Putzing around sharpening a knife and testing on a PT50A BESS scale.

I now make resin bond diamond bench stones. For more information please visit my website at www.cgsw.us/
I got a PT50A tester, in preparation for a casual sharpening contest that Shawn of BBB is running. It's only 3 of us in this run but since I have never done anything like this it's got plenty of newness factor! The knife I am playing with here is a Delica 4 with a HAP40 blade that Shawn thinned down. I reprofiled it to 10 dps and am learning what works best for the tester and will continue this exploration in more videos.

[@edkubinski]

I'm so glad I found your channel. I'm learning a lot.

[@davestelling]

Same, here. The edge-trailing technique is very interesting...

[@stevenknight8237]

Interesting 10 degrees per side... thanks for the time and comments...

[@scotttalkington323]

Thanks for the shout out at 2:20!

[@CGSW]

Thanks for the idea! I already had a spray can of silicone so it was easy to try.

[@gerridhodges4084]

Where is the follow up to this video?

[@CGSW]

It is still on my phone! I simply haven't had the time.

[@The335plyr]

I always enjoy your videos very much. From an informational and entertaining standpoint. I have been meaning to ask you... can you suggest a way to modify a small knife attachment for edge pro to get magnetism similar to your blade table? I would be thrilled to have a smaller blade table like that with strong magnetism.

[@CGSW]

I think the best way would be to make the SKA table out of aluminum with magnets under the rubber just like I do with my blade tables. I will mention this to Cody today when I drop off this week's delivery of stuff. I am thinking that it would be best to use strong enough magnets that you don't need a guide? What do you think?

[@The335plyr]

Columbia Gorge Stoneworks that sounds like best way to me. Are your magnets cut to the form of your table under the rubber? Or are they just under your blade table? Curious what type and strength of magnet to use. Any recommendations? Also does the slide guide work on the SKA similar to your setup where the edges of the guide would sit proud of the smaller table?

[@CGSW]

@@The335plyr On my sharpener the magnets are glued into pockets in the aluminum then covered with .018" thick, with adhesive, rubber. You need to balance the strength of the magnets with the stickiness of the rubber. I have a few different magnets but settled on EPDM which is the middle of the road for stickiness. I like 1/8" thick x 1/2" wide neodymium magnets around N50. The length and how many depends on how wide the table is and how well you want the blade to be held. Too strong and it is difficult to get the knife seated against the slide guide. The slide guide will not work on the SKA, but it might be able to if the table was designed to work with it. Personally, I would go with enough magnets to hold the knife in place and forgo a guide since you will only hold small knives with it. With the slide guide and knob in place I am limited to about 12 degrees, replace the knob with a button head screw and I can get down to around 9 degrees. Often I want less when thinning a bevel. Cody was on the phone when I dropped off my delivery and I couldn't wait so I didn't get to talk to him about this. Re-reading your original post I don't think you can modify the plastic SKA table to incorporate magnets as you can't glue to that plastic, and want the minimum gap between your magnets and knife. I really think you want to make it out of aluminum, and design it for that specific purpose. You also want rubber on top of your table to help hold the knife, plastic is too slippery.

[@The335plyr]

Columbia Gorge Stoneworks I really appreciate the detailed response. You’ve got my wheels turning. I’m definitely going to go with the aluminum approach. That seems like the best option for sure. That is a bummer to know your guide doesn’t work with the SKA. I’ll have to think about how I could design it to be compatible. I can see having no guide working as well but I’m a little OCD and would like that reassurance of contacting the guide in the same spot every time to help with consistency. I always thought myself that rubber on the blade table made a lot of sense even when sharpening kitchen knives and having no magnets. Just helps keep the blade steady better. That might a good mod for the EP as well and straightforward enough. I’m going to do some looking around to see what materials I can find with the details you provided.

