# Wet grinder recommendation



## AAL (Jun 30, 2014)

I'm just starting into a new hobby of chip carving and have started a collection of chip carving knives. However, I have a desire to resharpen the blade(s) but cannot do so on my bench grinder despite dipping the blade in water after every pass across the wheel; I just burn the tip. So, I'm looking for a wet grinder that's easy on the pocket book and have come across the Wen 4270 10" dual direction wet grinder/buffer on Amazon.com (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...k_ql_qh_dp_hza), and also a Grizzly unit at http://www.grizzly.com/products/10-W...ion/T10010ANV#.

The two units look pretty much the same to me, although having bought Grizzly products in the past I'm a bit biased.

I'm not a wood turner, so I would be using this infrequently, mainly to sharpen my carving & other knives. Have any of you used this sharpener & what do you think of it?


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## rad457 (Jun 15, 2013)

Grinder to sharpen chip carving knives? blades, are too thin to grind, oil/water stones then strop to maintain refresh edge!


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> Grinder to sharpen chip carving knives? blades, are too thin to grind, oil/water stones then strop to maintain refresh edge!
> 
> - Andre


+1. Get some contoured stones too if you have gouges, etc.


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

http://trestore.wkfinetools.com/techniques/sharpFeltW/sharpFelt2.asp

HTH


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

My trusty Makita horizontal wet grinder is now going on 31 years of service. Look at 'em.


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## ClaudeF (Sep 22, 2013)

I agree with Andre. Good knives are too thin to grind down on a wheel. The only time my knives touch a stone is if I break off a tip, or get a nick in the edge. The rest of the time, I strop them about every 15-30 minutes. My strop is simple. A strip of cardboard from a cereal box, glued to a scrap piece of shelving with rubber cement. I rub a little stropping compound (green Chromium Oxide - 0.5 micron) on the strop once per year or so. You can use other compounds as well - I also use the Flexcut gold compound.

To strop, lay the blade down on the strop, and just think about raising the back edge (don't DO it, just think about it) then pull the blade the length of the strop away from the cutting edge. Do this 15 times, then turn the knife over and do 15 times on the other side. Ideally, you would do this standing up with your arms locked rigidly to your sides and swaying from one foot to the other. The idea is to maintain the same path of travel for the blade so it doesn't round over the edge.

Speaking of rounding…I use the cardboard as my strop because it is thin and doesn't compress much when the blade passes over it. Leather compresses and then springs back up right at the cutting edge, which will round the edge and ruin the sharpness of the blade.

Claude


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## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

Have you looked at any videos or books?

I sharpen all my carving tools only by hand. A chip carving knife can be a bit tricky the key is to sharpen both sides evenly.

I took a class from Wayne Barton a few years ago and learned to sharpen from him on small ceramic stones.


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## AAL (Jun 30, 2014)

I was planning on using the wet grinder just to initially shape the straight carving knives, then would do a final shaping/sharpening on a stone(s) & stropping.

I have a set of Norton Arkansas bench stones.
1. First stone: One side has a conventional oil stone of medium grit, the other side is a fine India stonet.
2. Second Stone: Hard Arkansas: Oil filled, ultra-fine stone.
Followed by a stropping using Formax Micro Fine Honing Compound Product No. 12668

What's you opinion of this?


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## tonyxixup (Jun 26, 2018)

waho6o9 recommends "Sharpening with a Hard Felt Wheel".
Is it worth to try?


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## mpounders (Jun 22, 2010)

> I was planning on using the wet grinder just to initially shape the straight carving knives, then would do a final shaping/sharpening on a stone(s) & stropping.
> 
> I have a set of Norton Arkansas bench stones.
> 1. First stone: One side has a conventional oil stone of medium grit, the other side is a fine India stonet.
> ...


If it works for you, then it's a fine idea! But….. knowing what I know now, I wouldn't spend the money for a wet grinder. I'm not sure what you mean by "initially shaping the straight knives" unless you are talking about flattening out the bevel? You could just buy a couple of nice knives, like these from Dave Notto and not have to worry about the grinding. I've been carving for about 11 years and it took me a couple of years to learn how to sharpen my tools correctly. Starting with sharp tools definitely gives you a reference point to work from. I tried a lot of different methods when I was learning to sharpen, but I noticed that a lot of carvers that I carved with used a Burke Sharpening system . You can buy one or build one, but it works similar to what waho609 posted, although the pulleys reduce the rpms down to about 600 rpm. It has a couple of sandpaper wheels for any shaping or work needed on edges, and a leather and cloth buffing wheel for knives and gouges. I very seldom use the sandpaper wheels, unless I am fixing something for someone. So don't spend a lot of money on a wet grinder that will seldom be needed for carving tools. Spend your money on ways to improve your stropping as you will be doing that a lot. I never use my stones and seldom use my diamond cards, except on my smallest v-tools (1/16th) that need a slower approach. Chrome green compound works just fine for stropping, but the stuff you are looking at is kinda high. Buy some ZAM for about $5 and see how you like it. You might look at some other items they have at that website (you will have better success buying from carvers, than buying from Amazon).


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## AAL (Jun 30, 2014)

Thank Mike, good info!

When I mentioned "straight carving knives" I was just referring to the straight cutting edge of the blade. Guess it wasn't necessary for me to mention that as most chip knives are straight bladed. As for the bevel, I would like to remove it altogether leaving only a blade angle from edge to the spine. John had recommended this, plus I think it makes sharpening much easier & slices better (?).

When you mentioned a sandpaper wheel that reminded me That I hadn't considered using my 8" disc sander. I also have a couple of 10" dia. x 1/4" thick wheels that I made many years ago (~ 50 yrs.) for my table saw when I didn't have a disc sander. I have various grit paper for use on these disc sanders. That should be better than a bench grinder for making

I've started making a couple of chip knives from a scalpel I have (long enough for two blades) that I will try using the disc sander on them. I'm going to try making detail knives using some hard maple as scales with brass rivets combined with epoxy. Should be an interesting & enjoyable project.

I went to the Dave Notto site, but didn't find where to purchase these knives.


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## CyberDyneSystems (May 29, 2012)

this;
https://www.amazon.com/1x42-Leather-Strop-Belt-Sharpening/dp/B016J35IHQ

On one of these;
https://www.ajaxtoolsupply.com/kabesamo11x4.html?cmp=googleproducts&kw=kabesamo11x4

Combined with an assortment of sanding belts, this set up became the most used tool in my home shop. I use it for everything. Sharpening is just the icing on the cake, and for that it has replaced nearly every previous sharpening tool I have accumulated over 50 years, INCLUDING a Jet/tormek wet wheel.

More affordable than a wet wheel system, the indestructible and super fast belt changes of the little Kalamazoo is a joy to use. I got mine used for about $150.00, but they are reasonably priced new as well.


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## MyChipCarving (Nov 4, 2009)

I've sharpened a LOT of chip carving knives so maybe I can help. 
When mass sharpening I'll use my two Tormek Sharpeners, slow water-cooled so no problems with burning. 
Hold knife in small knife holder jig and start on rough wheel. Finish with jig on 4000 grit waterstone wheel.
Finish on leather wheel on Tormek. This is an expensive setup so I'd not recommend it for you.
In your situation I'd recommend the Sharpening Kit I put together that uses self-adhesive silicon carbide strips from 1200 - 8000 grit and finish with a leather strop.
I sharpened with ceramic stones for a long time but this Kit gets a better edge. There's a video showing how to use it on the product page. It's also less expensive than one ceramic stone!
https://mychipcarving.com/product/sharpening-kit/
Hope this helps!


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