03-25-2017, 06:07 PM
Here’s the report and the unboxing video fell by the wayside for certain: 
Well I ordered an Onion and got a radish.
Don’t know for sure yet what went wrong with my order but I received the cheaper unit as well as an extra box of belts that I didn’t order either. The extra belts turned out to be a good thing though. I reached a satisfactory agreement with my supplier and just decided to go with the less expensive model because I was anxious to get started.
I went to the local thrift and picked up three knives to practice on out of a big box. $1.75 each and accidentally managed to hit them on half-price day. I told them that $1.75 each was already cheap enough. Here’s the three knives and the sharpener. From top to bottom, let’s call the knives A,B and C.
A and B do not have a single marking on them. Could have been worn off though. C looked like it might have some possibilities though because it at least had some kind of writing and a logo on it but very worn as well. Looks like EKOETERNA. At least someone wasn’t too embarrassed to sign their name on it. Probably the most challenging aspect of this project was getting the packing tape off the edges that the thrift store had put on them. It was as if it had been baked on and came off in a million little pieces. Knife A measured 1345 – Knife B measured 1230 and C was the worst of all at 1660. You could easily hook your finger nail on all three rolled edges up and down one side of the entire edge. I took pictures of all three but no point in putting them all up here. You get the idea.
Just for curiosity I tried straightening one of the knife edges with my sharp pad but really only succeeded in severely gouging the surface of my burr removal plate and only improved the reading a couple hundred points. These edges were just too far gone. So now to the new sharpening gizmo. I can tell you this much it is far superior in my opinion to my old three stage electric sharpener but even so knives in this poor condition are all this model seems to want. I used up two of my coarse belts raising burrs on two of the knives. I was saving knife C for another experiment. I ground so much that I began to wonder about the heat I was generating. The blades did actually feel quite warm to the touch and if that much heat is transferred to the body of the blade it does make you wonder what the temperature is at that very thin contact area.
I then switched to the medium belt and ran both knives through several times and then the fine belt. All this belt switching is a pain but if it sharpens a knife its worth it to me. I measured then. A was 385 and B was 365. That's a big improvement over where I started and a usable knife in my house but I had done better than that with my old electric after burr removal so I knew I had some work to do. Then I got out the sharp pad again and began my standard burr removal procedure. I took several measurements on each knife during this process and it was obvious to me that these knives weren’t going to give up their burrs easily. They were the worst that I have ever encountered. After two or three trips to the rubber base I finally got there. Knife A 240 and Knife B 250. That’s where I quit and called it good enough because further efforts at burr removal weren't producing better BESS numbers.
So now to Knife C. If you watch the Sharp Pad videos (don’t remember which one) you’ll see Mike talking about using a polymer plate with an abrasive sandpaper glued to it to sharpen a knife. In one of his Hub Pages articles he describes the technique he uses to grind the edge. Edge On Up doesn’t sell these as far as I know but for sure they don’t come with a sharp pad. I decided to give it a try. Went to the hardware store and bought a couple sheets of black silicon carbide 240 grit paper and a can of Super 77 spray adhesive. Sprayed one side of a burr removal plate with adhesive and stuck it to the back of the sand paper. I then trimmed it off with a scissors and then did the flip side of the plate the same way. Here’s the material I used and the abrasive plate I produced.
The technique is to use a lot of pressure to create the initial burr and then very light strokes to reduce the burr somewhat thereafter before final burr removal. So here is how it went on my worst, and by far largest, knife (knife C) from a dull perspective but I suspect maybe a little better quality knife overall. I spent probably 30 seconds on side 1 of the knife with a lot of pressure and then flipped it over to side two for about an equal amount of time. I felt for a burr, nothing. Flipped it back to side one for another 30 seconds and then felt for a burr again. Lo and behold a good burr with the exception of near the point and the very base of the blade. Flipped it again with an emphasis on those two areas and now a burr up and down the entire length of the blade. So in something around 2 minutes I had accomplished with a piece of sand paper what had just taken me at least twice that long to do with a motorized sharpener. This probably doesn’t surprise you guys much but I was totally surprised just how simple and fast that had been. I deburred the knife very thoroughly then and here’s the number I got on the very first measurement:
Got to tell you I am busting buttons over this and just plain excited. I’ve never sharpened a knife that sharp before! Next thing is back to the hardware store for experimentation with different grits. They had everything up to 2000. Then I am on to our good knives. Thank you so much for the help fellas!
