The spherical bearing idea to remove sloppy movement is a good idea but, the magnetic hold isn't terribly useful as many blades use non-magnetic or poorly magnetic alloys. Addition of either a spring clip or physical clamp would go a long way in improving functionality. Even use of a dovetail and spring to apply pressure to the stone would be beneficial in accounting for variation in those inexpensive stones.
Don't forget, you can get any blade extremely sharp regardless of its quality. The quality of the steel only dictates HOW LONG the blade will stay sharp.
@@juhotuho10 No. It depends on the usage area. In the kitchen stainless knifes are prefered for easy cleaning and long lasting sharpness, the drawback of stainless steel is the difficulty to sharpen it due its hardness. For hunting knifes most prefer a softer steel with a higher carbon content. Sure, you can't soak these knives for to long or they will rust. The edge is also softer, but, they are way easier to sharpen. Meaning that standing in the woods with a simple sharpening tool and a dull knife is no problem if it's carbon steel.
yeah that's mostly true, but some cheap knives are made of really crappy steal and (like ceramic) the edge isn't strong enough to support itself while sharpening and instead of grinding it cracks at the very edge
Nonono, that idea is incomplete! You should design a knife sharpening jig that you can clamp to your 3d printer! Why move the knife back and forth by hand when you have a printer with perfectly suited stepper motors for that!
Exactly! I just spent 5 minutes re-finding this video so I could complain that it wasn't what I was hoping for. Literally, if there were a knife-sharpening app for a 3D printer, I would buy the 3D printer just for that purpose.
@@i.i.iiii.i.i It's definitely important to have a stable base for your printer. I recently ordered a roll of flexible filament, gonna print some dampening cups for the feet to make it slightly less noisy.
Hi Steph(f?)an, I love it. A noticed that, because youre knife has a curved back, it is rocking a little against your back stop. You could fix that by having a backstop which is two posts rather than a straight edge. Just a thought.
Will einfach nur ein fettes Dankeschön hier lassen! Das Teil funktioniert tadellos! Ich habe bisher immer frei Hand auf Wassersteinen geschliffen, hatte aber nie ein so gutes Ergebnis wie mit diesem Jig. Einfach gut!
when sharpening, you should try going for longer strokes across the entire length of the blade instead of short saw-like movements. the latter might cause inconsistencies in the blade's curve or even a recurve section which can be very annoying when chopping (the edge doesn't touch the board perfectly and leaves a bit uncut at the bottom). Also with when you get to your fine stones, try "stropping" the knife with it. only pull back with the stone while using extremely light pressure for a couple passes on each side back and forth. this will even out the wire-edge at the end and make it sharper than the stone normally would with normal sharpening technique. Finally, I think you should spend some more time with the finer stones because the knife seems to want to snag the cutting board rather than slide across it, which is a sign of a saw-tooth-like edge. You stropped it well, so it can't be a wire edge, but rather a sawtooth edge left over from coarser stones. Either that or maybe the molybdenum-vanadium-steel alloy IKEA used is just very brittle and chiped while sharpening. I know that some cheaper, very hard and brittle steels can chip and crumble when sharpening, but this is rare.
400/1000 grid is a good combination, but you must try 6000 after you've finished with 1000. 6000 will bring a MIRROR finish to your blade which not only feels intimidating but also makes it ultra-sharp. Believe me it's an experience you will never forget as it makes cutting pork as easy as cutting tofu.
@@autumn5592 outside of cost, would it still have the same benefits? In theory not needing to reset the edge? (Although that study on how hair dulls razor blades meas sharpness may not be all that matters) Low friction would be interesting too.
Since seeing this video I have printed a knife sharpener for myself. I already had one of the bought ones which was OK but, your 3d printed version is far better and I love it. Thanks for sharing your design
Damn, I knew I forgot something. I'm really happy that not everyone down voted the video just because there weren't any charts and tests in this one ;-)
Two half thumbs up buddy. I took up you suggestion & bought one of these knives. Within 24 hrs I had cut both of my thumbs. Without doubt the sharpest knife, I've owned for a while. Waiting for the stones to arrive & for my kitchen razor blade to dull.
This was my only criticism. That and the fact that he should be measuring your angle differential between the blade and the stone. All blades are uniformly flat. Many have tapers which changes the angle of contact in relation to the mounting surface.
If you split the stone holder into two segments, you wouldn't need to look for tape to fix the size of sharpening stones, and it might allow you to use more types?
