Setup for a professional sharpener

[Miley]

So I've been really doing a lot of sharpening over the last couple years. I'm a chef and have become obsessed with knife repair and sharpening. I've even started a small business doing knives for other restaurants.

The equipment I use is a mixture of shapton pro and shapton glass stones up to 8000. I also have a harbor freight belt sander that I use to grind down bolsters. I also have razor sharp paper sharpening wheels that work well for cheap knives if I'm in a hurry. Do you think a tormek wet grinder would be a valuable piece of equipment if the business takes off? I was also thinking about upgrading my belt sander, any recommendations? I've had a hard time doing regrinds on the harbor freight sander because the work area is small and the knife bounces off the platen. Can anyone give me some tips for using the belt grinder to thin and regrind?

I also have an edge pro professional with shapton glass stones. It's pretty great so far. I still do most knives freehandand I'll probably stick with that for the most part. I'm also considering taking Murray Carters sharpening class while I visit my brother in Oregon.

Thanks for reading this long post

What do other pro sharpeners out there using for high end chef knives?

 

[WingKKF]

I'm considering getting a Harbor Freight belt sander one of these days. I'm curious, why is the knife bouncing off the platen? Does the belt have bumps in it? Have you tried other aftermarket belts?

 

[Miley]

The belts have a joint that isn't quite flat. These are high quality belts from lee valley tools. I think the sanders with longer belts would avoid this problem because there is more play/slack in a longer belt. If I could slow the belt down it would help but the machine doesn't work well when plugged into a variable speed control, it loses most of its power and stops on the knife unless it's at full speed. Not enough torque.

 

[Matus]

Well, if I were you I would contact Jon from JKI as he would give you the best advice on the stones and other tools.

My take on a belt grinder is the following:
- 1x30" has plenty of power for knfie thinning and costs next to nothing
- Norton Blaze belts are available in #60 and #120 grits and you will feel no 'bump' on these. The cut very fast and do not heat the blade uo quite as fast. Still - you need to be VERY careful not to over-heat the blade
- 3M Trizact 'gator' belts (A100, A65, A30 - give or take - here is conversion table. Again, great belts, very long lifetime
- continue with stones or sanding paper (depenmding on the knife, type of finish, etc.)

Taking a class with a pro-sharpener is surely a good idea, just make sure that the level of the class will be what you need.

 

[Sharpchef]

For pro sharpening, Thormek is much to slow..... (i am faster with DMT and Jnats with better outcome by hand.....)

There are some opportunitys for water cooled bench grinding, without you need very much experience....

For Customs i recommend a bench stone sharpening system like Bogdan Manko built, they kick ass.

Greets Sebastian.

 

[JMJones]

If I was sharpening commercially I would use a 2x72 variable speed belt grinder. I would also use a mist type coolant system (they run off of a small air compressor). I would be willing to bet you could satisfy 95% of clients with the edge right off the belt and in only a few minutes max per blade . For the other 5%, who would appreciate a finer edge I would charge a premium for using the stones, strops ect.