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+--- Thread: Powered Sharpener Setup Recommendations (/showthread.php?tid=515)
RE: Powered Sharpener Setup Recommendations - grepper - 01-20-2020
FWIW Mr. Max the only part I "made" was the diffuser bucket. It is just a 5 gal plastic bucket with a lid. The hose to the dust collector is 4" dryer vent hose. The bucket could be simplified by just drilling two holes in the top, sticking the dryer vent hose through them and sealing it with duct tape.
Or, you could just eliminate the bucket and just have a piece of hose going to the dust collector. The only reason for the bucket is a home-made spark arrester. When the grindings pass through the hose they get sucked into the fan of the dust collector and blown into a bag. That's a LOT of air movement. I would think that any tiny sparks from sharpening would be totally cooled off on their journey through the hose/dust collector fan. At least in my case knife sharpening rarely, if ever, produces sparks let alone large enough sparks to not burn out when passing through the hose/collector fan.
The chances of knife sharpening sparks being a fire hazard are greatly reduced if the system is only used for sharpening and not woodworking. It's a really bad idea to have a combination wood dust/metal dust collector as the wood dust is most likely to catch fire. I have not put water in the bottom of the bucket for years, mainly because there just don't seem to be any sparks generated when I sharpen.
The little HF dust collector sucks air into the input hose, directly into the collector fan and on into the filter bag. It moves 660 CFM of air so any possible sparks are exposed to a lot of air before going into the bag. If you thought there was any possibility of some smoldering spark sitting in the bag you could just pull the bag off the collector and put the bag in a metal can when you are finished.
Without the bucket, it's just attach a hose to the dust collector and plug it in. Anyway, it's just an idea.
The air filter you pictured is just a room dust dust filter. I don't think it would be very efficient sucking grinding dust away from a sharpening machine. Better than nothing but it's a room air filter, not a dust collector.
RE: Powered Sharpener Setup Recommendations - blgentry - 01-28-2020
(01-16-2020, 10:31 AM)eddosedge Wrote: I use the respirator with replaceable filters and face guard below.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013SIIBFQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BO6RIE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I bought a different face shield and I like it. The respirator was quite a surprise. Smaller than I expected. The big surprises are that it's really comfortable and really seems to noticeably improve the air quality. Air seems more crisp and cool and clean just wearing it.
Thanks again,
Brian.
RE: Powered Sharpener Setup Recommendations - blgentry - 01-28-2020
I've done a handful of blades on this now. I'm getting good edges, but taking a long time deburring as I get my technique down. The best I've gotten so far is a 140 BESS edge on a 5" Santoku blade. That was only at one spot. The others were 145 and 150 (I think). More typical for me is a 170 to 190 edge. Those seem quite sharp as well. Then when I screw up and leave some burr on, I get a 250 or 300 in a spot or two! After deburring more, I can usually get these down to below 200.
I've spent some time refinishing some blades too. I started with an old machete and was pretty proud of the results. After more practice, I decided to work on a nice kitchen knife that I use very often. I had scratched that blade really badly by following Murray Carter's method of "thinning" the blade. He says you should lay the blade flat it's side on top of a 1000 JIS stone and scrub away to thin it's profile. It made my blade very ugly.
Here's a video I shot part way through the process. Now that I'm all the way through the process, I'm pretty happy with it.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XdKsobpuD9D-FM46W3AQ4d7z1MEpRGiu
Brian.
RE: Powered Sharpener Setup Recommendations - blgentry - 01-28-2020
On the off chance that anyone wanted to see the blade a bit better, here's what it looked like when I was completely done.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1yCpaxz7fNyg0oxi9o0QJOgYlH8pWtjzw
Oh and it measured about 170 BESS after I put an edge on with a 180 grit belt (Trizact A100) and then removed the burr with VF scotchbrite, followed by bare (rough side) leather. It cuts very nicely.
Brian.
RE: Powered Sharpener Setup Recommendations - grepper - 01-28-2020
That's really pretty! Gotta love that S-B satin finish. A huge improvement after you uglyed it with the thinning.
I really like the finish from the VF S-B belt. I think S-B comes in an even finer grit grade too. I don't have one but it would be fun to play with to see what it does. I believe it's called super fine, or ultra fine, or super-duper fine or ultra
super-duper fine. I think it's a gray color. If anyone has one knows about it please post where to get it.
Is this it?
https://trugrit.com/product/1-x-42-sb-ssfn-scotch-brite-aluminum-oxide-medium-low-stretch/
For whatever reason 3M S-B belts seem rather mysterious as to grit. Even the 3M site is ambiguous and appears to list the colors out of order of grit:
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/All-3M-Products/?N=5002385+3293242352&preselect=5581099+8711017+3293190329+3293190522+3294857497&rt=rud
Color: Blue, Brown, Gray, Maroon
Grade: Coarse, Medium, Super Fine, Very Fine
I thought the gray super fine was less coarse than the blue very fine. It's a hair pulling freak show!
Maybe a phone call to Super Grit or TruGrit would clear things up.
RE: Powered Sharpener Setup Recommendations - blgentry - 01-29-2020
I'm glad you like the look. I was pretty happy with the final result. It actually took me several tries. On one of those tries, I ended with the VF scotchbrite, which made an even finer finish. Though scotchbrite is a little weird. It's almost like a shine on top of an existing finish. Or maybe a satin coating on top of your finish. It mellows out the grind lines from the earlier belts, and kind of smooths everything over. It really is a nice finish as you have said.
