I finally set up some of the paper wheels I've had for a year, for honing edges. They are 10" wheels from Razor Sharp, purchased through Steve Bottorff/Sharpening Made Easy. The wheels are about 1 1/4" wide. They came with some plastic bushings, 3/4" to 5/8" but I prefer using stainless steel, so I made some from some tubing I had on hand. The OD was fine, but the tubing is welded so the ID had irregularities, so I bored them out to a close but slip fit on the grinder shaft. I used the 8" half-speed Rikon grinder I bought more than a year ago that I had set up with BGMs but found I could not control the heat along the apexes, so I quit using it for sharpening. And now that I have the Viel 1x42 belt sander, I do not need the Rikon for roughing bevels.
At first I thought I could use the nice flanges from the Rikon, but with the additional width of the paper wheels, there was not enough thread left for the nuts to be secure, so I machined some custom ones from aluminum, similar to the ones I made for mounting the Norton 3X grindstone on my T8.
It was a lot more involved than I anticipated setting up the BGMs, per Wootz's instructions, attempting to have them come out with the vertical and horizontal distances he recommends. I tried really hard to make both sides the same. It was futile. I think I'd like to try making better mounts later, but I just want to get on with using it all now. They'll probably stay that way once I start using them.
I've relied heavily on information from Wootz, including diamond pastes. I have set up the first two paper wheels, one with 5 micron and the other with a 50:50 mix of 0.5 and 0.25 micron. The procedure for applying the paste came from Kwakster, via Wootz, which is to use an oil with tackifiers. I could not find any tackifier product to use to add to oil and the only oil I could find with tackifier was chain saw chain oil. I don't need much and didn't want to buy a large quantity and I was lucky enough to find a friend with a little left in a gallon jug. At the time, I didn't own a chain saw. Now I do, so I can actually use a larger quantity now. Go figure.
I haven't tried the paper wheels out yet. I'm waiting for the final application of oil to dry. It is too late tonight to get into it, so in the morning. I'm excited. One of my motivations a year ago was a desire/need to sharpen ceramics. But, the impetus to set the paper wheels up then stalled as I learned how to better use the Tormek leather honing wheel as I worked a couple of farmers markets and the need to sharpen ceramics disappeared.
I'll have some time tomorrow to try them out, but won't be able to get into a more involved sharpening session. I also have to do laundry, pay bills, split some wood and pack for a trip. I'm going to Arkansas for a bamboo fly rod makers gathering. One of the top rodmakers will be presenting a program on sharpening, as it pertains to plane irons. I will be taking my BESS sharpness test instrument to supplement his presentation.
Rick