I'm really pleased with this! It works like a charm ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxDcr-y2Pf6xdnrFHrSP7dl9kpKaCozcSQ Takes less time than my old electric sharpener because it can take more off the knife faster, and then it smooths out nicely with the finer grit polisher. I don't know how long it will last before the grit wears away, but I wouldn't mind having to replace it every once in a while.
Awesome. Other sharpeners hold the knife in place with a clamp. Not sure why you chose magnets. You could easily slide the knife under that swiveling backstop and tighten it with a butterfly nut.
A man who can value a good, sharp edge is a man of culture! A man who can make a good sharp edge is a man of worth! For the humble knife is the essential tool that built civilization.
The first time I got a kitchen knife at Ikea, my friend, at the time a materials science student, was with me. He'd done some studying of stainless steels, and he said that the steel used in the stamped knives at that time (blue and grey handles) looked really promising. They're still pretty sharp (almost 20 years later), although they could probably use some touching up.
I have two Ikea 365+ knifes, one of them is heavily abused second hand. I only sharpened it once and it's staying sharp for a very long time. X50CrMoV15 stainless steel has a solid reputation
TBH I prefer sharpening my knifes without aiding tools. In the years I learned how to hold the knife and the sharpening tool (witch can be a stone, or steel one) for own preferences of cutting. But the reason of printing something different from cubes and test models is worthy of recognition.
Great, i started designing one of these some while ago and never finished it, now i can print this instead! :-) Probably gonna be printing two, one for myself and one for Stockholm Makerspace.
You are grinding which is why the edge looks like a saw in your close up. Here is the process.. Pull the stone toward you with SLIGHT pressure on the blade. Make ONE sweeping motion from heel to tip across one stone swipe. So basically you PULL (forward stroke) the stone toward you and it covers the entire blade. LIFT the stone off the blade and reset back to the heel. The stone should not contact the blade on the push stroke (aft stroke). After a while drag your finger nail from the back of the blade toward the edge on the side you are NOT sharpening. You will evidently feel a burr as your fingernail catches it as you drag over it. This is a microscopic burr formed as the metal is rolled over. This indicates you are sharpening at the edge. You want to keep going until you can feel this burr across the entire blade edge. FLIP the blade and with NO pressure pull the stone toward you on the blade. This will snap that buff off. This is also referred to as snapping off the wire. Sharpen the new side by repeating the above. Reduce stone coarseness and repeat the process. Continually making a burr and snapping it off. The end result is the metal having an edge as sharp as the metal can be and it being SMOOTH.. Strop using leather (with or without polish) to maintain the edge. If stropped regularly you’ll never need to sharpen the edge again as long as it doesn’t become too dull or damaged. With maintenance the sharpening tool you made should only need to be used once or for reprofiling an edge. You made the tool but you are just using it like a grinder. This will definitely make a sharp edge but no where near as sharp as it’s capable of. If my instructions aren’t clear just download the manual for a high end sharpener like you made and it will elaborate better. www.edgeproinc.com/content/manuals/EdgePro_Instruction-Manual_Apex.pdf “Only sharpen on the forward stroke, and lift the stone off the blade in the aft stroke” It also should illustrations (albeit not well) of burr formation. Love your channel tho, keep up the good work!
While I have never used any sort of tool, short of a variety of Arkansas stones, to sharpen a knife the general 3D printing expertise shown in this video is very good. Thanks.
Nothing to be proud of but, the last time I sharpened a kitchen knife I ended up in the hospital... I still haven't recovered the full sensitivity of the tip of my finger... to be true, it was the second time that finger got butchered: the other time was a long time ago with a wood chisel - it was much worse but I managed without stitches. I guess time do softens you - remember to be safe out there!
I’ve had something similar happen while sharpening my knives. Gotta remember to keep your whole hand ABOVE the plain of the blade while working on it. I wasn’t paying attention and ended up filleting off a strip of flesh along the base of my thumb.
Ahh! This is essentially an "Edge Pro". I made my own clone of this sharpener about 10 years ago just using some basic stuff from the hardware store and it will make a knife sharper than you can imagine. Shaving hair off your arm is amateur hour for how sharp they can get. Using my emerson folding knife, i can hold up a sheet of 24lb bond paper, let it go and cut it end to end with one swipe. its amazing.
I would add a modification to the angle guide to have magnet insert with the base plate with a magnet insert as well so that the angle adjuster is not moving and will stay on while you adjust the angle of sharpening hands free from holding the angle block.
