Snow,
First thing to do is flatten the "flat" side. News flash- it's not flat. No, it's NOT flat. And remember, please, he asked about the original grizzlies....not Bill Dunn's version...so this likely isn't required for the new ones...I don't know. I have so many of the old ones I've never ordered the new!
Second, the device used to create the bevel was round....and because of that it's not perfectly flat either. So initially, there's a lot of filing to do.
Using a very aggressive file, laid flat on your bench with the tang pointed directly away from you, in your right hand grab the head by the opposite bevel, lay it down on the file with the tip away from you, and pull it along the right hand side of the file pulling toward your body. Do this several times. What you'll see if you check it is paint and metal being removed unevenly. That's good. Keep going until you've removed the paint all down the edge at the very least.
Now it's time to do the beveled side....in this you're going to hold the head on a piece of shaft in your left hand, laying it against an immovable surface point toward YOU( could be a stair railing post, a vise in your shop- anything that you can rest the shaft on and be able to run the file in your right hand down along the beveled side from tip to rear of the head in a smooth, evenly maintained angle - Do NOT use your knee- it gives too much- there's too much motion for effective filing) the biggest mistake people make here is trying to 'CUT" metal. Don't do that- you want to just let the file's own weight and teeth do the cutting, don't apply a ton of force. Now early on, it might be useful to use a magic marker - a red one perhaps- and mark the whole bevel....then you can see when you've removed it you should be close. The opposite side will have to be done facing away from you- back to front...unless you are ambidextrous.
What you will see as you continue - your heaviest strokes at the beginning and progressively lighter and lighter toward the end, is a very fine piece of "foil" forming on the edge. That's what some people call a burr. I call it a foil edge, because it looks like silver leaf or gold leaf....it's very thin.
Once you see that (sometimes depending on the light you must turn the head back and forth to get the light to catch it for your eyes) S-T-O-P.
Now here I like to use a wood paddle with belting leather and flitz metal polish on it- you can use just a piece of thin cardboard (the gray side, not the side with printing on it) Hold the head on the shaft in your right hand, hold down the piece of cardboard or the strop with your left hand-flat on the table- and with a wiping motion try to move that piece of foil from side to side stropping it on the surface you've chosen until you see it come off - when you see it come off- S T O P. Often you see it come off in one big curl. Other times it removes in sections- what that means is the flat side is likely not quite flat. Once it comes off....
Go no further. have this image in your head- you are wiping peanut butter off a knife onto a piece of bread- the whole length of the knife at once- side to side- trying to 'clean' the knife of peanut butter back and forth, wax on, wax off.
It will make your eyes bleed just looking at it.
From this point on, keeping them sharp takes just seconds per head...think of this as setting up the head for being sharp- once this is done, they take about 20 to 30 seconds per head. You'll also find that they stay sharp much longer than most traditional heads because the rockwell hardness is so high. Most heads are very soft so they can be easily sharpened, but the edge doesn't last for that reason.
Topic: Problems sharpening grizzlys (Read 426 times)
