Powered Sharpener Setup Recommendations

[MaxtheKnife]

I would like a good powered sharpening system.  I currently have a WorkSharp Ken Onion and have sharped several hundred blades with it.  It's a really good machine for the money, but it's "slow" in that it can't really remove metal fast enough to sharpen knives quickly.  On maximum speed, it's also very loud.  

I think what I want is a 1x42 belt sander with variable speed and reversible.  I also want something to make deburring very easy.  Several people have recommended a paper wheel on a bench grinder (buffer).  This has the added advantage of having two wheels, so I can use the other wheel for something like a cotton buffing wheel, which I would use for deburring serrated blades (the serrated side, after having ground the flat side to form a burr).

I would like to be able to see the burr forming as I sharpen.  It seems like a horizontal belt is the best way to do this.  I've occasionally gotten lucky with lighting and been able to see the burr form on the WSKO.  It's really neat to do it this way.  I'd like a setup that's designed to make this happen.

Until recently I thought that sharpening edge leading on a belt was incredibly dangerous.  But over the last week or so I've read a lot of discussion on this that seems to conclude that edge leading sharpening on a belt has a very low probability of grabbing the blade and throwing it.  I'm interested in opinions on this too.  Edge leading would seem to be a better way to reduce burr size to start with so deburring will be easier.

I've looked at the Veil S5 that Steve Bottorf sells, with the adapter plate to let it take the Penn variable speed motor.  But that setup doesn't appear to be truly variable (only goes down to 600 RPM) and it is not reversible.  Maybe reversible isn't important; I'm not sure as I lack experience with real belt grinders.

I've also considered the Kallamazoo 1SM.  I can only seem to find these with a single speed motor included.  Which probably means I need buy my own motor and waste the money on the motor that was already included.

Today I talked to Richard Pope who has made a lot of machines like this.  But he's mainly focusing on scissor sharpening now and his products are mostly out of my price range at > $1000 .

Thanks for any advice for specific machine setups.  Also thoughts on edge leading sharpening, reversible motors, and deburring are all appreciated.

Brian.

I can only share my own experience.  What’s right for me may not be same as what’s right for you.  

There certainly is a plethora of powered sharpening options and no shortage of opinions on which is best.  I know from personal experience how difficult, time consuming and costly deciding on one can be.  I’ve purchased and used paper wheels, hand stones, bench grinder, Tormek, manual guided contraptions, diamond plates, the small version of the Work Sharp belt sharpener and the Kally 1SM.  All of these will sharpen and all have pros and cons.  

For knife sharpening I now only use the Kally.  For me at least it is by far the most versatile and quickest way to sharpen and deburr a knife.  1x42 is an ideal size for sharpening.  Belts are inexpensive and of course there is a cornucopia of grits and abrasive types.  The Kally’s relatively slow belt speed never has a problem of overheating when sharpening so variable speed has just not been an issue.

Both edge leading and edge trailing sharpening will create burr.  Edge leading is far more aggressive.  I prefer edge trailing with a light touch for sharpening.  For easy burr removal with either leading or trailing sharpening, the trick is the keep the burr as small as possible.  A bigger than necessary burr accomplishes nothing and makes its removal more difficult.

After a couple of passes I look at the blade for burr.  With a good light in front, hold the blade with the edge towards you, the spine towards the light, look at the blade from above and tilt it around a bit.  Even the smallest burr will be visible.  What happens is that burr starts to form on small segments along the edge.  Those segments are done.  Additional grinding over those segments will only increase burr size and make it more difficult to remove.  Then focus on segments with no burr until a tiny and even burr is formed along the entire edge.  Flip the blade over, do the same on the other side and you’re done grinding.  

This sounds like a time consuming process but it’s not.  Unless the blade is super dull we’re only talking about a few passes each side.  With a bit of practice it’s quick and easy.  

I deburr with a well worn extra fine Scotch-Brite belt and then finish with the rough side (no compound) of a leather belt to clean things up a bit.  Blades generally end up between 100 – 130 sharpness.  Obviously I don't need to say this here but I will anyway.  NEVER edge lead with either a leather or surface conditioning (Scotch-Brite) belt.  Doing so will instantly destroy the belt and possibly even ruin your day with epidermal leakage.  I just hate it when that happens.  

I should add that I’m only concerned about getting general purpose knives and cutlery very sharp quickly.  I’m not chasing ultimate sharpness, nor am I concerned about things like 15° vs 15.3° bevel angle.  

After many years of experimenting and a lot of $$$ spent, Kally is the way to go for me.  It’s affordable and produces extremely sharp edges very quickly with minimal effort.  Of course, YMMV.  

Hope that helps.

this is all the info above you will ever need..........enjoy.......you can also add penn state motor and reversible switch to Kally later if you desire.
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