I must thank you here, Stefan. Your Knife Sharpening Jig? AWESOME. Printed it all at the library and it really not only came out great but it also showed me many things I want out of my own future 3D Printer setup. Did it on a Makerbot and wasn't totally happy with the results but definitely gave me good information going forward about what printer I want, etc. And the jig works. WELL. Going to be adding some 5000 grit and over stones as well, soon.
The 3000 grit and polishing is great for a knife used in a pushing motion like you did, but most organic material cuts way easier with a serrated knife edge like the one left behind after 1000 grit or similiar, drawing the blade over the material.
I have the original (as far as I know) knife sharpener that all these style sharpeners are copied from, and it is awesome. Edge Pro Apex, made locally to me in Hood River, Oregon. The critical part with these style sharpeners is your stones have to be flat. If they aren't flat, you won't get a good edge. Use a piece of glass and silicon carbide sand to flatten them.
You can have multiple angles on the same blade. Sharpen the blade at 10-15 degrees, then do a few passes at 15-30 degrees with your finest stone. This helps strengthen the edge, while giving relief for stiff vegetables like carrots. If you sharpened the whole blade at 30 degrees, the cutting edge often can’t make contact, and the knife ends up splitting carrots like a wedge, rather than cutting them.
Couple of notes for myself: 1. Holding a knife is a key element here. Shouldn't move, yet should be easy to clamp allowing various blade types. 2. Adding adjustable stoppers, so to use the whole surface of the stone. Otherwise it gets concave soon.
Great video! The spherical bearing mod really makes it more precise! I would prefer Diamond sharpening stones and maybe use a commercially available spherical bearing. An additional clamp could help keep the minor blade shift from happening too! Not trying to pick at your design at all, very high quality as are all of your projects! I can't seem to find the cad files referenced in the video - It would be great if you could provide a link to download the fusion360 file for this project. Thanks for posting!
Nice, however 3 issues, you should have used stronger magners (thicker) and bigger so they hold down the blade well, and add a clamp over the top of the knife, I know it has to be slim so as not to interfere with the stone, but from the video it looks necessary when your knife keeps moving and you're holding it by hand half the time. When placing the angle calibration, it skids on a rounded part of the tool, causing the set angle to be different from intended, make a stopper/inset for the calibration angle tools so they don't ride up on the inner curve of the tool.
I think maybe a clamp to hold the knife would do a better job than the magnets, also, it can be 3d printed and drop another part from the list do you think it's possible to build 100% 3d printed device? (except for the stones of course)
Not a comment of this video, but a request for a video on another topic... I like your thorough and logical approach to testing things so perhaps you could explore how to get the best supported horizontal surface? Supports seem to break away from complex shapes and leave a reasonable finish but a horizontal plane away from the built platform always seems to end up a mess when I try to print it. The support doesn't break away, or if it does it leaves a terrible stringy finish that's pretty horrible. Could you show us what can be done about it and explore the reasons as to why this is so difficult to get right? Maybe the only solution is to use dissolvable supports?
Oh my, this is so awesome, taking 3D printing into the real world. I am a keen cook and devoted 3D printer and creator bringing the tow together is outstanding. The only thing is perhaps better to use stainless steel if possible, more expensive but will pay for itself in the long term.
Because I love your vids I'm going to sign up for skill share under your link.. I need to learn some electrical engineering for building my own ebike controller, custom I have a brilliant idea and want to do it all myself, all the way to mass production.
Actually the Ruxin Pro presented as "not the best choice" is quite a good tool. Adding some wood stand to it makes it even better. As for the 3D printed sharpener i think magnets are sort of Ok but in time they will start taking all the metal in. Also the knife is not 100% stable what may affect sharpening process. But all together it looks quite decent.
I honestly was thinking about doing this but I already have a good version of this. I was thinking of printing a "wicked edge" style sharpener so you can sharpen both sides at once.
Nice, but why not mount the waterstones on the 3D printer, and let it do the work instead? Precise X Y and Z movements it what it does best. Clamp a jig onto the bed, clip in the knife at the right angle, mount the waterstone to the print head, with a thin foam cushion to adjust pressure. Set Z then upload gcode to move X and Y uniformly over the blade until done! If blade mounted vertically on its back, then it could do both sides of the blade without repositioning.
I might take this and add an adjustable handle grip to either side so that the knife can't move while the mechanism is locked in place - if you don't mind, of course!
