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You now own the world’s best sharpening system--it will put a great
edge on almost any tool that can be held up to the wheels!
Please read the instructions and feel free to call Razor Sharp Edgemaking
System at 1-866-419-4879 with any questions or concerns that you may have.
This system will put a honed and polished razor sharp edge on your knives
and tools in just seconds. The wheels are made to be used on any ordinary
bench grinder that turns over 3000 RPMs. The wheels in a standard 8 in Deluxe Kit are eight
inch by three quarter inch with a five eighths inch arbor hole. The installed
bushing converts them to a one half inch arbor hole. Simply remove the bushings
for use on a five eighths arbor. These 8” wheels are intended for use
on a five or six inch grinder.
We can furnish the system in various wheel diameters and thicknesses, with
any size arbor hole desired.
. You will sharpen many knives or tools before needing to re-surface the
grit wheel. The slotted wheel needs to be “dressed” occasionally
with 60 grit sandpaper.
To Install wheels:
You will need to remove the guards from your bench grinder, as they are not
needed with these paper wheels. Then install the gritted wheel on the right
side of the motor, and turn it by hand to see if there are any bumps or nodules.
If there is, take something blunt like the corner of a flat file and, with
the motor running, just touch the wheel to remove any bumps. Next take the
conditioning wax (yellow) out of the cup and rub it sparingly on the gritted
wheel so that you can just see it. You should still the grit through the
wax. Each time you start to sharpen, hold the wax on the wheel for a brief
second. Eventually, wax will build up ou will not see the grit at all. The
surface will be shiny and waxy. Be careful not to use too much wax. Doing
so will destroy the effectiveness of the grit.
The Slotted wheel needs no pre-conditioning. Just put it on and whenever
you start to use it, just touch it a little with the Rouge (white).
Do not over-tighten the nuts, snug is enough. Spin the wheels by hand. If
a wheel wobbles from side to side, you probably have a bent washer! Washers
get bent when a stone wheel is put on and the nut is tightened too tight.
To get rid of the wobble, loosen the nut and turn the washer, or washers,
just a little. Turn one washer one way and the other washer the other way.
Snug the nut and spin the wheel. You might have to repeat this a time or
two to minimize the spin out. A little side to side deviation won’t
hurt anything!
Sometimes, if a wheel is exposed to heat, or dampness, it will warp a little.
To fix this place the wheel or wheels between two boards, clamp them tightly
and keep in a cool dry place for a few hours.
Truing of wheels:
When you have the wheels running “true” don’t remove them
unnecessarily. When you put them back they will be in a different position
and you have to adjust them again. Sometimes the wheels may be a little “out
of round”. The grit wheel, out of round, can be fixed at time of re-surfacing.
If the slotted wheel seems out of round it can be trued at any time. You
may “round” the corners of the slotted wheel if you sharpen a
lot of serrated knives.
Truing of wheels cont…
Correcting “out of roundness” is easy. Take a piece of 60 grit
sandpaper, wrap it around a flat piece of metal, (a flat file works fine)
hold it lightly against the face of the wheel, you will feel the “high” spot.
Keep holding it lightly against the wheel until it feels smooth. When the “high” spot
is gone, the wheel will be nice and clean and flat across the face!
Okay, you are ready to start sharpening:
Time to think about the angle you want on your knife or tool. Proper angle
depends on what you are going to use the edge for! Generally, if you are
going to chop, dig or scrape with a blade, a 35-40 degree angle works best.
For razors or a little rotary cutting wheel, a “flat” angle is
best, 10-15 degrees. Most knives are 20-25 degrees. You will learn with practice
just what angle works best for you.
Here are some ideas about angles:
Hold your blade or tool horizontal with the wheel, the edge facing the wheel
and about halfway down the face of the wheel. Now you are 90 degrees in relation
to the axis of the motor.
(Pic of angles here)
Okay...half of 90 degrees is 45 degrees. Those are the blades you are abusing,
such as an axe, a machete, or a shovel! Half of 45 degrees is 22.5 degrees.
Most knives are 20 o 25 degrees. Half of 22.5 degrees is 11.5 degrees, which
is for Broadheads, Razor Blades, Rotary cutting wheels, etc. Just remember...half,
half, and half and you have your three basic angles.
The above is intended as a guide to help you get started! With practice you
will learn what angles work best for the type of blades that you are sharpening.
Now that you have an idea about the angle that you want:
Turn on the motor. You previously applied Wax to the face of the grit wheel.
Touch the wax to the wheel each time you start to sharpen. Carefully hold
your knife up there and pick the angle. (90-45-22.5-11.5) We recommend practicing
with “junk” knives first. Be sure you’re not turning the
blade into the wheel!
Make a few passes on each side of the blade. The aim is to feel a “burr” or “wire
edge” which means that both sides or “tapers” of the edge
have come together. You need the “burr” all the way from the
hilt to the tip. Just a little “burr” is all you need.
When making the passes across the grit, start at the hilt and go to the tip
without stopping. Also, pull the tip away from the wheel when it is at about
the middle of the grit. If you pass the tip clear across the wheel, you may
round the tip of the blade. It is good to keep a wadded up paper towel in
hand to wipe off the wax that is now on the blade. It makes it easier to
feel the “burr” or “wire edge”. This “burr” tells
you that enough metal has been removed.
When sharpening the old way on a stone, like our grandfathers did, one never
knew when enough metal had been taken off. One just kept rubbing the knife
on the stone until one thought it was sharp enough!
