Homemade Knife Rest (HK-50)

[Herman Trivilino]

I've been working on this jig for a couple of weeks now.  The original thread is here:
http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=1560.0

I'm starting a new thread in honor of the new name I've come up with for this jig.

I'm calling it the Homemade Knife Rest (HK-50).

This is a platform for supporting knife blades.  It sits atop, and is attached to, the base of the Tormek Scissors Jig (SVX-150).  The end of the platform nearly touches the grindstone so that the edges of knife blades of all sizes, from small pen knives to large machetes, can be ground.

[Herman Trivilino]

To make the platform I started with a piece of hardwood about 13 mm (0.5") thick and a bit wider than the finished width of 50 mm (2"), which is equal to the width of the Tormek grindstone.  I cut off a length of about 250 mm (10") which is a piece long enough for two of these platforms.  (If it were only long enough for one platform it'd be too short to hold onto while working it into its final shape.) 

The first step is to cut that curved bevel that sits just a millimeter or two off the surface of the grindstone.  I cut one on each end of the piece by nibbling away on my 10-inch table saw blade.

[Herman Trivilino]

Here I'm using a chisel to clean up between the nibbles on the curved bevel.

[Herman Trivilino]

Sanding after chiseling.

[Herman Trivilino]

Ready to be cut in half to make two platforms.

[Herman Trivilino]

delete

[Herman Trivilino]

Here the final fitting of the curved bevel is done.  The grindstone itself is used to grind the wood.  The high spots where the wood touches the grindstone are easy to see because the residual moisture in the stone is wicked up into the wood.  These high spots can then be sanded down with sandpaper.

[Herman Trivilino]

Here you can see that the bevel angle is about 10^o.  You can also see how close a knife blade will be able to get to the grindstone.  The wood is still perhaps a bit too thick at the very end of the bevel.  It's actually a bit thinner on the other one.  The thinner you get it the closer you can get to the grindstone.  However, make it too thin and it won't be rigid enough to stand up to the pressure applied by the operator when sharpening a knife.

[Herman Trivilino]

Here it's been lifted to a 15^o bevel angle.  For angles this large and larger, when you go to sharpen a knife you'll be able rest a larger portion of the blade on the platform and the thickness at the end of the bevel is no longer a critical issue.

[Herman Trivilino]

Here are the two finished platforms.

[Herman Trivilino]

Perhaps tomorrow I'll make a couple more!

I recommend starting with a piece of wood that's a good bit wider than the finished width of 50 mm (1-31/32").  When nibbling away to make the curved bevel you're likely to get some tear-out at the sides.  Also, don't try to make the narrow end of the bevel too narrow by raising the table saw blade too high.  It gets quite flimsy and the table saw blade will knock out chunks of it.  If this happens just trim a bit off the end, that's why it's best to also start with a piece of wood that's a good bit longer than needed.

[Ken S]

Well done, Herman.

Ken

[Rob]

Excellent Herman

And thanks for all the pics, they really make a difference.

[jeffs55]

First off, good job. Now, I see you are using the scissors jig with the tool bar in the vertical position. Is this because of an inability to get the proper angle in the horizontal plane? It looks like you could just cut the jig in half across the plane of the jig to include the mounting hole of course and reduce its width to allow control on a small blade such as you picture. I mean to mount the jig horizontally and adjust the angle to the desired bevel and go to it. All this assumes that you can get the jig close enough which I am sure you could. The angle you would need is the question here as I cannot test this theory. I have not tried this and do not have a scissors jig. It looks like the tool rest SVD 110 would work and is cheaper than buying the scissors jig. Also, as an aside; I see a possible use of the square edge jig with a piece of stiff metal mounted in it to replace the wooden guide you have made. Imagine a chisel or go and get one. Mount it in the square edge tool and see if you can place your pen knife in it in such a way to allow you to sharpen it. They don't lock on the tool rod but does it need to lock?  I think UKR is a better name or UKR-13. In my naming protocol the "13" is for the year 2013 and UKR is for "universal knife rest" as you suggest it can be used on anything from pen knives to machetes. What does the "50" represent? Finally, your presentation is so well illustrated that even I could make one, good job!

[Rob]

50 I think refers to 50mm wide ie 2inch ie just a hair wider than the grindstone.

I think that idea of using wide chisel in the square edge jig as a makeshift base is another good idea. Just thinking out loud though....the torlok rest can get right up close to the grindstone...why couldn't you just use that directly instead of any additional piece?