Product Does this work?

[kstrauss]

I've seen a number of adverts for this sort of sharpening tool: https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/sharpening/files-and-hones/66738-universal-sharpener

I assume that the tool is simply a lump of carbide with a handle. How well do they work? Any homebrew examples?

 

[whydontu]

I use one for kitchen knives. Best described as a sharpen-ish. Best it can do is adjust an almost-sharp edge to a slightly-sharper edge. OK for touch ups.

 

[PeterT]

You can buy a lot more surface area of diamond abrasive sticks in a bracketed range of grit & still have money left over for coffee. I think there is more manufacturing cost in the LV handle.

Routine sharpening is pretty easy. I've even used my Milwaukee mini belt sander on some garden tools & it works good. These aren't sushi knives. Somebody gave me an abused pruner that had some deeper blade nicks that would have taken a lot of hand work to bring back. I used my rotary stones in a Dremel & it worked pretty good. Just go at it in light, controlled passes. Use a thick felt pen if it helps you highlight a constant chamfer angle. Don't grind on the flat backside, those surfaces need to slide on one another & shear. If you have serrated jaws, those are more challenging, but I've been able to reasonably dress those diamond or stones depending on the hardness.

 

[PeterT]

I use one for kitchen knives.

Blasphemy. I'm just going to drop this here. Christmas is coming. Soon you will attract friends you never knew you had. 😎

Sharpening Supplies

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[skippyelwell]

Blasphemy. I'm just going to drop this here. Christmas is coming. Soon you will attract friends you never knew you had. 😎

Sharpening Supplies

Sharpening Supplies, trust the sharpening experts. Leaders in sharpening stones, knife sharpeners, and tool sharpeners.

www.sharpeningsupplies.com

There's a lot to be said for Japanese water stones, I use them for wood chisels.

 

[kstrauss]

That is about my expected results. I was mainly intrigued because I have several Japanese water stones from Lee Valley and they work well. My interest is mainly with sharpening Felco pruners for my wife. Not sushi but delicate Bonsai reacts far better to a sharp cutter.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

I've never used one, but you could probably give a brazed carbide lathe tool a suitable edge and give it a try before giving $32 to lee valley. I prefer water stones for my knives, and will give them a good sharpen at least once a year. A steel and, Gasp, pull through sharpener keep them sharp the rest of the time....

I've got some trizac belts on order that I want to try for sharpening on the belt grinder. I just sharpened a couple pruners and a hedge trimmer for a friend last week on the grinder and it worked great.

 

[Susquatch]

As far as I know, most (if not all) carbide is sintered. I'd fully expect that they could do some form of grit variety in that process.

I have a little diamond coated bar that will sharpen hooks and knives. That's worth considering too.

Maybe even a diamond version of a wet stone.

One of my daughter-in-laws is a dog groomer. I've been tasked with finding a good way to sharpen her shears. She is a south paw and expensive shears cost even more as left hand tools. I'm very interested in the comments here.

 

[KeeponDragon]

I have to ask, why is the difference between LH and RH edges a cause for concern?
Is the LH geometry inherently difficult to achieve?
Or is it simply that multiple industries do not want to let go the ideology that south paws should pay more just cause they're different??

My better 3/4's is also a south paw, and owns a few kitchen tools for lefities, one of which is a decent pair of scissors...not shears for pet hair, but they do save her time and consternation when opening wrapping for foodstuff's etc
So eventually, I think I may be in the same boat, less a paddle...how to sharpen LH scissors...

 

[Susquatch]

I have to ask, why is the difference between LH and RH edges a cause for concern?

In my current state of ignorance, the whole difference is in the handles not the blades. But I am fully prepared to get a bloody nose on that......

 

[PeterT]

That is about my expected results. I was mainly intrigued because I have several Japanese water stones from Lee Valley and they work well. My interest is mainly with sharpening Felco pruners for my wife. Not sushi but delicate Bonsai reacts far better to a sharp cutter.

