home made disc sander

Hi folks,
Peter has kindly suggested this tip might be of interest to some of you. Before I bought a Jet wet grinder, and it has a leather stropping or honing wheel. I made one. Like I saw many of you had done to go on a face plate.
Well I turned a dovetail recess into a one and a half inch turning blank to fit my Nova chuck. Next I glued a sharpening disc to the trued up face of the wood, nothing new there. but then due to a rapidly expanding belly I had a surplus of leather belts, so I glued one to the rim of the sanding disc as a honing drum. I cut the belt across at an angle so it would not lift at the join. dressed with honing paste or automotive chrome polish is equally effective, it works a treat. A word to the wise, you MUST present the tool in the trailing fashion, otherwise of course a dig in to the leather is a certainty.
For those that used M.D.F. for the disc I understand that the edge of the disc can be dressed with the afore mentioned pastes, or similar, and the fibres take up enough to act as a stropping tool anyway.
I noticed Woody mentioned a piece of plate, or thick glass, I use the stuff of the front of an oven, to lap things, I think we were on planer blades. Ok. but the same idea and I used valve grinding paste, is a good way to flatten a bench sharpening stone that has become dished through not using the complete length of the stone when honing. Sorry for the long windedness. P.S. Got it now Peter, thanks.

THanks Bill good thinking mate.

Peter.

That is interesting Bill thanks for posting.

Whilst glass is an excellent base for attaching abrasive papers to for sharpening & honing it is better to use ordinary float glass as opposed to toughened glass such as would be in the front of an oven, once toughened the glass will no longer be perfectly flat.

I have done a similar thing, but instead of a belt I put sandpaper around the circumference, I must try one with a belt and see if honing makes a noticeable difference even if it is just the chef's knives.

Peter

ok Doug, thank you.

Ah Peter, as an ex chef, a steel, as in a butchers steel is all I ever used on all my chef's knives, until they need regrinding that is. The trick with a steel is to present the blade to the knife at the same angle every time. I would put a blunter angle on a boning knife than on a butchers steak knife, that I would have like a razor. I once worked in a kitchen with Ghurkha cooks. They used their Kukri knives as boning and steak slicing and choppers, and they were sharp. Very nice guys. There is a training place for new soldiers in Catterick Garrison now very smart young lads, look like boys to me now. I lived in that camp for thirty six years.
I used the belt idea mainly for carving chisels, and carving knives. The jet tool has a wee curved one for the inside of gouges, M.D.F. could be shaped for gouges and dressed. It will produce a polished keen edge .

Scots Bill said:

Ah Peter, as an ex chef, a steel, as in a butchers steel is all I ever used on all my chef's knives, until they need regrinding that is. The trick with a steel is to present the blade to the knife at the same angle every time. I would put a blunter angle on a boning knife than on a butchers steak knife, that I would have like a razor. I once worked in a kitchen with Ghurkha cooks. They used their Kukri knives as boning and steak slicing and choppers, and they were sharp. Very nice guys. There is a training place for new soldiers in Catterick Garrison now very smart young lads, look like boys to me now. I lived in that camp for thirty six years.
I used the belt idea mainly for carving chisels, and carving knives. The jet tool has a wee curved one for the inside of gouges, M.D.F. could be shaped for gouges and dressed. It will produce a polished keen edge .

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I use the steel with the knives before every use, I thought honing them might be beneficial, but the time taken to go to the lathe and do it would be far too much. I will try it with my skews.

Peter

Oh Peter the other point is that I would never let anyone but me put a knife to a steel. They are sure to apply it at the wrong, or at least a different angle to you, and so mess the process up.
Are there only the three tutorials, I cannot find more other than the great stuff in the tips and jigs.

Scots Bill said:

Oh Peter the other point is that I would never let anyone but me put a knife to a steel. They are sure to apply it at the wrong, or at least a different angle to you, and so mess the process up.
Are there only the three tutorials, I cannot find more other than the great stuff in the tips and jigs.

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I understand that and I am the only one who sharpens them, they are mine.

Yes there are quite a few tutorials, have you clicked on the tabs i.e. Segmenting, Projects, Casting, Bowls, Tips and Tricks and Pen Blanks.

Let me know if you can't find them.

Peter

Quite an art sharpening I just do my best.

Peter.

yes Peter, I found those, and very good they are. Just thought I might be missing some. I cannot think of anything that I know that could be of use to others. If anything occurs to me I will post them, now I, thanks to you, know how. Oh, on the subject of knives, every army kitchen used to have a hand cranked sandstone grinder running in a wooden trough that you filled with water. Makes me wonder what happened to them. with a slow running motor added there was the wet grindstone all those years ago, and mostly unused, shame. I am talking 1958 when I joined, wonder how old they were then!

Scots Bill said:

yes Peter, I found those, and very good they are. Just thought I might be missing some. I cannot think of anything that I know that could be of use to others. If anything occurs to me I will post them, now I, thanks to you, know how. Oh, on the subject of knives, every army kitchen used to have a hand cranked sandstone grinder running in a wooden trough that you filled with water. Makes me wonder what happened to them. with a slow running motor added there was the wet grindstone all those years ago, and mostly unused, shame. I am talking 1958 when I joined, wonder how old they were then!

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I used something very similar in Norway to sharpen farm hand tools which ended up razor sharp.

Peter

Only ever use a stone and steel on my knifes.