Sharpening a Meat Clever

[steves]

I hoping somebody can suggest what the best attachment is to sharpen a meat clever I have. The blade is almost 8 inches in length and approximately 3.25 inches wide. The shape of the knife is almost a rectangle with just a slight convex shape to the blade edge. I attempted to use the long blade attachment but the collective length of the knife plus the attachment is not short enough to get the appropriate blade angle. Any suggestiong? Thank you.

[Jeff Farris]

Steve,

Your meat cleaver will have to be done freehand.  Turn the machine so that the grindstone is turning away from you, use the stone grader carefully to create a very smooth stone, and work the bevel by hand across the stone.

[steves]

Thank you Jeff. I wonder if I could put a bushing or some other spacer between the guide and the long knife attachment handle to decrease the distance between the guide and the clever blade. Have you ever done this or found something that works in this regard?

[Jeff Farris]

I am afraid you'll run out of space between the back of the clamp and the face of the stop.

[jeffs55]

Could you use the Tormek Tool Rest in some way? It would still be freehand but the large "flat" of the cleaver would aid in maintaining a consistent bevel. I have not done this or even tried to set it up, I have no idea if it is possible. If you do not have the tool rest, I do; if you need me to I could check the feasability of this idea. Let me know.

[steves]

Thank you everybody.I will give those ideas a try.

[steves]

I ended up just doing it free hand without the tool rest. It was difficult to position with the tool rest with the wheel moving away from the blade. I ended I'm just diving in with a total free hand and it turned out great. I didn't think it would without some sort of guide but I just went slow it was very please with the results. It actually was a good experience because it gave me a lot more confident in using the machine. Thank you again.