[@CGSW]

@@The335plyr Neoprene is the stickiest and Buna-N sticks the least with EPDM in the middle of the three I tried. I get mine from McMaster-Carr. The self-adhesive type works great but after a year or two the rubber starts to pull up so it doesn't last. I haven't tried contact adhesive yet. I did try a very toughened epoxy but it too failed after a while. Rubber is very hard to glue to permanently and I still need to figure it out myself. The problem with making the slide guide work with the SKA table is both are designed to reference the slot in the blade table. It can be done with a 1/4" thick SKA table but not something that is easily hacked out. If you use strong enough magnets that the knife doesn't move when sharpening and line the edge of your knife along the front of the table your OCD will be fine with it.

[@tomabraham2927]

Hi, thanks for the video. What system do you use to magnify your blades? Can you observe the magnified blade live or do you just take photos to study later? Thanks, Tom

[@CGSW]

I inherited a microscope from a doctor, then added a USB camera eyepiece. I can view in realtime with about 2 refreshes a second so it's a little jumpy. Being able to take photos of what I see is like gold when I can't quite remember what it looked like 15 minutes later. I can't say enough about how this has totally changed the way I sharpen, even to this day it drives me to do better!

[@tomabraham2927]

@@CGSW Great to hear! What magnification/s do you find most effective?

[@CGSW]

@@tomabraham2927 I don't even know what the magnifications are but I use 2 and the photos in my videos are the lesser magnification. The focal distance of the higher magnification is so small that I can only get a very thin band of the bevel in focus, much worse than what I show, which is pretty bad.

[@o.r.4248]

Would you make me a solid sharpening fixture like you Boss i would gladly buy it. I know it’s aluminum but its way more sturdy than all the plastic fixtures out there.

[@dskiles5311]

Any chance you plan on selling a sharpening system like this one?

[@CGSW]

Nope, I am pretty sure this one will never make it to production. But I do have some hope for the next one, which only shares the Slide Guide and the swapable end tables.

[@dskiles5311]

@@CGSW that’s unfortunate. I’ll keep an eye out. It looks like a more well refined wicked edge. I love it!!!

[@WINNIETHEGUINEAPIG]

@@CGSW I genuinely hope your next sharpener makes it to production. I love using your matrix stones, and would love to purchase a quality Made in USA sharpener from you. Thank you.

[@CGSW]

I got an email notification about a comment on this video from 3D Anvil 6 days ago but it hasn't displayed so I am posting it with my response. His comment is: If the BESS tester media is creating a mark in the blade, it could be a sign that you have a wire edge, according to the very interesting research by knifegrinders.com.au/ I just ordered your new diamond stones in KME format and I'm really looking forward to trying them out when they arrive! Good call, while it now seems pretty obvious that must be what is happening I couldn't see it and never put 2 and 2 together, thank you. I will have to try stropping with bare leather to see if that improves the edge. I also have some .5 micron white aluminum oxide to load the strop with that may be interesting too. Thank you for ordering some of my stones, I hope you like them! If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

[@drewsfjord]

Hello CGS, I would love to watch a video of your using the 4 inch dia/resin stones you sell. Thank you.

[@CGSW]

They work the same but only have half the effective useful surface. Other than having to use twice as many passes I don't have any 4" long strops to finish/deburr with. Still, thanks for the request, once I get the stropping figured out I will do it. I just got some 3M paper surgical tape rolls in yesterday. Using this medium on EP polish tape blanks with spray abrasive I think is better than leather for finishing a blade. I tried some no name tape and other than smearing adhesive on the bevel it worked perfectly.

[@drewsfjord]

@@CGSW Awesome, I own a Tsprof Kadet and it's great. Right now I have the venev stones which seem to be the best stones I've used so far. While the matrix stones are praised, they just seem way overpriced for what they are.

[@CGSW]

@@drewsfjord It is a common problem with making things in America, and it's only getting worse the less we do. There are differences between the two stones, how important they are depend on personal preference. I make them myself and have never skimped on anything, and never will. I only used diamond, no fillers including other abrasives, and never short how much diamond I use or care in the process of making them. Do you trust the Russians to do the same? Keep in mind these stones will last a lifetime if correctly used and maintained.

[@drewsfjord]

@@CGSW Your stones are USA made yet are a fraction of the cost of the matrix stones. I don't own any resin stones yet so excited to see your stones in use. Really appreciate you sharing the demonstrations.