wheel. The next thing I notice is like Rhino's comment, I start getting flakes coming off. I thought this was flakes of leather so apply some more paste if I thought the wheel was drying off.

So what should I be looking for? Should paste still be seen as a cream on the chisel? Are the flakes leather or dried up paste and nothing to worry about?

[Rob]

Pretty sure the flakes are old dried up paste that's coating the wheel. It should be black in appearance.  You're certainly describing what happens with mine ie paste wet to begin....then as you hone it either ends up on the tool but eventually beds ino the wheel and dries

If the blade digs a little close to the wheel it digs up those dried flakes

That's how it is on mine and mine works so I guess that's normal

[Herman Trivilino]

I never get dry flakes, only paste.  Usually very dark and dirty paste.  But then my wheel may still be suffering from the effects of my having over oiled it in the past.

[Rob]

Any dry flakes come after quite a lot of honing...the paste remains wet for a little while