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50/80 Grit Diamond Stones = Great Time Saver

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  • #55143
    Readheads
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    Finally got a chance to use my new 50/80 stones and they work great especially for a knife that is seeing the WEPS for the first time. Normally I would use my 100 stone to establish the initial full verified burr and it would take a good 20-30+ minutes of scrubbing to establish the burr. These stones did it in 5 minutes. The scratches were deep but the 100 stone smoothed them out in no time within 1 minute per side. They are very coarse so do not use too excessive pressure.

    Good Job and worth every penny !!

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    #55145
    Dwight Glass
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    The first set of Wicked Edge stones that wore out was my 50/80 grit.

    it is good to hear that they are working for you.

    #55146
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    Wow, they haven’t been around that long. About how many knives did you use them on ?

    #55151
    Dwight Glass
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    Right now I sharpen 7 restaurant knives a week. those 14 knives I own, and are for a Diner 1/2 mile from my house.

    I have sharpened knives for a local Ma & Pa Italian pizza place, sharpened one to 5 knives a week. I do not own those knives. that work added up to a year or  year and 1/2 not continuous there were some breaks, also about 1/2 mile from my house.

    Another restaurant about 45 min. drive away. I furnished two sets of knives, one set of 8 knives stayed at the restaurant, the other set I took home to sharpen. That lasted little more than a year.

    I went to 2 local farmers markets, 3 years to the one in my town. 2 Years in A town 45min. away. I went with A portable electric generator to run a “Tormek T7” bench grinder, and a “Wicked Edge” sharpener.

    Some times I needed to remove A lot of metal, and for that I would start up the generator and use bench grinder as a fist step. If I used the 50/80 grit I always had more precise control of the angle and speed of the abrasive.

    Most of my customers did not have metal that chipped easy.

    I am still learning,

    #55152
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    Nice gig, its something I’ve thought about for my retirement hobby job. I’m 62 and live in NJ. Where are you located ?

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    #55153
    Dwight Glass
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    My Sharpening gig is  not as yet profitable, but it has paid for most of the equipment. I am retired. Located in Illinois.

    #55154
    MarcH
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    Dwight, what are your criteria for determining when you employ the 50/80 stone pair?  From what you wrote it almost seems your saying you use it for every knife you sharpen????

    Marc
    (MarcH's Rack-Its)

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    #55155
    Dwight Glass
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    My customers usually bring knives to me that have been sharpened by the customer. That means the owner of the knife and I talk about what angle that should be put on the knife and I usually put a convex edge on it.

    When the knife comes back for the next sharpening if I can see with out magnification a reflection off the edge or it is dull I set the sharpener up for the agreed or target angle and subtract or make more acute 1/2 degree and scrub with 50 grit until I get an apex. (If the metal chips easy stop scrubbing before you get to the apex, vg10.)

    If I am sharpening with the “gen-3” I will move the handle on the sharpener, that controls the angle, a little closer to the agreed or target angle when I change grits until I get to 600 grit and stay on that agreed or target for the apex part of that sharpening.

    The part of the sharpening that is not the apex sharpening is the convex shaping. That is a few strokes with each grit 200 or 400 and finer 2 degree apart going in the more acute or finer angle from the apex.

    The convex shaping reduces or eliminates the 50/80 grit scratches.

    If I am sharpening with the “130”, I will stay 1/2 degree acute or fine from the agreed or target angle until I get to 200 or 400 grit. then change the angel to agreed or target angel for the rest of the diamond stone work of that knife.

    My criteria is if I can use 50/80 grit with out damaging the edge or knife integrity I will use 50/80 grit.

     

    #55158
    MarcH
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    I try to start each knife I’m sharpening with the least coarse or finest grit stones that get the job done efficiently.  That is quickly and without too much effort extended.  Even when profiling a knife I’ve never sharpened on the W. E. before, or to apply a new edge profile or configuration. This is very often the 400 grit stone.  I use the coarser grits, 200 then maybe the 100 grit only when necessary.  That is when the time and effort necessary to remove the steel to reshape the bevel is too much for the finer grit I’m using.

    I’ve only found 2 or 3 knives, in the couple years since I acquired these coarsest stones, where I found a steel so hard I needed to use the 50/80 grit stones, because it was still too tough, too difficult and too time consuming profiling it with the 100 grit stone.  Every coarser grit stone added into a sharpening progression imparts a deeper, wider and wider spaced scratched pattern along with increasing the amount of edge steel removed.  It also adds steps and time to an already time consuming and laborous process.  Every scratch I add is another scratch I need to remove.

    The Wicked Edge was originally designed and intended to allow the users to apply precise and consistent angled “V” shaped bevels, repeatedly.  I recognize the attributes of a convexed knife edge and the advantages it may afford.  IMO, the ability to apply a convexed edge profile with the Wicked Edge is a really ” hacked method”.  By this I mean it’s a sharpening technique that was figured out as a work around.  This sharpener wasn’t really designed or intended to excel at beveled edges.  Only by using this advanced and atypical sharpening technique can the convexed edge profile can be applied.

    There are better and more efficient knife sharpeners you can use, for instance a slacked belt grinder, to apply a convexed knife edge.  Especially when your intention and eventual goal is profitability.  I submit to you that most people bringing you knives to be sharpened are wanting just a sharp knife.  That even those people who have previously sharpened their own knives, themselves, maybe unaware of a convexed edges.  They are probably a typical knife user and home sharpener applying a “V” beveled knife edge with whatever home knife sharpener they’re using.  That if you didn’t offer the more difficult to apply and time consuming beveled edge they’d be very happy with a “V” beveled sharpened knife.  That many,  if not most of them, wouldn’t notice the difference between one knife edge profile or the other.  Only that the knife has been sharpened and now it cuts well.

    There are different goals to knife sharpening depending on the knife users or customers.  The idea I’d think, is to do the least amount of work necessary to produce a quality sharpened knife and a happy user.  A typical home user and a knife collector aficionado have different wants, needs and  may request and expect a different quality edge.  These sharpening jobs are different and command a different price schedule.

    Forgive me for being critical of your sharpening gig and the technique you’re using.  I’m just trying to give you the perspective of another experienced Wicked Edge user.  The Wicked Edge Precision Sharpeners as fine a precision sharpener as it is, is still fully manual and labor intensive.  It is less then ideal to use as the sharpener-of-choice for a price competitive sharpening service.

    Marc
    (MarcH's Rack-Its)

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    #55160
    Dwight Glass
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    I See Kindness in your Response. I do have a sharpening style that is high risk, just by using 50/80 grit stones. A lot of Damage can happen quick.

    The experience with knife sharpening that I had, is what I shared and is what I do.

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