Better than a Lansky ?

[Hammock_man]

From my little experience I would say that the variation is almost the same from stone to stone. So while there is a difference along the length of the blade it is still consistancy of edge on a point to point basis. So OK it's wrong but it is always wrong! Much better then I can get by hand.

Thanks for the part ident, I would of had no idea of it's nameing.

 

[Robson Valley]

The key concept is consistency. The ease of reproduction, time and time again. I guarantee that skill will take practice.
It's only a slab of steel. Keep at it.
Given the radius, yes the angle on the blade changes a little. That's the concept behind the attack of a skew chisel.

Vestlenning's DIY rig looks like a good design, I'd really enjoy fooling with it.
The bevel angle adjustment looks really secure.

You could do the task by pulling the stone, moving left or right, pulling the stone again.
IF, you could hold the consistent bevel angle. Or put the stone down and pull the blade.

For foods, I'd think 20 degrees in the middle and if that feathers out to 15 at the ends so be it.
Cleavers don't have straight/square beveled edges = use them rocker fashion.
Just the same as butchering meat with a flint knife. Not at all straight edge.
The edge on an Inuit Ulu knife could be straight but is far from it for a reason.

I was taught to sharpen freehand from my knees, never from my arms. I become the jig.
Took quite a while to learn to get good at it. Now, I can sharpen a crooked knife over my knee
without any concern for the quality of what I'm doing.

 

[vestlenning]

That looks very interesting and a tidy job.

Any chance you could do a cut list with measurements of all the parts?

Added a parts list to my "knife shapening jig" tread over here: http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=132565&p=1829521#post1829521

 

[vestlenning]

I confess to being a little confused by these devices . As they rotate about the pivot the angle on the blade will change - is this so small it doesn't matter? how do you use them and keep a straight cutting edge? At least in Vestlenning's home made one the arm is so long the angle change is reduced but the shorter the rod is the more inaccurate it will be. Am I missing something, have I totally misunderstood how they are used?

To make the edge more uniform I do the curve and tip of the blade this way:

 

[vestlenning]

I was taught to sharpen freehand from my knees, never from my arms. I become the jig.
Took quite a while to learn to get good at it. Now, I can sharpen a crooked knife over my knee
without any concern for the quality of what I'm doing.

Yourself as a sharpening jig is a skill every knife lover should strive for!

 

[Robson Valley]

I've got nothing against mechanical jigs at all. They're great.
You've built a really useful one (thanks for the parts list in the new DIY thread, too).

I was taught freehand and decided that I would learn to be very good at it.
It took a long time and, few of my edges are knife-straight.
Mostly, I've turned to the fine finishing grades of automotive sandpapers, up to 2k grit is enough.

Then, I look around and watch a big-name PacNW native carver sharpen his crooked knife.
An elongate rock from a river bottom and a bucket of water.

 

[Kepis]

Got mine today Robbi, looks and feels very well built, stones are 5mm thick, just about to set it up and try sharpening an old, very blunt kitchen knife

 

[Mesquite]

I'm looking forward to seeing what you think of it Kepis.

Got mine today Robbi, looks and feels very well built, stones are 5mm thick, just about to set it up and try sharpening an old, very blunt kitchen knife

 

[Kepis]

I'm looking forward to seeing what you think of it Kepis.

Well in the time since your post Steve, ive set it up from scratch and sharpened a kitchen knife that was incapable of cutting cheese let alone anything else, to a sharp blade that is cutting slices of tomato so thin they are translucent, admittedly i didn't use the stones provided, but some diamond plates that i also bought for it, but only up to 1000 grit.

Im well impressed, no pics im afraid, i got all excited and totally forgot about to take any, going to try a chefs knife later, will see if i can remember to take some photo's.

Mark

 

[Mesquite]

Well in the time since your post Steve, ive set it up from scratch and sharpened a kitchen knife that was incapable of cutting cheese let alone anything else, to a sharp blade that is cutting slices of tomato so thin they are translucent, admittedly i didn't use the stones provided, but some diamond plates that i also bought for it, but only up to 1000 grit.

Im well impressed, no pics im afraid, i got all excited and totally forgot about to take any, going to try a chefs knife later, will see if i can remember to take some photo's.

Mark

Sounds good to me

Would you recommend it to someone else, also what were the diamond plates you bought?

 

[Kepis]

Sounds good to me

Would you recommend it to someone else, also what were the diamond plates you bought?

Id not hesitate to recommend it, i got mine from a seller on AliExpress, the first one they sent got lost somewhere between them and me, so they sent a second, no quibble and with full tracking, was here in 8 days.

Link to where i bought mine

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/RUI...32782043551.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.K9JZrZ

and link to the diamond stones i bought, also Aliexpress, i do note the price on these has risen quite a bit since i bought mine, loads on there though from other sellers though.

240 grit

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/SUR...32777133102.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.K9JZrZ

600 grit

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/600...32777081175.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.K9JZrZ

1000 Grit

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/SUR...32777846979.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.K9JZrZ

All three grits as a set, different seller to the one i used though so cant vouch for them.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3-P...id=cebe1c06-a383-4961-a94d-3929e09e6f46&tpp=1

 

[Robson Valley]

Pick useful bevel angles and figure out how to replicate that, week in and week out.
Not all edges can be the same with different tasks.
Take advantage of that fact like the butcher does.

I've found that the jump from 600 to 1,000 is too big for my carving tools.
My long term preference is to stick an 800 grit in the middle.

The slurry is the garbage of smashed abrasive and metal particles = swarf.

 

[Stew]

I have a similar one.

Biggest challenge I found is having any understanding of what angle you're doing then being able to change that for a different style knife then returning it back to what it was before. Can be done but more of a challenge!

 

[Robson Valley]

Bevel angles: I have a small device originally meant to measure the tip angle of HSS drill bits. Down to 6*, it works well for edge bevels.
I've seen them, don't own one yet = a digital swing arm protractor. Maybe $15 tops here, that's about 10-12 BPS.

I draw the needed angle on a card that stands up next to the stone or paper. Lift the blade to match and go to it.