Messages

Hi Dennis.
Completely agree with 2 previous replies.
I would get used to using the SG wheel, practicing and becoming entirely competent with it.if you are happy with the results then stick there.
Only consider investing in diamond or CBN wheels later, if you find yourself sharpening more and more knives ( friends and family will come out of the woodwork once they discover you're set up, you may decide to start a small business?!). For personal knives with occasional sharpening the basic set up is more than adequate.

I agree with Ricks replies 100%.
With regards the felt honing wheel though.
My personal experience with using one (bought from Vadim) was not that good.
Couldn't get it to produce Vadims' results no matter what I did and how much I tinkered with it. Always higher Bess initially and always higher Bess after subsequent honing on leather.
Enquiries on this forum produced mixed conclusions.
I wanted to make it work but gave up after much experimentation and frustration.
So to return to an old inconclusive subject:
Who in this community has good results with a felt wheel à la Vadim?
How, EXACTLY, have you made it work?
This is maybe a word of caution to the OP before they rush in headlong thinking the felt wheel will be game changing.

My bad. That 350mm measurement includes a revolving base.
So it's 350mm minus the revolving base. Im not able to get to the workshop right now to measure that but if someone can't supply that information I'll get to it tomorrow...
Good point Ken!

I have just measured it at 350mm. As accurate as I can be. Hope this helps.

Click on my name and select ' send PM '

Hi Wimpsi.
You are indeed on a journey.
There's no real quick fix and practice will be your friend.
Your work flow questions will be answered by focusing on practice and consistent repeatability for 'mainstream knives' protocols that you develop.
I have found that once you get accustomed to the above you will find a way to efficiently be able to batch your incoming knives and be able to quickly assess which knives need what treatment and then streamline your process to make the most of your precious time to achieve your desired results. At this point it is all about thinking ahead and planning rather than charging in and trying to rush things.
You will get there, be assured.
PM me if you want details of how I do my workflow.
One thing though from previous comments, what do you want to achieve?
If sub 200 Bess is your goal then sell out and do all your sharpening on belt grinders and go for volume rather than quality.
If sub 120 Bess is your goal, indicating complete burr removal (quality) then stick with Tormek. It is easily achievable and a quality of results that will be really appreciated by your customers, if they are worthwhile customers.
Once you get a set of protocols to meet under 120 Bess the testing becomes irrelevant on the Bess tester and a green rizla paper will be the only test you need.
Keep going!

I had a problem with one of my US430's.
Where one of the legs was welded to the support bar, a tiny piece was very slightly proud of the back of the support bar. Only detectable when drawing the knife jig along it, producing a bump.
Five minutes with a file sorted it out.

This is interesting.
Just being a bit hypothetical here on in.
Is it a given that the standard SG250 wheel, if graded to coarse, will gradually tend to fine if used to grind a knife?
How gradual is this?
If one was to keep grinding on and on, adjusting the USB as the stone wore down so as to maintain a constant angle.
How fine a grit on the stone could we achieve? ie original posters question?
And of course (re Ken's post) it's a bit arbitrary .
But could we ever turn an SG250 into a 10k stone?
Or are the abrasive particles 'set' to only effectively grind at the 1k mark.
I suppose I'm just waffling on and fleshing out the original posters question.
Do we really need loads of diamond or CBN wheels of different grits or do we just need a range of different grit 'cheap' diamond plates and the one SG250 stone?
Hmmmmm.
I think I need to go to bed......

Im not good with technology so won't attempt to give a link. If you go through Knife Grinders videos on YT there are a few in which Vadim shows how to do this correctly.

Also check that you have the knife correctly aligned in the jig so that you are not fighting' against the jig stop on the USB. The tracking on the stop can throw off your even pressure along the length of the knife if not correctly aligned.

Hi. Lovely work. Can you explain the process of restoring the handle? More specifically, the work done to all the washers? Thanks.

Surely the answer here is to use the tried and tested 'increase the spine thickness by adding layers of tape to the desired tolerances' which I think is between 2 and 3 mm?

I second the red sharpie Mr Colvin. Absolutely.

I initially grind and then refine on a 1000 grit CBN wheel on Tormek.
I then hone on a leather belt on WSKO with Tormek paste.
I estimate the blade taper for a given knife.
Say I want to hone exact angle I compensate for the blade taper and set the WSKO accordingly.
So if I ground at 15 degrees per side on Tormek.
If the taper on the knife is 1.5 degrees per side then I set the WSKO to 13.5 degrees to hone exact.
For most knives I hone at plus 1.5-2 degrees per side initially.
Then at exact to finally remove the burr.
Make sense?
PM me if you want more details/explanation.

I've purchased from this person before and have had no problems. I'm in the UK and there was no issues with communication or shipping. I would follow the previous posters advice and im sure the problem will be resolved.