[Lynn O. Doughty]

While sanding a base for a new piece, I remembered that a lot of carvers use various grits of sandpaper to sharpen their knives. Hmmmmmmmm........What if I laid one of my dull knife blades on my Black&Decker "Mouse" vibrating sander? So I did... INSTANT WIRE EDGE!!!! Now this couldn't really be that easy so I tried it again on another knife..INSTANT WIRE EDGE!!! I took it over to the buffing wheel and after a few strokes I had a good tool again.

When putting the knife to the sander I just lowered it down gently at the proper angle and held it in place till I saw the wire edge appear. Flipped it over and did the same to the other side.

Comments???

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Must be one hungry mouse! you sure have to be careful not to burn the steel! I have used my one inch bench belt sander and cool in water every second or two. (actually dipping in water more than grinding!)

[Thomp]

I have used the scairy sharp method before
where you use wet-dry emory or carborandum on a section of glass wet and sharpen,
In fact when i was in guam thats all i had for 3 years due to the lack of ability to get a good sharpening stone.

ive used orbital sanders on tools that collected rust, like squairs and handsaws to bring them back into shape. but never tought to sharpen a tool on one...
thanks for the idea,
i love to tinker better than anything else.. HAW!

[xsailer]

Hadn't thought of a Mouse Sander of which I have had for 3 years and not used yet. I would think it would not get as hot as a 1" belt sander since it's not moving as fast. Not that person shouldn't be mindful of heat buildup. Thanks for the find and lets hope it's a good discovery and will bring lots of luck if not money your way.

[Kenny_S]

Lynn, What grit did you use?

[Lynn O. Doughty]

I just used the 80 grit I had on the sander. Blade didn't get hot at all...was amazed at how quickt he edge came up. Of course at 80 grit it's a wonder I didn't see the blade just disappear! Will make me up some 380 grit pads and see how that works!

[Colin_Partridge]

Lynn,
I have never heard of that but sound like it should work. I will be curious to see Rick's comments on this because I always consider him as the sharpening guru.
Colin

[rick-in-seattle]

Colin,
You should know my opinion; it is on my website.

"Which method is best for sharpening?

Any method which produces a good edge without heat or wasting of the tool is good."

If you sharpen with a coarser grit, you will experience less heat.

It is the quick results I would be concerned with, it is too easy to sharpen more often than necessary if it can be done as quickly as stroping.

We sharpen our favorite tools most often; if we are wasting metal, we use up our best tools sooner than necessary.

When creating the wire edge, I use magnification to verify the uniformity of the wire to keep it as small as possible.

(Wire) In this case means a thin flap of metal attached to the cutting edge of the tool. Being too fine for the abrasive to remove, it simply deflects when pressure is applied.

(Uniformity) In this case means a consistant wire edge without any voids or chips out of it. It is possible to have a nice looking wire edge but still have nicks that penetrate the wire to the blade

[whitecree]

I've used various grades of sandpaper wheels on a dremel to sharpen. Never thought of using a detail sander, and if wasting metal is a result, maybe I don't want to.

Could be a real find for kitchen knife sharpening, though.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

90% of the time if I get a small nick, I can just use a piece of 800 or 1200 grit paper then 2000 and back to the strop, I agree...don't want to shorten the life of a good knife by grinding it away. I have some lathe tools that were used when I got them, this guy apparently took them to the grinding wheel everytime they got dull.....they are about 1/2 the length they should be!