You should put a slot in the base to hold the angle block, so you don’t need to fiddle with it while you set the height of the stone. Then you can just lay the stone on the block and tighten the set screw. 🤓👍
Finally, a useful 3d object:) But I have some concerns about the magnets holding the blade: Yes, ceramic magnets are strong as hell, but only towards ferromagnetic materials. Stainless steel usually isn't that magnetic, because it has very little ferrite inside its structure. Perfect austenitic stainless steel shouldn't be magnetic at all I think. Also, many knives have a very small flat area, the rest is already in an angle (the grind), consequently leading to the knife on the sharpener to tilt arount a little bit, messing up the blade angle. I assume your design is still very innovative, even when not flawless, because the mechanical clamp on the back of the blade, that is used by most commercial products, is often in the way of the stone when the blade angle is low and the blade not very wide. I once had the idea, to clamp the knife on its tang instead of the blade with a vice next to the sharpener, works great, but only works when you take the blade out of the handle, which is obviously impractical... Maybe a soft jawed custom vice that universally fits knife handles could work, but I haven't tried it yet. Another idea for a future 3d printing project?
... i see the link to the magnets is gone... looking at making this as soon as I can order (... lockdown atm). Have you thought about widening the base on which the knife lies, might help with larger knives ? also option, a groove (or slot for the back of the knife to sit in ? Just some ideas ?
Hi, thank you for this great design. As someone who is using this technique and building several of these from wood, metal etc.. Id like to ask you to tweak this design a little for other users. The idea is not bad at all. But there really should be just a few things to improve. 1st knife clamp, the knife itself shouldt move at all, once youll sharpen expensive blade, id could do serious damage, magnets are great helper to hold knife before its tighten. 2. there should be 2 horizontal bars to prevent movement and make it easier to keep the right angle. 3rd stone holder should be adjustable, because piece of tape is not precision at all...4th make it more stable, because stability and lack of any movement of any part in any direction is the key. Overall very good idea and only little should be twaeked to have awesome and one of the most usable design over thingverse. Im sorry I dont have skills like you have to design something that good and usefull. Thanks David
In Australia, cherry tomatoes are so hard they are only bought so they can be used in slingshots as deadly missiles. You can't cut them even with a hammer and chisel.
Why not add slope and stopper(maybe some small rubber) at both end of the sharpening stone holder so you can use all of the sharpening surface without worry about cutting yourself.
*_the problem here is the same as with the LANSKY on which it is based. the further the grinding stone is from the centre of the blade edge, i.e. perpendicular, the more acute the angle [i.e. for example 12 degrees instead of 15 degrees] - this means two things: 1. the edge angle of the blade is not uniform over its length and 2. each time you do not insert the blade EXACTLY the same as the previous time, or, as in this case there is a slight movement due to the magnets not being strong enough, you end up with angle variations on the blade.... sharpening is far less a mechanical process than an art!_*
Stefan, very nice and very educational video, as usual! There is a problem of sharpening drill bits. Why do not you design similar tool for sharpening drill bits?
I think it's better to not drag the sharpener back and forth, if I remember correctly it is better to sharpen the knife in one direction, if that made sense. Like, only sharpen the knife when pulling towards you, lift it of the knife when going back. I'm not entirely sure though..
Feel free to share and discuss the video on you Social Media plattform of choice!
First BTW!
Would it be practical to make spherical bearing able to move left - right? It could make angle even more uniform, especially at the tip.
you forgot to make sous vide steak test
The spherical bearing idea to remove sloppy movement is a good idea but, the magnetic hold isn't terribly useful as many blades use non-magnetic or poorly magnetic alloys.
Addition of either a spring clip or physical clamp would go a long way in improving functionality.
Even use of a dovetail and spring to apply pressure to the stone would be beneficial in accounting for variation in those inexpensive stones.
Wanted to watch this, but the music made me stop. Please stop adding background music.
why not stop printing and wasting all that plastic just to make more junk that will eventually end up in a landfill for a the next 9000 years
Don't forget, you can get any blade extremely sharp regardless of its quality. The quality of the steel only dictates HOW LONG the blade will stay sharp.
Also, some steel has finer grains and will sharpen to a finer edge.
Very true!
@@TerryPullen usually cheaper knives have softer steel, harder steel makes all the difference
@@juhotuho10 No. It depends on the usage area. In the kitchen stainless knifes are prefered for easy cleaning and long lasting sharpness, the drawback of stainless steel is the difficulty to sharpen it due its hardness. For hunting knifes most prefer a softer steel with a higher carbon content. Sure, you can't soak these knives for to long or they will rust. The edge is also softer, but, they are way easier to sharpen. Meaning that standing in the woods with a simple sharpening tool and a dull knife is no problem if it's carbon steel.
yeah that's mostly true, but some cheap knives are made of really crappy steal and (like ceramic) the edge isn't strong enough to support itself while sharpening and instead of grinding it cracks at the very edge
Nonono, that idea is incomplete! You should design a knife sharpening jig that you can clamp to your 3d printer! Why move the knife back and forth by hand when you have a printer with perfectly suited stepper motors for that!
