How long before you replaced your 100/200 stones?

[JS]

I think I’ve done somewhere between 175-200 knives on the WEPS and the 100s weren’t used on every single one of them. Mine are starting to feel pretty smooth now and leave a much shinier finish than they used to. Trying to reprofile with them is also starting to be a chore. I was just curious how long others have lasted before you got new ones?

I also have the 50/80s and something I’ve noticed recently is when I remove chips by using a 400 or 600 grit stone along the edge as Josh does in many of his videos, it is taking me a really long time to apex even with the 50/80s (I never ever like to apex with these). For example, I recently had a S30V Spyderco that had a visible small chip in the edge and had to make several passes along the edge to remove it. Then sharpening at 15 degrees which was very close to factory angle, I did a little work with the 80s till I was fairly close to the apex, then switched to my 100s for awhile with little progress and even tried the 200s for a little bit with hardly any progress. Fed up and tired after close to an hour of grinding, I put on the 50s and even after probably 15 minutes of grinding on both sides, still hardly any progress and these stones have rarely been used. I also checked the blade with an angle cube to make sure it wasn’t tilting, and it wasn’t. Just wondering if anyone else has ran into this? I understand that as metal was removed after removing the chip, the geometry changes so that it’s basically creating a new bevel, but I didn’t think it’d take that long with the 50/80s and S30V.

[Lance Waller]

It depends on how much you use the stones per knife. I had to replace mine after around 100 sharpening’s because I reprofiled a lot. So I purchased the 50/80s and use them on an old fixed blade knife till I broke those in very well. If you use the 50/80s right away on a good knife it will scratch the crap out of the knife because the diamonds are going everywhere. I still Apex the edge on my 5080s but when I do I run a 1000 grit stone over the edge which gives me a flat surface and then Apex it again with the 200 grit stones that makes it a lot easier that way

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JS]

So you’re saying I’ve probably gotten my money’s worth out of them? Lol

I was sitting here thinking of ordering a new set from Oldawan (just who I’ve always used in the past) and wishing I’d done it earlier in the week as I have a ton of sharpening to do this weekend.

I’d think my old 100/200s would be good to have around as a good progression after the new 100/200s before moving on to the 400s

Never thought about apexing with the 50/80s and then running a 1000 grit stone over. I did make the mistake a long time ago of apexing with them and then progressing all the way up to the 600s without visually examining the edge with a loupe. I noticed after the 600s it just didn’t feel as sharp as it could be. With close inspection I had a ton of tiny microchips. Good learning experience.

When you apex with the 50/80s are you skipping the 100s and going straight to the 200s to apex?

[Stephen Coker]

If you sharpen that many knives you should consider getting yourself a 1X30 belt sander. Don’t everyone freak out. I would not trade my WE for a belt sander. I have the same problem. Sometimes it can take me hour the re-profile a knife. When all my friends found out how sharp I can make there knives with the wicked edge you would not believe all the crap knives they bring me to sharpen. When using a sander you just have to apply light pressure and take your time between passes to make sure your blade doesn’t get hot. Especially near the tip of your blade. Wait till your blade is completely cooled off before making another pass. Then finish with your WE. This will save you a lot of time and wear and tear on your stones. I LOVE MY WICKED EDGE.

[Steven N. Bolin]

If you sharpen that many knives you should consider getting yourself a 1X30 belt sander.

Welcome to the forum! Have you ever fooled around on a WorkSharp?

[Stephen Coker]

No…Lots of others but not a workshop

[Stephen Coker]

No…Lots of others but not a worksharp

[Steven N. Bolin]

No…Lots of others but not a worksharp

I love the idea of having a shrunken belt sander designed specifically for sharpening, although it can be used as for hobbies and/or small projects. Being a product that’s equipped with a motor and designed solely for sharpening, the issues I have are 1) no platens on the little angle notch thingies and 2) no variable speed control… the latter being something I’d REALLY enjoy, but it is what it is 🙂

[Josh]

On my first set of stones I got 400+ out of them. I am on my second full set now and have about 260 on my 400/600’s (and yes they are getting pretty smooth but they still work) and about 130 on the others. My 1k’s are nice and broke in/smooth now. The 800’s still grind, which is nice, whereas the 1k’s only polish. You need to get some new ones… trust me you won’t be sorry. I only ever use my 100’s to reprofile (when I do customs) and it saves a TON of time if they are fresh and not worn. For an average folder to reprofile to 15 dps takes about 10-15 min on the reprofiling part, and another 10 or so on the progression up through 1k.

