Final Edge

I used to sharpen with a Lansky setup, but now I sharpen everything on the belt grinder and finish with a leather strop. But, I will say, that is a variable speed grinder too, you'll have to be careful. Bossdog (Tracey) has a sharpening video on here somewhere that you should watch.
 
I do almost everything on the grinder. Starting out with a worn out 400 grit for carbon steel blades. I use two different types of edges..... a "working" edge is the worn 400 grit belt, and that's it. When sharpening a "collector" piece, it's the worn out 400 grit belt, then a pass on each side of the blade's edge with a loose buff and pink No-Scratch. This gives a "scary" sharp edge, that will shave hair all day long, but it's not the best edge for a "working" knife, hence the reason I only use the belt on a working edge, and forgo the buff.

As Anthony said..... its on a variable speed machine, with the speed WAY down....usually in the 20% range on the controller, and I use a slack belt area to achieve a convex edge. I think it bears mentioning that in order for it to work well, the closer to a "zero" edge grind you can get when finish grinding, the better.
 
i use my belt grinder at low speed, about 275 rpm turning a 3" drive wheel about 350fpm, and fine grit, 220 or finer, to sharpen the edge so it will cut copy paper. then use Crystolon coarse/fine till the edge will easily cut newsprint and shave arm hair. some i leave like that, others get diamond stone to 1200 grit. the point of using stones is so the buyer can easily resharpen.
 
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I also use my belt grinder. I used to be obsessive about stones, until I got a grinder. I'll be honest here- I found the learning curve for sharpening on a 2x72 to be much steeper than learning on stones. You'd think it would be a piece of cake and it's not. Like anything, after a lot of practice nothing seems all too difficult but in the beginning it definitely was. Belt progression varies with steels and what you're trying to accomplish, but just like stones, if you aren't getting results quickly you need to drop back down to something coarser and then come back up.

I know you just put together a Grizzly. Not having speed control is going to make things dicey at times if you plan to sharpen on it. I would suggest that you get your edges as near to zero as you can during hand sanding to make the edge thickness thin and uniform. You can do a lot for your edges during hand sanding to get the edge thickness uniformly thin. Then sharpening won't seem like an ordeal.

I do a convex edge. I also make mostly kitchen knives using stainless steel, so keep that in mind. Which belt to start sharpening with depends on your edge thickness. Will the knife cut you during hand sanding? I don't mean razor sharp, but enough of an edge that if you bumped it good, or slid your finger along the edge it would bite you. That's where I like to begin. If the knife won't cut you during hand sanding, you'll probably want to start with a good 220 grit belt to create the convex shape with an edge that will cut. Then a worn 400 grit or a decent 600 grit belt to actually do the sharpening process. I then use a 15 micron belt followed by a leather strop with green chrome.

Stainless will often sharpen to a wire edge if you rush it or aren't looking for it. If all you do is shave your arm, you'll think you have a screaming edge- but you'll find that no amount of stropping will stop the knife from snagging the paper in spots on push cuts. If you have a wire edge, the 15 micron belt is not going to get rid of it any time soon. Drop back to 600 grit and take your time going easy and looking at the edge under strong light and magnification until the wire edge or burr is gone. Then back to the 15 micron with decreasing pressure until that burr is gone. Back to the strop. All I really care about is getting all traces of that wire edge or burr gone, with the knife as sharp as it can possibly be. I believe it's my job to make the edge as perfect as I can to begin with. The customer can tune the knife accordingly for his needs. If the customer wants to cut tomatoes they can make a few passes on a 1000 grit stone to give it some tooth.
 
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Thanx guys I goggled it a bunch of times and only got that Lansky and a few other gagets that I didnt want to use.Then after I posted this thread I found the Boss Dogs video.Thats just wat I was looking for.I guess with my set up I will have too use very light pressure and a lot of water.
 
Just be very cautious with a single speed grinder.....it's really easy to "burn" the last 1/4" or so of the blade's tip if the speed is too fast.
 
I use a Bubble Jig and a wet 2x72 belt machine, its a VS. The benefit of using a BJ is you can put a specific edge angle on the blade. Acute for kitchen cutters and more obtuse for heavier work. It's a nice addition to be able to inform the buyer of the blade that the edge is a specific angle. I cut a matching degree wedge that is marked with the angle on it so the new owner can sharpen at a corresponding angle. I get good feed back from this.
If you are putting convex edges on your blades then a slow running belt with light pressure and a lot of water.

Regards, Fred


[video=youtube_share;lCBUa4CAE4c]https://youtu.be/lCBUa4CAE4c[/video]
 
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