@David knives don't kill people, 3d printers kill people.
Exactly! I just spent 5 minutes re-finding this video so I could complain that it wasn't what I was hoping for. Literally, if there were a knife-sharpening app for a 3D printer, I would buy the 3D printer just for that purpose.
ua-cam.com/video/xC03hmS1Brk/v-deo.html
@@weavilemaster123321 you mean like that "tomato-remover-stabber-printer"?
I have the "edge pro apex" sharpening system, it's basically the same thing. It has a ball knob handle that I really like
"why not print something useful for once" me: *looks at desk FULL of 3d printer tests* "umm... true"
Yup, I've mostly printed calibration cubes so far. I did design and print a holder for a roll of solder thread recently, so that's quite useful.
Lol, exactly, that flood of Benchy's struck a chord.
@@wr3921 It is satisfying to see those tolerances get into the hundredths of a millimeter though.
The second print (after a test print) on my printer was a wall mount that I designed for the shelve of my printer to make it less shaky :P
@@i.i.iiii.i.i It's definitely important to have a stable base for your printer. I recently ordered a roll of flexible filament, gonna print some dampening cups for the feet to make it slightly less noisy.
Hi Steph(f?)an, I love it. A noticed that, because youre knife has a curved back, it is rocking a little against your back stop. You could fix that by having a backstop which is two posts rather than a straight edge. Just a thought.
This should work better in the latest revision model. Made the body longer and slightly adjusted the guide.
@@CNCKitchenKitchen instead of magnets. use the backstop and just tighten it down on top of the knife
Easiest way would be to add clamps on the otherside (back)
Just add a second row of magnets. Two should serfice
Will einfach nur ein fettes Dankeschön hier lassen! Das Teil funktioniert tadellos! Ich habe bisher immer frei Hand auf Wassersteinen geschliffen, hatte aber nie ein so gutes Ergebnis wie mit diesem Jig. Einfach gut!
when sharpening, you should try going for longer strokes across the entire length of the blade instead of short saw-like movements. the latter might cause inconsistencies in the blade's curve or even a recurve section which can be very annoying when chopping (the edge doesn't touch the board perfectly and leaves a bit uncut at the bottom). Also with when you get to your fine stones, try "stropping" the knife with it. only pull back with the stone while using extremely light pressure for a couple passes on each side back and forth. this will even out the wire-edge at the end and make it sharper than the stone normally would with normal sharpening technique. Finally, I think you should spend some more time with the finer stones because the knife seems to want to snag the cutting board rather than slide across it, which is a sign of a saw-tooth-like edge. You stropped it well, so it can't be a wire edge, but rather a sawtooth edge left over from coarser stones. Either that or maybe the molybdenum-vanadium-steel alloy IKEA used is just very brittle and chiped while sharpening. I know that some cheaper, very hard and brittle steels can chip and crumble when sharpening, but this is rare.
nice to see people exploring 3d printing and finding it useful, instead of printing useless stuff
400/1000 grid is a good combination, but you must try 6000 after you've finished with 1000. 6000 will bring a MIRROR finish to your blade which not only feels intimidating but also makes it ultra-sharp. Believe me it's an experience you will never forget as it makes cutting pork as easy as cutting tofu.
Not all knives hold a 6000 grit edge.
Softer steels will just start to roll.
Hard Japanese knives, or super steels will be fine at 6k.
@@autumn5592you ever use a CVD Diamond Coated Steel Blade?
@@ericlotze7724 On a knife? No.
On other tooling at work, yeah.
Why do you ask?
@@autumn5592 outside of cost, would it still have the same benefits? In theory not needing to reset the edge?
(Although that study on how hair dulls razor blades meas sharpness may not be all that matters)
Low friction would be interesting too.
Since seeing this video I have printed a knife sharpener for myself. I already had one of the bought ones
which was OK but, your 3d printed version is far better and I love it. Thanks for sharing your design
I am so confused. Where is the part where you put it into the test rig and tell us how much force it can withstand? :p
Or... how much force it takes to slice through the tomato. Before and after sharpening.
