Hollow Ground... And Hating It

[tatehunt]

Uh huh... that's what I have been doing except... BK blades don't fit the "roller fixture" He makes his shafts on the blades larger then a standard or Tandy blade. I got so dang frustrated I nearly used the darned thing as a dart today. LOL I swore so long and hard... even my ex-sailor husband was shocked. (I rarely say "f-words" when I'm mad)

I don't know, I'm not sure this blade is worth the PITA it's causing.

I had the same issue with my jig. I just put the blade and the stone at eye level and was able to get a good angle. I do a 200,400, and 800 grit(japanese water stone) series of sharpening, then polish with Green rouge on my strop. I was able to get a great edge on it, and It's staying sharper than my other blades. I also found some waterstone wedges one can sand to a thin edge to sharpen edgers, groovers, and other cutting tools. The wedges rock. www.japanwoodworker.com

[Sylvia]

I had the same issue with my jig. I just put the blade and the stone at eye level and was able to get a good angle. I do a 200,400, and 800 grit(japanese water stone) series of sharpening, then polish with Green rouge on my strop. I was able to get a great edge on it, and It's staying sharper than my other blades. I also found some waterstone wedges one can sand to a thin edge to sharpen edgers, groovers, and other cutting tools. The wedges rock. www.japanwoodworker.com

Thanks Tate... I did that too. I can't see or feel the angle. When I think I have the angle and draw it on the stone... and look at the edge... I can see that the angle I got was not the original cut line.

Ok, well, I'm going to chalk this up to my being hollow ground blade sharpening challenged and send this blade back... maybe even with the whole dang knife. It's too bad too, I really loved the action of this knife.

[amuckart]

You could make a small version of the angled jig on Brent's Sharpening Pages. It'd work well for swivel knife blades and fit any blade type you wanted to.

[Sylvia]

You could make a small version of the angled jig on Brent's Sharpening Pages. It'd work well for swivel knife blades and fit any blade type you wanted to.

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out and see if it is something we can make with the shop tools we have.

[Ken Nelson]

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out and see if it is something we can make with the shop tools we have.

I drilled out the roller guide to work with my Barry King blades. Used a hand drill and was very careful. Helped me a bunch to get it right. Ken

[Tree Reaper]

Sylvia, it's not the blade.

The angle has been changed and I can see why it won't cut looking at the picture you posted.

How did it cut when you first tried it?

Kevin

[Art]

A trick when sharpening a flat ground edge (hollow ground works too but is different) is to paint the edge with magic marker or something similar and then remove some metal. This will allow you to see where you are grinding. I have shown this to folks and they were really suprised to find they were removing metal from the shoulder and not getting anywhere near the edge. This is ok if you're changing the edge geometry, but you are going to have to grind longer to get to the edge. For use older folks, a 10x loupe is a handy gadget too.

Art

[hidepounder]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the"Big Red" roller guide that Chuck Smith sells. It comes with a 30 degree angle guide and accepts two sizes of blade shanks. I use this on every blade I sharpen. If you use the guide it's pretty hard to get it wrong! I used to sharpen free hand by "feel" but I've proven to myself that I can't even come close to getting a consistent angle and a flat plane on each side without the guide. Consequently I need to sharpen less that 1/2 as often as I used to. When I sharpen I use a 600 and 1200 diamond hone. Be sure you push the blade across the hone...don't drag it! Then I finish with 2000 grit sand paper and polish with green rouge. Barry's blades are made of tool steel and will provide years of service if prepared properly. With the exception of my LW I won't use anything but hollow ground blades. If you don't want to spend the money on a Big Red it is a pretty simple matter to drill out an inexpensive Tandy roller guide to fit your blade. Then you only need to figure out the angle.

Hope this helps......

Bobby

[Sylvia]

I drilled out the roller guide to work with my Barry King blades. Used a hand drill and was very careful. Helped me a bunch to get it right. Ken

Fantastic Idea Ken.... however, then it wouldn't work for any of the standard shank blades. I might see if I can find another jig and then drill it out to have one of each.

Barry is going to send me another blade, a regular style blade. So he is taking good care of me. Apparently, I am one of 2 people who have disliked these hollow ones.

Sylvia, it's not the blade.

The angle has been changed and I can see why it won't cut looking at the picture you posted.

How did it cut when you first tried it?

Kevin

It was just ok. It never really felt right.

A trick when sharpening a flat ground edge (hollow ground works too but is different) is to paint the edge with magic marker or something similar and then remove some metal. This will allow you to see where you are grinding. I have shown this to folks and they were really suprised to find they were removing metal from the shoulder and not getting anywhere near the edge. This is ok if you're changing the edge geometry, but you are going to have to grind longer to get to the edge. For use older folks, a 10x loupe is a handy gadget too.

Art

Hey! Who are you calling "older?" LOL I actually have a 30x loop from my gold and jewelry buying days. I use it a lot.... that's how I knew I wasn't getting the angle right. Excellent idea with the marker.

[Sylvia]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the"Big Red" roller guide that Chuck Smith sells. It comes with a 30 degree angle guide and accepts two sizes of blade shanks. I use this on every blade I sharpen. If you use the guide it's pretty hard to get it wrong! I used to sharpen free hand by "feel" but I've proven to myself that I can't even come close to getting a consistent angle and a flat plane on each side without the guide. Consequently I need to sharpen less that 1/2 as often as I used to. When I sharpen I use a 600 and 1200 diamond hone. Be sure you push the blade across the hone...don't drag it! Then I finish with 2000 grit sand paper and polish with green rouge. Barry's blades are made of tool steel and will provide years of service if prepared properly. With the exception of my LW I won't use anything but hollow ground blades. If you don't want to spend the money on a Big Red it is a pretty simple matter to drill out an inexpensive Tandy roller guide to fit your blade. Then you only need to figure out the angle.

Hope this helps......

Bobby

Thanks Bob. I didn't know Chuck Smith's had a jig that would work. It's nice to know that a pro like you had trouble with "free hand" sharpening of these too. That makes me feel a lot better.

Does Chuck Smith's have a website or do I have to call them?