CW-220 Honing Wheel

[Thy Will Be Done]

Well this is something I've actually liked the looks of for a honing wheel and with the introduction of the MB-102 coming soon I may actually begin using a honing wheel for sharpening.  My reason for avoiding this in the past was that it lacked the precision I wanted in setting the apex finish/angle AND the fact that all 'strops' --- of which the honing wheel qualifies being leather impregnated with abrasive compound --- suffer from the same problems :

- First all of the abraded steel has to go somewhere and it ends up remaining on the surface of the wheel accumulating with nowhere to go. 

- This in turn causes burnishing of the steel more than cutting and results in an apex that is heavily stressed from the very beginning

- Pressure is critical when using a strop as too much will tend to round the apex heavily and cause a significant distortion in the actual apex angle

So the way I see it, the MB-102 solves quite nicely the problem of angle control and pressure and it will be immediately added to my workshop for experimentation. 

It does nothing however for the issue of abraded steel clogging the action of the wheel.  Enter the CW-220, finally what looks like something that may be able to be properly flushed of abraded steel.

Does anybody have any experience with cleaning the surface of the wheel to remove all or most of the steel waste from the wheel?  My thought is that it would be easy to do but I hate to buy just to see.

[aquataur]

I once had put more and more oil onto my leather wheel in a misunderstanding of the purpose. To get rid of it again, I used some kitchen paper soaked in polypropylene alcohol and it looked like new again.

I use the same angle for the leather as for sharpening, and a degree more for the felt. My knives' sharpness improved a lot, and I maintain that with a ceramic rod. God knows if they suffered from burnishing.

[John S]

It does nothing however for the issue of abraded steel clogging the action of the wheel.  Enter the CW-220, finally what looks like something that may be able to be properly flushed of abraded steel.

Does anybody have any experience with cleaning the surface of the wheel to remove all or most of the steel waste from the wheel?  My thought is that it would be easy to do but I hate to buy just to see.

I too have wondered how to deeply clean the CW-220 wheel. I always use isopropanol instead of water as the lubricant when stropping.  To clean I have drench the wheel, run a strong neodymium magnet across it while spinning then really rub surface with a microfiber cloth.  It seems good and clean, but is there a better method?  Open to suggestions.

John

[John Hancock Sr]

The recommended method is to use a straight piece of steel like the back of an old knife - or in my case the edge of a plane blade or chisel to use as a scraper to scrape it clean. I find that this works perfectly well.

I did a demonstration here https://youtu.be/RoR0KjlfKfU?si=iK2mqV96okURdqWI

Go to the chapter Keeping your honing wheel in good condition