Messages

Ken, Sorry late reply. A knife in constant use in a boning room for instance, would be a daily sharpen if you have not hit a chain mail glove or such. A worker would normally carry two knives and steel which normally gets them through the day. For sharpening we usually look for thinness behind the edge to stop the wedging effect which causes drag, a knife will shave but still drag if to thick behind the edge. The sharpness is not determined so much by the grit of the stone as the last thing to touch edge determines sharpness, in our case it is the steel which determines sharpness, as such the knife needs to be able to shave after steeling. Workers would probably make three thousand cuts a day, steeling is vital to maintaining an edge throughout the day, a good steel is treasured.
As an example: Using a norton india fine bench stone to finish edge, and steeling. Using a victorinox six inch curved boning knife we could easily bone twenty beef bodies daily, or one hundred and twenty sheep which was a normal days work.Understanding steeling is very difficult to teach, there are many misunderstanding about their use which can only be gained with experience. I have not worked in the industry for twenty years and know that much has changed. Brinky

Hi Ken, Yes am aware of Vadims Excellent research work and website and have purchased some product. Many meat industry workers have understood what happens on the actual knife edge and maintain the edge with a steel, tho not commercial steels as few are suitable. Many make their own steels from rat tail files as you can adjust the fineness or coarseness to suit. When slaughtering mutton the hide contains sand and other things which dull a knife quickly, the need to restore the edge quickly is done with a coarser steel, finer steels are used in boning rooms etc. There are many variables with knife use.
I am age challenged! My initial grinding experience was on the metre diameter wet sandstones, slow but good.
Having a close look from Vadims website and research is excellent.
I have been meaning to reply for sometime. Regards Brinky

Yes, this is identical to mine. the wheel is original so has not had much use. I purchase mine from ebay(the machine was in Sydney) for the wheel as price for whole machine was the same as a new wheel. Looking around the web I get the idea this model would have come in the late 80's early 90's as I also have the 4000 model which was purchased new by me in 1998, I prefer this one to the 4000 for US arrangement!
Ken, I have not met Derek, I am not a woodworker by any means, my main interest is knives and steels. Butchering was my trade, I worked in the meat industry for many years.
Brinky

Just to add, the US support legs are wider than the normal US-105 3"against 4.5/8", the new 430 US support will not fit this machine, another would have to made to suit. All latest parts fit, this machine runs a bit cooler than the 4000 model which is fully enclosed. Hope this helps. Ian

I have the same model, great machine. Quoted the model number to support who did not have it listed! The inline mounting points are great feature, I remove the original polish wheel and replaced with leather. I am from Perth West Australia, sharpening knives and scissors is my job full time.