|
Ray,
I wholeheartedly agree that anyone who cares for his knives should be well versed in manual sharpening whether with stones or a guided sharpener. That said, though, I really prefer mechanized sharpening machines. my Tormek does a beautiful job of sharpening knives, scissors, chisels, turning tools, axes, adzes, and even an aardvark should I have need for a sharp aardvark. I also use paper wheels for small blades with excellent results. However, I do admit that the Tormek is expensive and requires some practice for consistent results. Same for the paper wheels only more so because they will overheat a blade in less time than it takes to think about it. As for removing a lot of metal to establish a new edge, the Tormek wheel can be graded to a coarser grit and will take off metal fairly quickly. When it comes time to polish the edge you simply use the grading stone to smooth the wheel to about 1000 grit. If you want, you can buy an aftermarket 4000 grit water stone for the machine.
I sharpen for utility as I'm not a custom knife maker. When I'm working in the shop I don't want to sit down and get the stones out to sharpen a tool. That's when I turn to the Tormek or the paper wheels. A few minutes to sharpen a tool or a few seconds to hone one and I'm productive again. However, when it comes time to go hunting I sure don't pack along my gadgets. I always have a Lansky diamond sharpening kit in my hunting gear.
K
|