04-15-2018, 11:04 PM
Hi everyone,
My name is Kevin, and I recently got a Viel S-5 (my first powered sharpener). I'm still putting it together and was looking for a pyroceram platen, when I got a recommendation to contact Mark Reich, who let me know about this forum.
To give you a little background on my Viel project, I'm just a regular guy who's been using waterstones to keep my knives acceptably sharp (I'm too lazy to keep them really keen, plus I'm slow). As the 'knife guy' I would sharpen kitchen knives for my friends and family occasionally, but most of them were so painfully dull I'd spend ages on coarse stones just to reprofile the edges... only to find them butter-knife dull again a few months later. Sigh, no matter how much I plead not to use plates as cutting boards, or chop frozen meat, or toss knives in the sink full of dishes....
A few months ago I decided to get a KO Worksharp to speed up the work. I could bring it to people's houses and sharpen in the backyard. Well, researching the topic led me to look into all manner of 1x30 and 1x42 belt grinders, and some of the larger ones, too. Since I wanted to keep the machine portable, that ruled out a 2" belt grinder. At the same time, I wanted to keep the door open to dabble in knifemaking in the future, and I have a friend in college who's getting started in knifemaking but is tight on cash, so I could lend him the machine when I'm not using it.
I settled on the Viel S-5 and picked up a motorless one from Lee Valley during one of their free shipping promos. I also got a Baldor 3/4hp motor and KB VFD from some nice ebay deals. I know variable speed seems overkill for a Viel, but I wanted an enclosed motor and a machine that could last a lifetime of use. I wired it up last week, and now I'm experimenting with motor base shims to get the belt centered on the drive wheel. I'm also putting together a Tru-Grit order for 1x42 belts, mostly Norton Blaze and 3M Trizact (I'm welcome to other suggestions).
Does anyone know where I can get a 1" pyroceram platen? That's what led me to Mark, and maybe some folks could point me in the right direction. Thanks for reading my long intro, and I look forward to being a part of the community here.
P.S. I can't seem to add a pic as an attachment, sorry about that.
My name is Kevin, and I recently got a Viel S-5 (my first powered sharpener). I'm still putting it together and was looking for a pyroceram platen, when I got a recommendation to contact Mark Reich, who let me know about this forum.
To give you a little background on my Viel project, I'm just a regular guy who's been using waterstones to keep my knives acceptably sharp (I'm too lazy to keep them really keen, plus I'm slow). As the 'knife guy' I would sharpen kitchen knives for my friends and family occasionally, but most of them were so painfully dull I'd spend ages on coarse stones just to reprofile the edges... only to find them butter-knife dull again a few months later. Sigh, no matter how much I plead not to use plates as cutting boards, or chop frozen meat, or toss knives in the sink full of dishes....
A few months ago I decided to get a KO Worksharp to speed up the work. I could bring it to people's houses and sharpen in the backyard. Well, researching the topic led me to look into all manner of 1x30 and 1x42 belt grinders, and some of the larger ones, too. Since I wanted to keep the machine portable, that ruled out a 2" belt grinder. At the same time, I wanted to keep the door open to dabble in knifemaking in the future, and I have a friend in college who's getting started in knifemaking but is tight on cash, so I could lend him the machine when I'm not using it.
I settled on the Viel S-5 and picked up a motorless one from Lee Valley during one of their free shipping promos. I also got a Baldor 3/4hp motor and KB VFD from some nice ebay deals. I know variable speed seems overkill for a Viel, but I wanted an enclosed motor and a machine that could last a lifetime of use. I wired it up last week, and now I'm experimenting with motor base shims to get the belt centered on the drive wheel. I'm also putting together a Tru-Grit order for 1x42 belts, mostly Norton Blaze and 3M Trizact (I'm welcome to other suggestions).
Does anyone know where I can get a 1" pyroceram platen? That's what led me to Mark, and maybe some folks could point me in the right direction. Thanks for reading my long intro, and I look forward to being a part of the community here.
P.S. I can't seem to add a pic as an attachment, sorry about that.