Damn, I knew I forgot something. I'm really happy that not everyone down voted the video just because there weren't any charts and tests in this one ;-)
Two half thumbs up buddy. I took up you suggestion & bought one of these knives. Within 24 hrs I had cut both of my thumbs. Without doubt the sharpest knife, I've owned for a while. Waiting for the stones to arrive & for my kitchen razor blade to dull.
You should be hitting the entire blade with each stroke. When you do this chipping away it will create waves and hard to get equal strokes.
As my boss used to say: "I'm paying for that saw, so I want you to be using every tooth."
This was my only criticism. That and the fact that he should be measuring your angle differential between the blade and the stone. All blades are uniformly flat. Many have tapers which changes the angle of contact in relation to the mounting surface.
If you split the stone holder into two segments, you wouldn't need to look for tape to fix the size of sharpening stones, and it might allow you to use more types?
I'm really pleased with this! It works like a charm ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxDcr-y2Pf6xdnrFHrSP7dl9kpKaCozcSQ Takes less time than my old electric sharpener because it can take more off the knife faster, and then it smooths out nicely with the finer grit polisher. I don't know how long it will last before the grit wears away, but I wouldn't mind having to replace it every once in a while.
Awesome. Other sharpeners hold the knife in place with a clamp. Not sure why you chose magnets. You could easily slide the knife under that swiveling backstop and tighten it with a butterfly nut.
Ich war zwei Clicks entfernt einen zu kaufen aber nach deinem Video… wird‘s gleich gedruckt! Danke! 🤩
A man who can value a good, sharp edge is a man of culture! A man who can make a good sharp edge is a man of worth! For the humble knife is the essential tool that built civilization.
A man who can value a good sharp edge wouldn't buy crappy knives. High quality stainless steel knives are non-magnetic.
@@mdk1000 Funnily enough, i own multiple medium to high quality knives both stainless and non-stainless and all are more or less magnetic.
mdk1000 A man who can value a good sharp edge will skip the stainless steel altogether and go for high quality carbon steel.
I am just like you! My tools in work shop and kitchen are both such a pleasure when sharp and accurate, I will print your design soon!
I printed 1st version year ago, and I love it. I did not noticed it is your model.
Very cool! But I believe that sharpening with whetstones is a wonderful and valuable skill that everyone should take the time to learn.
The first time I got a kitchen knife at Ikea, my friend, at the time a materials science student, was with me. He'd done some studying of stainless steels, and he said that the steel used in the stamped knives at that time (blue and grey handles) looked really promising. They're still pretty sharp (almost 20 years later), although they could probably use some touching up.
I have two Ikea 365+ knifes, one of them is heavily abused second hand. I only sharpened it once and it's staying sharp for a very long time. X50CrMoV15 stainless steel has a solid reputation
TBH I prefer sharpening my knifes without aiding tools. In the years I learned how to hold the knife and the sharpening tool (witch can be a stone, or steel one) for own preferences of cutting.
But the reason of printing something different from cubes and test models is worthy of recognition.
Great, i started designing one of these some while ago and never finished it, now i can print this instead! :-)
Probably gonna be printing two, one for myself and one for Stockholm Makerspace.
You are grinding which is why the edge looks like a saw in your close up. Here is the process..
Pull the stone toward you with SLIGHT pressure on the blade.
Make ONE sweeping motion from heel to tip across one stone swipe. So basically you PULL (forward stroke) the stone toward you and it covers the entire blade.
LIFT the stone off the blade and reset back to the heel. The stone should not contact the blade on the push stroke (aft stroke).
After a while drag your finger nail from the back of the blade toward the edge on the side you are NOT sharpening. You will evidently feel a burr as your fingernail catches it as you drag over it. This is a microscopic burr formed as the metal is rolled over. This indicates you are sharpening at the edge. You want to keep going until you can feel this burr across the entire blade edge.
FLIP the blade and with NO pressure pull the stone toward you on the blade. This will snap that buff off. This is also referred to as snapping off the wire.
Sharpen the new side by repeating the above.
Reduce stone coarseness and repeat the process. Continually making a burr and snapping it off.
The end result is the metal having an edge as sharp as the metal can be and it being SMOOTH..
Strop using leather (with or without polish) to maintain the edge. If stropped regularly you’ll never need to sharpen the edge again as long as it doesn’t become too dull or damaged. With maintenance the sharpening tool you made should only need to be used once or for reprofiling an edge.
You made the tool but you are just using it like a grinder. This will definitely make a sharp edge but no where near as sharp as it’s capable of.
