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#1
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - Today at 03:20:05 PMBoth for full sharpenings as well as for deburring & (semi-) polishing after creating an initial edge on (for instance) my Tormek T7.
#2
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by Sir Amwell - Today at 03:15:16 PMBy process I mean are you using them for full sharpening or just honing after grinding on something else?
#3
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - Today at 12:55:53 PMEverything i do on the Paper Wheels is completely freehand, no jigs, no bars, no lasers.
I spent quite a bit of time developing my hand-eye coordination, and so far that has been working well for me.
What process do you mean btw ?
I spent quite a bit of time developing my hand-eye coordination, and so far that has been working well for me.
What process do you mean btw ?
#4
Knife Sharpening / Re: Paper Wheels
Last post by Sir Amwell - Yesterday at 11:52:35 PMI could never get paper wheels to work for me, even with very precise angle controls à la Wootz. So gave up.
Interesting here Kwakster, are you free handing on the paper wheels? I see no bars to utilise using jigs?
What's your process with these wheels please?
Interesting here Kwakster, are you free handing on the paper wheels? I see no bars to utilise using jigs?
What's your process with these wheels please?
#5
Knife Sharpening / Paper Wheels
Last post by kwakster - Yesterday at 06:13:56 PMIn 2009 i started sharpening knives with a set of Paper Wheels, bought from a German dealer, the only European source at the time.
For me the Paper Wheels are an addition to sharpening by hand and sharpening with the Tormek.
I also often combine Tormek and Paper Wheels, where the Tormek is used to do the heavy lifting and create the initial edge, and i then proceed with Paper Wheels for subsequent refining steps.
This was my first set-up, with the Paper Wheels mounted on my old Creusen bench grinder.
The sharpening Wheel is on the right in each picture, and the deburring Wheel on the left.
No guards on the machine, which is used turned around so the Wheels spin away from me.
Side view of the slotted Wheel with it's warning label:
The Wheels are made from industrially compressed cardboard, and are used on an ordinary bench grinder.
A standard set consists of 2 Wheels: a sharpening Wheel with a glued-on coating of silicon carbide grit (which does the actual sharpening) plus a coating of wax on top of the grit (which protects your edges from overheating during sharpening)
The second Wheel removes the burr and/or does the polishing of the edge, for which you need to charge the Wheel surface for each knife by holding a small block of fine white aluminium oxide for one or two seconds against the spinning surface.
Instead of cooling wax this Wheel uses several slots cut in it's surface, which work like a strong fan and thus protect your edge from overheating during burr removal and/or polishing.
A few years later i also bought several "naked" Wheels from another dealer in England and charged these with various diamond compounds & powders, first to be able to sharpen ceramic knives and later various high carbide steel knives.
The combination of speed together with built-in overheating protection and overall good results is why i still use my Paper Wheels to this very day.
After a short learning curve practising on several cheap knives i did this second hand Spyderco Military in CPM-D2 steel, and it became one of many quality knives i sharpened on my Wheels over the years.
It had some blade play (fixed it), some discoloration on the blade (left that) and it wasn't quite sharp (fixed that with my Wheels)
The knife was part of my edc for several years.
For me the Paper Wheels are an addition to sharpening by hand and sharpening with the Tormek.
I also often combine Tormek and Paper Wheels, where the Tormek is used to do the heavy lifting and create the initial edge, and i then proceed with Paper Wheels for subsequent refining steps.
This was my first set-up, with the Paper Wheels mounted on my old Creusen bench grinder.
The sharpening Wheel is on the right in each picture, and the deburring Wheel on the left.
No guards on the machine, which is used turned around so the Wheels spin away from me.
Side view of the slotted Wheel with it's warning label:
The Wheels are made from industrially compressed cardboard, and are used on an ordinary bench grinder.
A standard set consists of 2 Wheels: a sharpening Wheel with a glued-on coating of silicon carbide grit (which does the actual sharpening) plus a coating of wax on top of the grit (which protects your edges from overheating during sharpening)
The second Wheel removes the burr and/or does the polishing of the edge, for which you need to charge the Wheel surface for each knife by holding a small block of fine white aluminium oxide for one or two seconds against the spinning surface.
Instead of cooling wax this Wheel uses several slots cut in it's surface, which work like a strong fan and thus protect your edge from overheating during burr removal and/or polishing.
