Wen 10" Sharpenening Wheel

[birdsfan]

I am considering getting a Wen 10" 2-direction water cooled sharpening wheel. Anybody out there have one of these? The YouTube reviews seem to speak pretty positively about them, but I am curious what real knife enthusiasts think of them.

 

[Bensbites]

I picked up the grizzly version. I don’t use it much. I have other tools that do each of these jobs better. Except maybe sharpening lathe tools.

 

[birdsfan]

I am planning to use it for more than just knives. I have some chisels and lathe blades to sharpen as well, but yes, in this thread I was wondering how it worked on knives, for thinning projects etc.

 

[da_mich*]

I am planning to use it for more than just knives. I have some chisels and lathe blades to sharpen as well, but yes, in this thread I was wondering how it worked on knives, for thinning projects etc.

Hello birdsfan,

a year ago i had the same problem. I have lots of knives, chisels etc..... . In Germany you can´t buy the WEN but lot´s of other Tormek fakes. I compared maybe 10 of this clones with the T-8 because its 250€ vs 600€. All in all i bought the Tormek T-8. All fake tormeks have a irregular run, plastic gears, or other problems. In my opinion its the only good grinding wheel on market and it´s a lifetime invest. Even the Tormek T-4 is cheap scrap.

Do you saw a video about thinning with grinding wheel? I would be interested in how it works on a grinding wheel like the WEN or Tormek.

Thanks,
Michael

 

[birdsfan]

Thanks for the product insight. No doubt the Tormek is the market leader. That is the unit that everyone compares it to. I am just trying not to spend the $700. so much money! I could afford the Wen....AND 2 decent knives from BST with that.

I haven't seen a video of thinning with the Tormek, but I know a lot of people on here have mentioned that they use a belt sander to thin. I have been reluctant to do that. Dont want to muck up the heat treat. It seems that a water cooled wheel would be safer. I do have a number of pretty serious thinning projects in my knife drawer and a couple of cheap pieces of crap that I can practice on first. So if I buy a wheel, I will let you know how it works.

 

[da_mich*]

Yes, $700 is lots of money.

Do you have a link of this video? I´m interested in this thinning video. I don´t think it will work with the standard jigs because you can´t set the angle low enough.
I´m also searching for a good thinning method too. Now i do thinnig by hand or with a cheap hobby belt sander. The risk of overheating is very high.

A few days ago i found a water cooled horizontal wheel sharpener called "Shinko". You can buy it with three different stones(280,1000 & 6000). It looks very interesting for thinning knives but it only has a 125W engine.

 

[birdsfan]

I have not found a thinning video using the wheel. I have seen videos of people who made knife jigs for use on a wheel. On one of those jigs, the maker had a set-screw that allowed adjustment of the length of the arm of the jig. I could see that being used to change the angle for thinning. I will try to find that jig video and link that.

 

[da_mich*]

Oh nice thanks, i hope you can find it.

 

[inferno]

if you want something that works for thinning a machine like this does.
mine was 30€. 600w

 

[da_mich*]

But with this small belt grinder the risk of overheating is very high? I have a "Peugeot EnergySand 200 ASP" with a much longer band and it´s very dangerous. Because of this problem i thin by hand like in my new video from today.

PS: I always use a new band too

 

[Forty Ounce]

I am considering getting a Wen 10" 2-direction water cooled sharpening wheel. Anybody out there have one of these? The YouTube reviews seem to speak pretty positively about them, but I am curious what real knife enthusiasts think of them.

Waste of money. Bad for chisels, creates hollows in the bevel. A horizontal wheel is a better choice. These machines take skill to use properly, I wouldn't recommend using them until you are very proficient with material removal.

 

[inferno]

But with this small belt grinder the risk of overheating is very high? I have a "Peugeot EnergySand 200 ASP" with a much longer band and it´s very dangerous. Because of this problem i thin by hand like in my new video from today.

PS: I always use a new band too

my belt speed is 170-220m/m that is around 3m/s. industrial grinders have belt speeds of around 30m/s.

you can do one pretty slow (3-5 seconds) pass without overheating things. i just dunk the blade in water after every pass.
I make/grind out hardened blades with it. all powertools have the capacity of ruining the ht. this one is quite easy to control.