Thread: Can somebody explain the regrinding procedure?

I have just ordered two frederick reynolds wedges, which I would like to restore. I am not sure on how good a shape they are in now, but I suspect one will need the spine evening out a bit.
Is there a way to do this at home?
If not, what is the procedure that people use on this forum?
Is it a case of using a grinding wheel and removing the whole face of the blade to make it even?
Presumably that would mean you would need a very large wheel to prevent much hollowing of the wedge? or maybe many different sizes to create different depths of grind?
Anybody good at describing the process, or have any pictures?

Nick

AFAIK, the most common procedure to get fabulous results is pretty simple and straightforward......

















.....send it to Joe Chandler! And I'll wait for HIM to explain the procedure...I've always wondered myelf how he does that!

-whatever

-Lou

HERE HERE I'll second that motion !!!

I'm not sure how well I'll do explaining this, but here goes....
First, what I'll generally do is put the blade on a flat platen and sort of sharpen it. This will show me where any unevenness is, and really highlights the thick and thin parts of the blade.
Then, I'll take it to the wheel. I usually use an 8-inch contact wheel. This works for all but the largest wedges. A larger wheel will make a flatter blade, but I really like the results I get on an 8-inch wheel. It will maintain a single concave cross section, but does a good job of thinning out the blade. I've found they shave better afterwards to me. On a regrind, I'll grind from the center outward, taking the unevenness and wear out of the blade. My belt progression is 120-220-400-500-600 cork-800cork-600 cork loaded with emery compound-800 cork loaded with green chrome, then to the buffer (oh, and be careful...3 days ago I lost the tips of 2 fingers to a blade/buffer/hand meeting). Check the blade often to make sure it's lying flat on a flat surface as you're regrinding. A lot of this is done by practice and feel, so some of it I suck at explaining. That initial bevel created on the flat platen will show you where you need to grind the most, and gives you a witness line to show you how deep to take the grind to achieve an attractive, narrow, even edge bevel.

Ok, so this certainly isn't anything I will be attempting any time soon! I'll have to see what shape my wedges will be in when I get hold of them. Maybe they will be ok, but if not I'll think about sending them out.
What do you think of them?
http://www.theinvisibleedge.co.uk/co...%20razors.html
Its the second razor down. Shame about the chip in the scales, but I guess I could make some nice ones to replace them.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...2082&rd=1&rd=1
This is the one I was concerned about. Maybe it is the lighting, but the wear on the toe seems a little odd.

Nick

Originally Posted by Joe Chandler

(oh, and be careful...3 days ago I lost the tips of 2 fingers to a blade/buffer/hand meeting).

Oh my Joe. Please tell me this is not as bad as it sounds.

If you're like a lot of the men-folk on this forum, that could mean that you ground down to your knuckles or lopped both fingers right off.

Ms. Chandler - "Joe, are you OK, I heard something?"
Joe - "Don't worry, it's nothing hun, It doesn't hurt since I severed the nerve as well..."

For Mach 3 users, this would mean they got an abrasion, but worse than the kind you'd get by pressing too hard with the emery board on your nails.

So, which is it? - John

No, actually, what happened was, I had finished regrinding a big Wade&Butcher. I took it to the buffer to polish it up. Sometime during that process, the buffing wheel caught the blade and snatched it away. Took the tip off my index finger, and cut to the bone all the way around the middle finger of my right hand (thank God I'm left handed. ) Right through the glove, too. Thankfully, it was pretty sharp, so it was a nice clean cut, and it's healing nicely. Didn't hurt the blade any, either (which was the best news). Haven't had a major accident in 6 years of making knives...had to happen sometime, and could've been much worse. I didn't sever any tendons or anything, so everything'll still work when it's all said and done. Without doubt, though, the buffer is the most dangerous machine in the shop.

And I'm sure you have a good supply of CA to put everything back together

If I understood correctly, buffer wheels are made with cotton loops.
Why not use felt wheels?

EDIT: good thing you were wearing gloves. otherwise the tips could have gone completely.

Felt wheels are terribly expensive, and for most things, don't work any better than the cotton wheels.