sharpening with a belt sander

[Gordy]

Interesting use of the belt sander !  Clamped in the vice on cruise control ???  

I bought a 12" x 12" piece of glass at the hardware store for about $2, then use 150/300/600 grit with my snuffers.  Very simple and very effective.

I've had some bad luck with power tools in the past so ......      I better stick with what I know.  

[ChuckC]

I made a jig to help.  This is for two, not three blade head.  I epoxied the guide piece to the side of the sander as can be seen in the pic.  You can probably figure out the rest.  Works great.  Quench often though cause they can get hot quick.

 

ChuckC

[Nala]

I have thought about trying sandpaper on the Woodsmans and actually did try it once, but didn't get good results.  That was when I used a 600 grit paper flat on a table on a head that I just had finished sharpening with a file.

I can get them relatively sharp with a file, but not hair shaving sharp.  I don't have a Jewel Stick so I was looking for an alternative to take it to the next hair shaving level.  Well my method didn't work.

Do you all think the belt sander with fine paper and then to the Jewel Stick works really well?  If it does I'll have to try it, but I'd rather not have to buy a Jewel Stick unless I know it's gonna work not only for my Woodsmans, but also for my many 2 blade heads like my Bear Greenies and and Magnus Stingers.

I'm just looking for the simplest method to use on ALL my heads that is EASILY repeatable.

One thing I tried on a Woodsman that I have been experimenting on was using a Smith's Diamond stone.  I took the WW and instead of going up and back over and over, I went around in a circle and counted the number of circles.  I would then flip it over and repeat until I had all 3 sides done.  Then I would start the process over but this time I would put much lighter pressure on them this time.  After that cycle through I would do a last cycle of circular sharpening, but the final one would be really light on the surface of the stone.  Then I took it to a stone I have that I honestly don't know the specs of it.  It could be hard, soft or who knows what.  I think it's a pretty hard stone though.  I oiled it and done the same circular motion on each side for a number of times and would decrease the pressure each time.  At the end I just wiped it down and checked it since I didn't have a jewel stick to put the final touch on it.  Well this method I done ended up giving me the sharpest WW I have ever seen.  EASILY shaves hair.

This method wouldn't work for 2 blade heads though and it time consuming as it takes about 20 minutes to do each head all the way to the end.

I am definitely looking for a simpler and more efficient method to get these WW razor sharp.

Would you all say I need a Jewel Stick?

Any other ideas or suggestions...PM me and lets talk.

Thanks
Nalajr

[Zmonster]

ttt

[PEARL DRUMS]

Dad has a belt sander made for sharpening butcher knives, I let him sharpen some heads and he was shaving hair in about 15 seconds w/o a steel or stropping. Never tried 3 blade heads, only two bladers.