Occasionally a knife will not develop a “burr”. Instead there
is a “hair” on the edge that you can see. We call this “angle
hair” or a “feather edge”. It is nice to have a good light
handy.
Notes:
Now that you have acquired a “burr” or “feather edge”:
It is time to switch to the slotted wheel.
Take the white chunk of Jeweler’s Rouge and with the motor running
rub it lightly on the face of the slotted or plain wheel. This is for heat
control as well as polishing. Remember your angle, start on the side the “burr” is
on, and make a pass. You do not need much pressure. Then make a pass on the
other side of the blade. Repeat this, alternating sides, for three or four
passes. Wipe off your edge and take a look at it. It should be getting pretty
sharp. When you become adept at this, and ordinary knife blade may take 10
to 15 seconds from dull to razor sharp!
Don’t be discouraged if your first try does not seem to work. It does
take a little practice, but the results are worth it!
The Grit wheel is going to seem very aggressive the first 4 or 5 knives until
it looks smooth and waxy. Be careful not to put on too much Wax. If you do
the Grit can’t do it’s job!
You will not have a heat buildup as long as you keep the edge moving and
keep the wheels coated with the wax or the rouge, depending on which wheel
you are working on. If your dull knife has nicks or other bad spots, you
can fix these on the grit wheel even to putting a new tip if the old one
is broken.
Caution: always use eye protection and never turn the blade into either wheel!
Notes:
You can sharpen scissors:
Use only the grit wheel. Have the cutting edge facing down, (never into the
wheel) and try to hold the blade at the existing angle. Start as close
to the hinge as you can get and work towards the tip. Usually it only takes
a couple of passes to acquire a “burr”. Do the same thing with
the other edge. Now you should have a “burr” on both edges,
but do not go to the slotted wheel. Just close the scissors, holding the
edges together. Voila! The “burr” is gone and the scissors
are sharp! Wipe them off with a paper towel.
In case there are nicks or bad spots, you will have to take off enough metal
to fix these. Lots of later model scissors have one blade serrated. Do nothing
with the serrated blade, just work on the smooth blade.
You can sharpen knives with serrated edges:
On most serrated knives, one side of the blade is flat. Hold this side almost
flat against the Grit wheel, drawing it from one end of the serrations to
the other. Hardly any pressure is needed, and you will have small “burrs” on
each of the scallops on the other side. (Sometimes you have to hold just
a slight angle, 4 or 5 degrees, it depends on the knife.) Now go to the slotted
wheel and use the corner of the wheel, holding the serrated side where the “burr” is
toward the wheel and draw it lightly across the corner of the wheel. Turn
it over and run the smooth side flat against the wheel, and polish that side.
Now the “burrs” are gone and the serrations are sharp!
Leather Punches:
Hold punch horizontal, adjust your angle, follow the edge on the Grit wheel
until you acquire a “burr”. You may need to remove the “burr” using
a piece of leather or the like. In case of a round punch, your “burr” is
on the inside, so take a leather shoe string and rotate it around, pulling
it out at the same time. This will bring the “burr” out so you
can polish it off on the slotted wheel.
Wood carving tools:
Hold tool in front of the wheel, cutting edge down at a horizontal, right
angle to the wheel, and adjust to the desired angle. Keep the edge flat against
the wheel. You do not want a convex surface on the tool. The flatter the
surface the better it will cut the wood.
The wheel is flat across the face, so hold the tool on a horizontal plane.
The sharpened surface will then be flat. As there are many different shapes
of cutting edges on carving tools, t is not practical to try to describe
how to hold each one.
Gouges need to be rotated with the sloped edge against the wheel. Chisels
and V tools will require going from side to side on the wheel. After acquiring
the “burr” go to the slotted wheel and polish on the burred side,
holding the tool as straight up as possible. You may want to polish the sharpened
side also for a nice mirror finish. For gouges and some other shapes, your “burr” is
inside and you need to take it off on the corner of the slotted wheel. By
using the slotted wheel to get rid of the “burr”, your tool will
be sharp!
Reconditioning Grit wheel:
Use real coarse sand paper (about 36 grit) and clean all the grit off, down
to the bare paper. Use 60 grit to true the wheel (it might be a little “out
of round”), square off the corners and get it nice and smooth. Turn
off the motor, but do not remove the wheels. If you do you may have to eliminate
some wobble when you put it back on. Hand turn the wheel and put a thin bead
of Elmer’s white glue on the face of the wheel, then spread it with
your finger until there is a thin layer. Next, put some newspaper under the
wheel to catch the excess grit, hand turn as you sprinkle the black Silicon
Carbide powder on top of the glue. Go around 2 or 3 times until it looks
good and no more will stick. Sometimes the powder will soak through the glue
and you’ll need to sprinkle on a little more. When you are happy with
your coating job, pour the excess back into the container and replace the
lid.
Do not touch the wheel until it dries, preferably overnight, then it’s
ready to go again! There is enough Grit in the kit to recoat the wheel 20
to 25 times.
Here’s a couple more ideas:
It is easier to repair bad nicks in a blade, or broken tips (reshape the
end) using a belt sander. Be sure to keep water handy, as a belt sander will
heat a blade very fast!
If for any reason (maybe arbor size) you need to enlarge the hole use a
drill press. Put the wheel on the press with a board under it. Center the
wheel by lowering a bit the size of the existing hole thru the hole. With
this bit in the hole, clamp the wheel and the board securely. Change to a
desired size bit, put another board on top of the wheel and clamp it in place.
Carefully run your bit thru the boards and the wheel. Lots of caution so
as not to get our hole off center.
Note: The system is available with any size hole you might desire.
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