Belt Grinder for Sharpening

C

Cameron Wilcox

Well-Known Member
I used to post here pretty frequently but fell off of knife making for a while, now I need some semi-related help.

I work in a kitchen and have recently been given the task of taking over for our sharpening company (they are terrible). However since this is going to be regular sharpening for 3 full kitchens, it's not really feasible to do it all by hand. I'm used to working on a belt grinder and having a slightly convex edge would be beneficial here since the knives see some pretty rough use. The issue I'm running into is finding a belt grinder that can go slow enough to be better for sharpening. So far I've come to either just a run of the mill belt grinder and accept that the speed will give less than ideal results, or go all out on a Coote and have to find an appropriate motor and pulley set up.

Are there any better set ups that would be better for strictly sharpening knives?

I appreciate any input.
 
Did they give you a budget or is it on you to buy something?
What about a 10" water stone sharpener like the Wen or Grizzly. I have not used one but the Ken onion work sharp might be option.
If you dont have a variable drive on a belt sander its going to be tough not to over heat the edge of thin kitchen knives. I use my 2x72 but can slow it way down with my vfd.
 
Cameron Wilcox said:
I used to post here pretty frequently but fell off of knife making for a while, now I need some semi-related help.

I work in a kitchen and have recently been given the task of taking over for our sharpening company (they are terrible). However since this is going to be regular sharpening for 3 full kitchens, it's not really feasible to do it all by hand. I'm used to working on a belt grinder and having a slightly convex edge would be beneficial here since the knives see some pretty rough use. The issue I'm running into is finding a belt grinder that can go slow enough to be better for sharpening. So far I've come to either just a run of the mill belt grinder and accept that the speed will give less than ideal results, or go all out on a Coote and have to find an appropriate motor and pulley set up.

Are there any better set ups that would be better for strictly sharpening knives?

I appreciate any input.
Click to expand...
I have my original Coote from 20 plus years ago that I kept when I bought more advanced machines and made into a sharpening & knife making demo machine. It’s a 2 x 72 with 8” wheel set up with a 1 hp KABC controller and sharpen about 200-600 mostly Culinary knives a week!! Works like a charm as long as I do my part. I sharpen just above the Platen and use 120, 600 grit & 30 micron to finish the Japanese Blades... I mounted mine on a dolly cart and can roll it anywhere..
 
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If using a belt grinder for sharpening (I do), speed control is essential, and not step pulleys! They simply will not slow the belt enough. A VFD is the answer. If you run the belt too fast, it's only a matter of time before you wreck a blade via overheating.
 
For sharpening the house beaters a Harbor Freight 1x30 is fantastic. Head over to Lee Valley .com and pick up some 220grit and 600 grit belts, one or two 15 micron belts and a leather strop. (or a leather 1x30 belt if you prefer. They are a bit spendy.)

For knives you really care about, or if you want to sharpen for a living, you can do much better. But that 1x30 turns hours of sharpening into zip-zip-done. The only reason the 1x30 isn't my favorite for nice knives that the belts will flutter enough while it's running to put little hairline scratches in the blade sometimes.

As with anything, the TEN PERCENT RULE applies: You have to be ten percent smarter than the equipment you operate. You will not overheat a blade if you keep the blade moving and use nearly zero pressure. The 1x30 is going so fast that you don't need any pressure whatsoever and you certainly don't want to move slowly or dwell. A couple deliberate passes alternating sides and you are done.
 
Watch Ed Caffreys very short video on sharpening a knife with belt grinder and buffer...he gets a hair popping sharp in prolly less than a minute. I've been working on it but still no where as quick...lol. Still, when he shows how he does it he doesn't stop the camera to double check... he just shaves hair...cause he KNEW exactly what he would end up with....worth learning!


Okay...I counted out...from the time he hits the belt to the hair coming off his arm is 36 seconds LOL!!!! And...that was with a bit of free instruction added in so he's actually doing it in about 20 seconds...

This video was of particular interest to me in that my dream of making semi-production knives wasn't going to fly with my old 20 minute method...lol.
 
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Overheating can be avoided by starting the grinding at the tip.
If you start at the handle end and grind towards the tip the heat will be "pushed" along the blade and end up at the tip.
It feels a bit akward to start the grind at the tip, and if you prefer starting at the handle end, make sure you dunk the blade in water for every pass.
 
Regarding scary sharp. I had a Fiskars axe long ago, and decided to sharpen it on a water stone.
I did, and when finished I placed the axe on the table and sat down on the couch.
Then nature called and I had to go to the bathroom. Then I saw a decent amount of blood on the floor and a trail of blood all the way to the couch.
I must have swiped my finger on the axe's edge when getting up from the couch. Didn't feel a thing when I cut myself.
-That's scary sharp.
 
If you go with a Coote, you can get a 1hp TECO VFD and something like an 1hp ironhorse for around $300, give or take. If you have a 220VAC circuit to plug into, you can get a little bigger VFD for possibly a little cheaper, but 1hp should be more than enough power just for sharpening, especially on something like a 2 wheel Coote. Just get a couple of cast pulleys from your local tractor supply, an appropriate v-belt, and whatever you need to wire everything up, and you should be good.
 
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