I sharpen our kitchen knives on the classic water flat stones, including some Japanese blades. A Tormek would get the blade angle a bit more consistent but a) I don't want to drop that kind of coin b) I actually enjoy the hand sharpening Zen time. They will need a tune-up every couple months & that's fine by me. Some of the hardware store knives I het handed just don't have the steel quality to maintain an edge for long, but at least they are sharp when they leave my house. I don't do serrated, different animal altogether.

But I also get handed some 'different' knives. I mentioned, you will attract new friends! Like little 2-3" blades, curved profile peeling/paring knives... I find those don't lend themselves to the typical larger water stones from a geometry standpoint without some very controlled movements which is harder to replicate through the strokes & both sides equally. And it can be hard on the stone if you are on the corner edge which is kind of a no-no because it will wear quickly & irregularly. For those knives I have smaller abrasive 'sticks' of what amounts to similar stones, maybe 10x15mm in cross section. I position the blade on a work surface so its fixed & then stroke the abrasive along it in that orientation. Its really quite a natural, controlled hand movement. There are all kinds of sharpening jigs you can buy where the abrasive is attached to some kind of extension rod which then controls the angle & such while stroking, but so far I'm in the simpler is better phase. Anyway, small and or curved things like this benefit from smaller sized abrasive stick. There are scads of them in the market. Even rods or semi-circular section if you prefer. Whether its an abrasive stone (natural or man made) or diamond type is really more about the blade application & user preference. I find my small stones wear irregularly on these things just based on how they are used. No problem, a dressing stone every so often will flatten them again.

Longwinded way of saying there might be a solution here for your unique pruners.

 

[PeterT]

Scissors/shears.
Tormek makes accessories but its an expensive setup


My gut tells me these are kind of mid range 'gadget' jigs. Better than an uncontrolled, unconstrained hand, but not Pro. Some endeavor to get the speed down, others are rebranded bench grinders from what i can tell.


I think these low speed lapping plate/wheel might be closer to industrial standards. And like drill bit sharpeners, looks like some clones have entered the market.
I have seen home shop machinist people like us make similar machines for lapping tooling, scraper blades etc. The jigging is different but similar principle


My 3DP contraption works amazingly well for shop scissors (uses a belt grinder).

P

Tips/Techniques Thread 'Short Tormek Stock!'

Jan 19, 2025

HaHa just kidding. Might be a bit premature. OTOH my 3DP FrankenSharpener prototype for shop scissors works amazingly well. Using my 1x42 Delta belt sander with a worn out (and too coarse) blue belt. Once clamped its very easy to just guide it along the table. It put a very constant, consistent bevel on the edge. My well abused Oldy's have been hand ground by yours truly so no surprise to see edge correction there. But I pre-felt penned some new-ish offshore office type scissors & it was obvious my grind was better. Bit of edge de-burring with diamond & they cut like the dickens. I kind of...

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• Replies: 2
• Forum: 3D Printing

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[KeeponDragon]

In my current state of ignorance, the whole difference is in the handles not the blades. But I am fully prepared to get a bloody nose on that......

I have tried to use her LH scissors with my right hand, and found cutting even basic printer paper to be a challenge, as soon as I switched to my non dominant hand, the result was immediate...so maybe there's something in how the shears interact with one another, based on how the user applies force...
The Mrs has also noticed using RH scissors in her dominant paw gives her the same struggle, but if she uses her right...it's not pretty to watch, but she can at least cut paper
I wonder if the blades are assembled in reverse as well hhmm 😵

 

[Elektrishun]

I have tried to use her LH scissors with my right hand, and found cutting even basic printer paper to be a challenge, as soon as I switched to my non dominant hand, the result was immediate...so maybe there's something in how the shears interact with one another, based on how the user applies force...
The Mrs has also noticed using RH scissors in her dominant paw gives her the same struggle, but if she uses her right...it's not pretty to watch, but she can at least cut paper
I wonder if the blades are assembled in reverse as well hhmm 😵

 

[Elektrishun]

For chisels and hand plane blades I use different grits of sandpaper on 1/4" plate glass - 120, 220, 400, and 600. Back of paper is spray glued and the glass is mounted to a piece of plywood.