No…Lots of others but not a worksharp

I love the idea of having a shrunken belt sander designed specifically for sharpening, although it can be used as for hobbies and/or small projects. Being a product that’s equipped with a motor and designed solely for sharpening, the issues I have are 1) no platens on the little angle notch thingies and 2) no variable speed control… the latter being something I’d REALLY enjoy, but it is what it is :-)[/quote]

I think the WS does have variable speed control… 😉

[Steven N. Bolin]

On my first set of stones I got 400+ out of them. I am on my second full set now and have about 260 on my 400/600’s (and yes they are getting pretty smooth but they still work) and about 130 on the others. My 1k’s are nice and broke in/smooth now. The 800’s still grind, which is nice, whereas the 1k’s only polish. You need to get some new ones… trust me you won’t be sorry. I only ever use my 100’s to reprofile (when I do customs) and it saves a TON of time if they are fresh and not worn. For an average folder to reprofile to 15 dps takes about 10-15 min on the reprofiling part, and another 10 or so on the progression up through 1k.

No…Lots of others but not a worksharp

I love the idea of having a shrunken belt sander designed specifically for sharpening, although it can be used as for hobbies and/or small projects. Being a product that’s equipped with a motor and designed solely for sharpening, the issues I have are 1) no platens on the little angle notch thingies and 2) no variable speed control… the latter being something I’d REALLY enjoy, but it is what it is :-)[/quote]

I think the WS does have variable speed control… ;)[/quote]

Really?!… Well… Shows how much I pay attention. I stand corrected. Thank you, Josh.

[JS]

Yep I went ahead and ordered some new ones yesterday and should have them Monday.

I have toyed around with the idea of getting a 1×30 belt sander. I understand Harbor Freight has them relatively cheap. It’d take a lot of practice, but the idea was if I have a blade that needs repairing with a bunch of chips or needs reprofiling, I could run it across the sander and then take it to the WEPS to finish. Do you guys use some kind of angle guide to keep a consistent angle on a sander?

[Josh]

Yep I went ahead and ordered some new ones yesterday and should have them Monday.

I have toyed around with the idea of getting a 1×30 belt sander. I understand Harbor Freight has them relatively cheap. It’d take a lot of practice, but the idea was if I have a blade that needs repairing with a bunch of chips or needs reprofiling, I could run it across the sander and then take it to the WEPS to finish. Do you guys use some kind of angle guide to keep a consistent angle on a sander?

Nope… all free hand. Just be careful w/ those speeds, if possible it would be a great idea to slow it down somehow.

[tcmeyer]

My WorkSharp is about 3 or 4 years old and it doesn’t have variable speed. Maybe the Ken Onion version does? I’m pretty sure the WorkSharp 3000 (the horizontal wheel version) does.

If you have a lot of low value knives to sharpen, a belt system is hard to beat. I do most of my wife’s kitchen knives on my WorkSharp and they take well under a minute each to do. It uses a 220 grit belt to remove damage, then a 6000-grit belt to polish, so while they’re sharp, the finish isn’t pretty.

I don’t yet have a 1-or-2″ belt system, but I do have a 1HP Jet pedestal buffer rig. I recently bought a hard-sewn, 1″ thick, 10″ dia.rag wheel which I loaded with 600-grit compound. I tried it on a cheap chef’s knife which had some visible dull sections and dings on the edge. Two quick passes on each side had the blade easily slicing paper with no “catches.” I was shocked, as I expected to need a much higher grit finish to achieve that.

All that having been said, when a friend asks me to sharpen their favorite knives, my WEPS is the only choice.

[JS]

Yep I’d only sharpen other people’s knives on the WEPS no doubt.

I have to admit that I love the factory edge that Spyderco puts on their knives. I’d guess a 220 to 400 grit belt with maybe a light buff? I’m not sure about the buffing since I saw a Spyderco factory video the other day that showed a robot actually sharpening the blades. But those edges will wave cut phone book paper no problem but are plenty toothy. I haven’t been able to sharpen too many of my own knives lately but have wanted to try and re-create that edge.

I’ve heard about some gimmick called a Surgi-Sharp that’s supposed to be some kind of angle guide for belt sanders but don’t think it’d be too difficult to make one.

[tcmeyer]

Here’s something new I hadn’t seen before. It showed up in the new Lee Valley catalog today.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=32456&cat=1,43072

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