If my instructions aren’t clear just download the manual for a high end sharpener like you made and it will elaborate better.
www.edgeproinc.com/content/manuals/EdgePro_Instruction-Manual_Apex.pdf
“Only sharpen on the forward stroke, and lift the stone off the blade in the aft stroke”
It also should illustrations (albeit not well) of burr formation.
Love your channel tho, keep up the good work!
While I have never used any sort of tool, short of a variety of Arkansas stones, to sharpen a knife the general 3D printing expertise shown in this video is very good. Thanks.
I’ve seen a couple of your video’s already. The printed knife sharpener made me subscribe (and I don’t even have a printer).
Nothing to be proud of but, the last time I sharpened a kitchen knife I ended up in the hospital... I still haven't recovered the full sensitivity of the tip of my finger... to be true, it was the second time that finger got butchered: the other time was a long time ago with a wood chisel - it was much worse but I managed without stitches. I guess time do softens you - remember to be safe out there!
I'm curious how it happened? Sounds like a story to learn from.
I’ve had something similar happen while sharpening my knives. Gotta remember to keep your whole hand ABOVE the plain of the blade while working on it. I wasn’t paying attention and ended up filleting off a strip of flesh along the base of my thumb.
I was kind of surprised that there wasn’t a guard which hangs down below the stone’s edge, to protect dangling fingers from overzealous grinding. 🤔
This is brilliant! I'll try it with my straight edge razor, takes forever to sharpen with a stone.
Should definitely work!
Some time ago I picked up a Lansky sharpening system that's essentially identical to this. I may still print this one. Thank you!
Ahh! This is essentially an "Edge Pro". I made my own clone of this sharpener about 10 years ago just using some basic stuff from the hardware store and it will make a knife sharper than you can imagine. Shaving hair off your arm is amateur hour for how sharp they can get. Using my emerson folding knife, i can hold up a sheet of 24lb bond paper, let it go and cut it end to end with one swipe. its amazing.
Thanks for posting this 3D printed sharpener. I'm having a go at building it - already downloaded the files and left a small tip :-)
I would add a modification to the angle guide to have magnet insert with the base plate with a magnet insert as well so that the angle adjuster is not moving and will stay on while you adjust the angle of sharpening hands free from holding the angle block.
I must thank you here, Stefan. Your Knife Sharpening Jig? AWESOME. Printed it all at the library and it really not only came out great but it also showed me many things I want out of my own future 3D Printer setup. Did it on a Makerbot and wasn't totally happy with the results but definitely gave me good information going forward about what printer I want, etc. And the jig works. WELL. Going to be adding some 5000 grit and over stones as well, soon.
The 3000 grit and polishing is great for a knife used in a pushing motion like you did, but most organic material cuts way easier with a serrated knife edge like the one left behind after 1000 grit or similiar, drawing the blade over the material.
Indeed. For most normal cooking purposes a knife sharpened on a 800-1200 grit stone is quite sharp enough assuming the sharpening technique was good.
I have the original (as far as I know) knife sharpener that all these style sharpeners are copied from, and it is awesome. Edge Pro Apex, made locally to me in Hood River, Oregon.
The critical part with these style sharpeners is your stones have to be flat. If they aren't flat, you won't get a good edge. Use a piece of glass and silicon carbide sand to flatten them.
You can have multiple angles on the same blade. Sharpen the blade at 10-15 degrees, then do a few passes at 15-30 degrees with your finest stone. This helps strengthen the edge, while giving relief for stiff vegetables like carrots.
If you sharpened the whole blade at 30 degrees, the cutting edge often can’t make contact, and the knife ends up splitting carrots like a wedge, rather than cutting them.
Couple of notes for myself:
1. Holding a knife is a key element here. Shouldn't move, yet should be easy to clamp allowing various blade types.
2. Adding adjustable stoppers, so to use the whole surface of the stone. Otherwise it gets concave soon.
printing now and parts ordered from aliexpress thanks stepfen, also love the meltzone podcast
This has been on my to-do list. Good job.
I love sharpening tools/knives. So therapeutic and rewarding! This jig looks awesome!
Great video! The spherical bearing mod really makes it more precise! I would prefer Diamond sharpening stones and maybe use a commercially available spherical bearing. An additional clamp could help keep the minor blade shift from happening too!
Not trying to pick at your design at all, very high quality as are all of your projects!
I can't seem to find the cad files referenced in the video - It would be great if you could provide a link to download the fusion360 file for this project.
Thanks for posting!
This design should be for sale on amazon or ebay ...this is great!!
Thank you Stefan!
