Thread: Work Sharp Blade Grinder Attachment

It is ironic to me that as I study old razors and such, I have learned of a plethora of machines men have devised to 'sharpen' straight razors going back a few hundred years. It WOULD be cool to have a machine which would do it. What sets this one apart is the ability to go down in grits to pretty fine, not to mention the variable speed. I want one because it seems quite handy to have for many uses.
I will wait to hear from you Gentlemen before I hone a straight on it, though!

Originally Posted by Slawman

Well I do have a pretty smooth hand & I can get a razor sharp ON THE Ken Onion or my hones & strop[. I feel good abut the sharpening , honing & stropping I do. I think I will quit posting on here for a while & really evaluatewhat I do on this forum. When I was a blacksmith I had people tell me that using a power hammer was cheating. Let me tell you that you can mess up a piece of steel REAL quick with a power hammer but if used properly you can produce a better forging faster with a power hammer & like a black smith The same holds true for razor & knife making. I do enjoy making things with my hands & that Ken Onion Blade grinder or my ! X 42 belt grinder are just extension of those hands. I hope you all can shave hair of a nats balls. I am not a newbey either in metal working. A razor is just a really sharpblade designed to do a job. I have made knives for all types of work. What I am saying is a razor is just another type of knife.If you really think there is some special mojo to make or sharpen a razor , I feel sorry for you. Once you learn how to do an operation & learn to do it well,, I guess rthats about all you can do.

You are a metal worker, so consider this: razors have a thick spine to make sure that you can lay them on the hone, resting on the spine and edge, to make sure that you will always have the same honing angle. On a sanding belt, you cannot achieve the same thing, and the risk to the blade is significant.

Originally Posted by Slawman

I then went to the WO blade grinder set at 17.5*

Is this angle per side or inclusive? The pessimistic side of me suspects per side which would be much to obtuse for my tastes.

Well, its a shame that this thread got as corrupted as it did. It IS in the knives forum. But I understand the strong opinions vocalized as it comes to razor. However, for knives, it really can deliver a decent edge. Its not a miracle tool that's idiot proof. In fact, you can easily screw up a knife on this thing quick. But with practice and getting used to the various belts available, you can quickly raise a burr and sharpen an edge with it. I suspect that if you have very expensive Japanese knives that are polished for sushi/sashimi, you might opt for something more traditional. But a western style chef knife gets a decent edge from this thing. Considering that the "professional" place I have been going to is no longer doing such a great job, its an improvement.

Hello all,, back from dealing with some family things & have a week before I have to take my mom back to Pensacola on Sunday. I have found a couple of ways for setting the angle with the blade grinder. 1. Tape the spine I have used Scotch & electricans tape, one layer only. Then with pretty tight belt tension & the pulleys set to the straighter grind position. simply go thru the beltstill I finish with the worn out 12,000 grit belt with green compound. After that I strop on my Koken Shell Horse hide strop & there you have it.The other way is to set the angle for around 12* to 18* & using the regular Worksharp Bladegrinder method sharpen the blade. This method takes more skill as one has to be able to hold the blade at the correct angle to the belt. There is a leveling platten to make this easier & the rest is all up to you. I am hoping to get the Worksharp leather strop for fathers day & I may have some new info to share. I would love to get together & show what I do. Good bad or ugly it works for me. I am real busy till sometime in early July. My Mom living over 1,000 miles away by herself keeps me busy but I am so glad I can be here for her. If you have a mom in her later years just call her & tell her you love her. It will make you both feel good! I think it would be great if we could have a mid-west get together. If there are any members around the North west part of Florida next week I will be there.Later all! Dave "Slawman" Huffman

If you don't take Utopian up on his offer, I would like to make an offer to you:

Send me one of your blades you comfortably shave with, a quality blade. I will take it to the Shapton's & finish on Escher and send it back to you & you can decide.

Dave, we aren't bashing you at all...but if it were that easy we would all be using our power tools on our razors. I have a variable speed 2x72 belt "grinder" I made just for making razors as I can get it down to very slow. I still only use it for making razors & I use the slow speed with fine belts in the finishing of the razors to ensure the heat treatment isn't changed or damaged...which is usually what ends up happening when messing with super fine compounds. Many of us honers have done everything possible to ensure we can get a perfect edge, from observing the edges at high levels of magnification to investing a lot of dough in stones & of course honing a LOT of razors to learn the slight differences one razor may have over the other. If I could get the same level of edge off of my grinder, you bet your tail I would use the grinder...but it's not possible & even if it were it wouldn't be consistent. By this I mean if you knew how to shone on Shapton stones you could come to my house and use my stones just as you could yours & obtain the same results as you would at home. I am in the early stages of arthritis & have other issues with my hands, so honing all the time isn't necessarily easy for me...but I do it because I am very picky about my edges. Thank goodness a quality razor doesn't need honed all that often & when I do hone it's usually about a half dozen at a time...which reminds me that I need to sit down with the stones soon.