A few years later i also bought several "naked" Wheels from another dealer in England and charged these with various diamond compounds & powders, first to be able to sharpen ceramic knives and later various high carbide steel knives.
The combination of speed together with built-in overheating protection and overall good results is why i still use my Paper Wheels to this very day.
After a short learning curve practising on several cheap knives i did this second hand Spyderco Military in CPM-D2 steel, and it became one of many quality knives i sharpened on my Wheels over the years.
It had some blade play (fixed it), some discoloration on the blade (left that) and it wasn't quite sharp (fixed that with my Wheels)
The knife was part of my edc for several years.
#6
Knife Sharpening / Re: Knife restoration - NYKC H...
Last post by John Hancock Sr - Yesterday at 03:56:57 AMQuote from: kwakster on July 15, 2026, 11:17:47 AMI'm not a fan of Ballistol ever since i used it on an air rifle and found that it polymerized into a translucent filmNever had that happen. I suspect it reacted to something that was on the rifle.
#7
Knife Sharpening / Re: Choosing a default angle
Last post by BPalv - July 15, 2026, 02:48:57 PMIn regards to the original post. I have sharpened for customers at 20, 17 and 15 degrees primarily. I now sharpen pretty much any decent kitchen knife to 15 degrees... They always come back to me needing sharpened. That's to say, I can't tell if one angle held up better or not.
All but the cheapest steel should be stable at 15%. Wootz or Larin showed the sharper the knife is, the longer it stays sharp. The geometry allows a sharper edge at 15°.
In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter. 90% of your customers won't know or care what angle they are sharpened to.
All but the cheapest steel should be stable at 15%. Wootz or Larin showed the sharper the knife is, the longer it stays sharp. The geometry allows a sharper edge at 15°.
In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter. 90% of your customers won't know or care what angle they are sharpened to.
#8
Knife Sharpening / Re: Questions about knife tip ...
Last post by BPalv - July 15, 2026, 02:27:11 PMYep, what he said...
#9
Knife Sharpening / Re: How to achieve less than 1...
Last post by BPalv - July 15, 2026, 02:26:30 PMAs I re-read through all the comments there are a couple things that jump out.
First, many don't see the need or use for a Bess Tester. I use mine for testing my work but more importantly, I use it to learn new techniques and improve my current techniques. It is especially useful in the learning stages to see the way different steels and tempers react to being honed.
Secondly, I use it to confirm I have fully refined the tip, belly and heel. It will also show you when you've stropped too much.
In regards to the OP, the Bess enables you to learn what works and what doesn't. Under 100 is very realistic with the SG-250, depending on the steel. As some have mentioned, cheap steel sometimes just won't get under 120 for a variety of reasons.
Some folks see it as a way to compare results to someone else... I could care less. Just trying to improve my craft, in my mind.
It is a useful tool for me, and has a premium spot on my bench.
First, many don't see the need or use for a Bess Tester. I use mine for testing my work but more importantly, I use it to learn new techniques and improve my current techniques. It is especially useful in the learning stages to see the way different steels and tempers react to being honed.
Secondly, I use it to confirm I have fully refined the tip, belly and heel. It will also show you when you've stropped too much.
In regards to the OP, the Bess enables you to learn what works and what doesn't. Under 100 is very realistic with the SG-250, depending on the steel. As some have mentioned, cheap steel sometimes just won't get under 120 for a variety of reasons.
Some folks see it as a way to compare results to someone else... I could care less. Just trying to improve my craft, in my mind.
It is a useful tool for me, and has a premium spot on my bench.
#10
Knife Sharpening / Re: Knife restoration - NYKC H...
Last post by kwakster - July 15, 2026, 11:17:47 AMI'm not a fan of Ballistol ever since i used it on an air rifle and found that it polymerized into a translucent film which i was able to peel of the mechanism almost in one piece.
For most lubrication jobs i have been using various Nano-Oil products, as for me these always work great.
This knife is also lubricated with a few drops of 5 weight Nano-Oil (their thinnest version)
I use WD40 onlt as a sharpening lubricant and as a cleaning agent for certain jobs.
For most lubrication jobs i have been using various Nano-Oil products, as for me these always work great.
This knife is also lubricated with a few drops of 5 weight Nano-Oil (their thinnest version)
I use WD40 onlt as a sharpening lubricant and as a cleaning agent for certain jobs.