Sharpening Knives with the Strip Sander
Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 1:01 pm
I saw this question somewhere else on the forum & thought rather than simply reply, I'd start a new thread here.
This is the Saw Dust Session on sharpening knives:
http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Arch ... pening.htm
Drew also has an Interlude for sharpening plane knives here:
http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Arch ... lude_1.htm
The hard part for me was finding a leather belt strop. I drove 1200 miles in my pilgrimage to Poe Ave and climbed the mountain to speak to the master. He answered my questions and demonstrated how to remove the burr with a leather strop belt. He then demonstrated to me the secret art of twirling a 'balanced' hammer like a baton. One must be very careful.
If you need a leather belt for your strip sander, look for another thread in this section of the forum. One thing not shown in Nick's demonstration is you might need to remove the lower part of the door where it contacts a thicker belt. This might require the removal 1/8" to 3/16", the width of the leather belt, deep section of the door. If your belt is thin, this might not be required. I haven't tried it yet myself.
Shopsmith doesn't sell the leather belts. I ordered my belt from Dick Belcher. He has web site http://belchercarvingsupply.tripod.com/ and also a catalog where he sells the white aluminum oxide soap and many other wood carving/burning supplies. I might have purchased his last belt, but he may have one more. In my discussion with him, I learned he is in the process of working with a machine shop to make a replacement idler wheel for the new Shopsmith strip sanders. The old strip sanders used a ball bearing idler wheels, whereas the new ones use a plastic bushing which requires greasing. I had purchased a new strip sander, but subsequently found a 1991 manufactured strip sander on Ebay. I believe Dick told me he is taking names of people interested in idler wheels with ball bearings.
This is the Saw Dust Session on sharpening knives:
http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Arch ... pening.htm
Drew also has an Interlude for sharpening plane knives here:
http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Arch ... lude_1.htm
The hard part for me was finding a leather belt strop. I drove 1200 miles in my pilgrimage to Poe Ave and climbed the mountain to speak to the master. He answered my questions and demonstrated how to remove the burr with a leather strop belt. He then demonstrated to me the secret art of twirling a 'balanced' hammer like a baton. One must be very careful.
If you need a leather belt for your strip sander, look for another thread in this section of the forum. One thing not shown in Nick's demonstration is you might need to remove the lower part of the door where it contacts a thicker belt. This might require the removal 1/8" to 3/16", the width of the leather belt, deep section of the door. If your belt is thin, this might not be required. I haven't tried it yet myself.
Shopsmith doesn't sell the leather belts. I ordered my belt from Dick Belcher. He has web site http://belchercarvingsupply.tripod.com/ and also a catalog where he sells the white aluminum oxide soap and many other wood carving/burning supplies. I might have purchased his last belt, but he may have one more. In my discussion with him, I learned he is in the process of working with a machine shop to make a replacement idler wheel for the new Shopsmith strip sanders. The old strip sanders used a ball bearing idler wheels, whereas the new ones use a plastic bushing which requires greasing. I had purchased a new strip sander, but subsequently found a 1991 manufactured strip sander on Ebay. I believe Dick told me he is taking names of people interested in idler wheels with ball bearings.