Hi there...newbie on board.
I ordered my new machine today from sharptools usa.
I intend to use my machine mainly for knives and household/garden/garage tools.
I enjoy shaving with a straight razor now and then. There is no smoother shave I'm telling you. Sometimes I can get my wife to give me a shave 'barber style'.
I have a small fortune wrapped up in razors. They stay sharp if you strop them with each use, but in time they get a bit dull and then it's not a pleasure to use them anymore. My solution was to buy a new razor. Eventually, I did find a source to sharpen them but it's a pain. I've tried hand hones and they don't work either.
Watching the video it appears that the machine might to a good job. Since my razors all have a straight blade..ie no curve to the edge; I think the general purpose jig will work.
The one issue I have is the concave grind of the razors. Straight razors have a super hollow grind starting with a relatively wide spine and tapering to a very thin edge.
Has anyone tried this? I suspect the two main issues are going to be fitting the blade into the jig, and determining proper cutting angle which will be significantly less than 40 degrees.
I do recall somewhere that the grinding angle is nearly flat. Stropping is done completely flat.
Also...will the 1000 grit of the wheel be fine enough?
I have done a couple to the delight of potential customers who brought them to a show.
As I understand the geometry, you need a small edge angle worked off the hollow grind of the blade.
I used the SVM-45 Knife Jig, grabbing only the very back edge of the blade and laying the angle out as flat as I could achieve. I graded the stone to 1000 grit. When I thought I had the stone smooth I enough, I spent another minute and a half with the grader -- you cannot overdo it.
For something like this, you want the grindstone surface to feel like a piece of wet glass.
Use the leather honing wheel being very careful not to bring the angle too high.
Practice, practice, practice.
I can hardly wait to try it for myself!!
Thank you, Jeff, for a prompt reply.
My results may be awhile coming...but if I am successful I'll post my results here.