That belt you linked from TruGrit is *definitely* the gray "super fine" scotchbrite 1x42. I know because I just received one last week. Note that the description says "Medium", but the part number has "SFN" in it. That's the gray super fine for sure. I have not even put it on the machine yet, but I have it and plan to do some experiments with it.
Equivalent grit, as most here probably know, is a weird estimated thing. Because abrasives are all different shapes and configurations. ...and in the case of Scotchbrite, it's a combo abrasive with a soft mild cut, mixed with real abrasive particles bonded to that backing. But not very many of them (abrasive particles) as compared to a real belt. So it makes an unusual (but nice) finish.
I've seen this table in several places and I like Steve Bottorf, so I'm linking to his version:
https://sharpeningmadeeasy.com/grits.htm#scotch
Personally I think this chart is most useful for perhaps using it as a guide to how to blend a satin finish after you've used a certain belt. For example, if you finish with a 180 to 220 belt, the Medium Scotchbrite is probably the right match. If you finish with a 320, a VF is probably the best match. But I'm just guessing.
Check out this video which shows how Scotchbrite is used along with other abrasives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H1xmxlDBu0
Incredible result!
Brian.
RE: Powered Sharpener Setup Recommendations - MaxtheKnife - 01-30-2020
this post just keeps getting better and better........i like it
RE: Powered Sharpener Setup Recommendations - MaxtheKnife - 01-30-2020
(01-01-2020, 07:44 AM)MaxtheKnife Wrote:(12-31-2019, 03:41 PM)blgentry Wrote: I have ordered kind of a large assortment of belts, including a leather belt, medium scotchbright, and quite a few grits including 40, 120, and more.you said medium scotchbrite.........purpleish in color/burgandy.........i think you want the blue fine one......medium is a different world......they offer a gray @ extra fine, but not needed as i have found it.....just fyi.
I'm excited to try out these new tools. I've really enjoyed sharpening on the WSKO. I hope this will take it to a new level.
Lest Ken or Grepper think I'm not listening: I hear you both about light pressure. It makes sense from several standpoints: Low heat, low belt deflection (for a less convex edge), good control, etc. Finally, I personally believe that low pressure at high speeds translates to "finer apparent grit". A combination of the belt moving very quickly (compared to hand speed) and the light pressure on the cutting surface, should produce a scratch pattern that's several grades finer than what is printed on the belt. Am I crazy?
Thanks,
Breian.
i remembered that in the past, i had ordered non woven from Klingspore also.....med....fine......they offer med....purple.....fine in blue
.
https://www.woodworkingshop.com/product/nw02815/
RE: Powered Sharpener Setup Recommendations - blgentry - 02-03-2020
I have a Spyderco Delica, with a full serrated blade. I carried it for several years straight and used it a BUNCH; mostly opening boxes. At the time I was working at a place doing receiving, so I went through a lot of boxes. I also sharpened it a lot on a sharpmaker, which changed it's geometry slightly: rounded off the serrated points and put a tiny secondary angle on the flat side.
A few days ago, I spruced it up on the Kally by using the very fine and super fine scotchbrite belts. On the shiny parts of the blade, the super was the right choice. On the more "ground" looking areas, the very fine restored it's natural look pretty well. I wish I had some before and after pictures, but knife pictures are *hard* to get right! My knife guy at the flea market (who knows knives quite well) said it looked nearly factory in terms of the blade.
I then sharpened it by using a 600 grit belt on the back to raise a burr in the serrations. Then I polished off the burr by using the smooth side of the leather belt. I charged the corner of the belt with green compound and then ran the scallops over that corner so it went in and out of all of the serrations. After a few passes, it was pretty clean. The blade clean slices phonebook paper now, which is pretty good for a serrated blade.
Then I noticed the tip wasn't all that pointy. Looking at it under a 10x loupe, I could see that the beveled part was pretty straight, but the spine side was pretty rounded. I'm not sure if that's the infamous "stronger Delica tip" that people hate, or if mine was blunted more from use. Either way, I fixed it. I sharpened the beveled side on a 600 grit belt, then polished the burr off. Just to make sure that last bit was sharp and straight.
Then I ground down the spine, holding it flat against a 120 grit belt, but rocking it towards the tip. After several rounds of this, I finally reached the tip. Looking at it under the loupe again, (I kept looking as I went along), I could now see a nice triangular tip. The spine side was no longer rounded. ...and boy is it pointy! It's extremely sharp on the tip. Hooks into phonebook paper held out several inches from my fingers. I think it will be a joy to use.
If you watch "regular people" use knives, you'll notice that they really like the tip and the first inch or two. A lot of practical work is done by piercing with a blade, or by using the first inch. I've learned to pay special attention to the tips of blades, trying to get them all needle tipped, and razor sharp all the way to that tip. I find that on a lot of blades I have to do pay a lot more attention to that last inch or so. Since it gets used the most, it gets blunted the most too.
Anyway, I sure am happy with this sander. I'm having a lot of fun working on different blades.
Brian.
RE: Powered Sharpener Setup Recommendations - blgentry - 02-15-2020
If you'd like to take a look at the Delica from my previous post, I just posted a video about it.
Brian.