Well I ordered an Onion and got a radish.
Don’t know for sure yet what went wrong with my order but I received the cheaper unit as well as an extra box of belts that I didn’t order either. The extra belts turned out to be a good thing though. I reached a satisfactory agreement with my supplier and just decided to go with the less expensive model because I was anxious to get started.I went to the local thrift and picked up three knives to practice on out of a big box. $1.75 each and accidentally managed to hit them on half-price day. I told them that $1.75 each was already cheap enough. Here’s the three knives and the sharpener. From top to bottom, let’s call the knives A,B and C.
A and B do not have a single marking on them. Could have been worn off though. C looked like it might have some possibilities though because it at least had some kind of writing and a logo on it but very worn as well. Looks like EKOETERNA. At least someone wasn’t too embarrassed to sign their name on it. Probably the most challenging aspect of this project was getting the packing tape off the edges that the thrift store had put on them. It was as if it had been baked on and came off in a million little pieces. Knife A measured 1345 – Knife B measured 1230 and C was the worst of all at 1660. You could easily hook your finger nail on all three rolled edges up and down one side of the entire edge. I took pictures of all three but no point in putting them all up here. You get the idea.
Just for curiosity I tried straightening one of the knife edges with my sharp pad but really only succeeded in severely gouging the surface of my burr removal plate and only improved the reading a couple hundred points. These edges were just too far gone. So now to the new sharpening gizmo. I can tell you this much it is far superior in my opinion to my old three stage electric sharpener but even so knives in this poor condition are all this model seems to want. I used up two of my coarse belts raising burrs on two of the knives. I was saving knife C for another experiment. I ground so much that I began to wonder about the heat I was generating. The blades did actually feel quite warm to the touch and if that much heat is transferred to the body of the blade it does make you wonder what the temperature is at that very thin contact area.
I then switched to the medium belt and ran both knives through several times and then the fine belt. All this belt switching is a pain but if it sharpens a knife its worth it to me. I measured then. A was 385 and B was 365. That's a big improvement over where I started and a usable knife in my house but I had done better than that with my old electric after burr removal so I knew I had some work to do. Then I got out the sharp pad again and began my standard burr removal procedure. I took several measurements on each knife during this process and it was obvious to me that these knives weren’t going to give up their burrs easily. They were the worst that I have ever encountered. After two or three trips to the rubber base I finally got there. Knife A 240 and Knife B 250. That’s where I quit and called it good enough because further efforts at burr removal weren't producing better BESS numbers.
So now to Knife C. If you watch the Sharp Pad videos (don’t remember which one) you’ll see Mike talking about using a polymer plate with an abrasive sandpaper glued to it to sharpen a knife. In one of his Hub Pages articles he describes the technique he uses to grind the edge. Edge On Up doesn’t sell these as far as I know but for sure they don’t come with a sharp pad. I decided to give it a try. Went to the hardware store and bought a couple sheets of black silicon carbide 240 grit paper and a can of Super 77 spray adhesive. Sprayed one side of a burr removal plate with adhesive and stuck it to the back of the sand paper. I then trimmed it off with a scissors and then did the flip side of the plate the same way. Here’s the material I used and the abrasive plate I produced.
The technique is to use a lot of pressure to create the initial burr and then very light strokes to reduce the burr somewhat thereafter before final burr removal. So here is how it went on my worst, and by far largest, knife (knife C) from a dull perspective but I suspect maybe a little better quality knife overall. I spent probably 30 seconds on side 1 of the knife with a lot of pressure and then flipped it over to side two for about an equal amount of time. I felt for a burr, nothing. Flipped it back to side one for another 30 seconds and then felt for a burr again. Lo and behold a good burr with the exception of near the point and the very base of the blade. Flipped it again with an emphasis on those two areas and now a burr up and down the entire length of the blade. So in something around 2 minutes I had accomplished with a piece of sand paper what had just taken me at least twice that long to do with a motorized sharpener. This probably doesn’t surprise you guys much but I was totally surprised just how simple and fast that had been. I deburred the knife very thoroughly then and here’s the number I got on the very first measurement:
Got to tell you I am busting buttons over this and just plain excited. I’ve never sharpened a knife that sharp before! Next thing is back to the hardware store for experimentation with different grits. They had everything up to 2000. Then I am on to our good knives. Thank you so much for the help fellas!