Nice, however 3 issues, you should have used stronger magners (thicker) and bigger so they hold down the blade well, and add a clamp over the top of the knife, I know it has to be slim so as not to interfere with the stone, but from the video it looks necessary when your knife keeps moving and you're holding it by hand half the time. When placing the angle calibration, it skids on a rounded part of the tool, causing the set angle to be different from intended, make a stopper/inset for the calibration angle tools so they don't ride up on the inner curve of the tool.
I think maybe a clamp to hold the knife would do a better job than the magnets, also, it can be 3d printed and drop another part from the list
do you think it's possible to build 100% 3d printed device? (except for the stones of course)
I love that Ikea knife! I recognized it right away. Been using for over 6 years. Hands down my favorite knife.
You should attach the different stones on four or three sides of the block instead of changing them all the time.
I gave you a thumbs up just for the opening squish alone. 👍✌🥃
I have those same IKEA knives, they are just the best!
Brilliant. I'd print one if I didn't already own an excellent commercial sharpening jig.
best sound sfx in a youtube video....ever!
Sehr geiles Teil!!!
Bin gerade fertig geworden und habe gleich beim ersten Mal ein richtig scharfes Messer hinbekommen!😊
Not a comment of this video, but a request for a video on another topic...
I like your thorough and logical approach to testing things so perhaps you could explore how to get the best supported horizontal surface? Supports seem to break away from complex shapes and leave a reasonable finish but a horizontal plane away from the built platform always seems to end up a mess when I try to print it. The support doesn't break away, or if it does it leaves a terrible stringy finish that's pretty horrible. Could you show us what can be done about it and explore the reasons as to why this is so difficult to get right? Maybe the only solution is to use dissolvable supports?
Holy Shit, actually smth useful. No way I'm gonna print that, the time can be better used for benchies!
b4Bu hahaha ikr, I’m always like “hmm, well maybe I should print another Benchy just to make sure everything is in order...”
Love it! Looks better than my commercial fixture.
Now make it CNC, add coolant pump and some kind of overly complicated filtration system :-P
intro is better than past!! so cool!!
Also if you don't have a 3D printer you can buy this for about $50 (including the wet-stones)
Oh my, this is so awesome, taking 3D printing into the real world. I am a keen cook and devoted 3D printer and creator bringing the tow together is outstanding. The only thing is perhaps better to use stainless steel if possible, more expensive but will pay for itself in the long term.
Love the design!. Try redesigning the stopper into some sort of clamp. that way the blade wont slide around that easily. :)
Some strip from old magnetic bed works great for holding the knife. Of course with some modification to the provided files ;)
CNC Kitchen. It all makes sense now!
Looks nice, but seeing the knife wigling back and forth I will probably modify the holes for some stronger magnets
Just finished sharpening my knives! this looks much better!
Do you get these rods online or from a store? And what would you use to cut it short of electrical cutting tools?
Because I love your vids I'm going to sign up for skill share under your link.. I need to learn some electrical engineering for building my own ebike controller, custom I have a brilliant idea and want to do it all myself, all the way to mass production.
That was a great video. You were super enthusiastic, and did a great job with the video and the explanations/voiceover.
1:11 I'm exactly the same. Man I love your videos.
Actually the Ruxin Pro presented as "not the best choice" is quite a good tool. Adding some wood stand to it makes it even better.
As for the 3D printed sharpener i think magnets are sort of Ok but in time they will start taking all the metal in. Also the knife is not 100% stable what may affect sharpening process. But all together it looks quite decent.
I would find one that can use any stone rather than those little ones more useful
Great Video. What 3D printer do you use?
This was printed on a Sidewinder X1 (aff): geni.us/szVz
Great idea! I love practical printing.
Have you ever used a electronic knife sharpener? If yes are they any good?
I honestly was thinking about doing this but I already have a good version of this. I was thinking of printing a "wicked edge" style sharpener so you can sharpen both sides at once.
Oooh I've wanted a sharpening setup like this but ready built ones are far outside my budget. This might get it done.
I learn how to Sharp knife with dish bottom, cup, Stone, different knife etc.. Now i have to print it :D
Nice Artillery x1! How do you like it? What program do you use to slice for it?
I like it alot, especially because it's so quiet and very clean looking. I use prusa slicer for slicing which works quiet well.
On the first tomato maybe a little sliding of the knife would give a different result ?
Man, that's cool. I'll remix it and add some electronics so it'll be fully automatic :)
Thanks for the share!
Nice, but why not mount the waterstones on the 3D printer, and let it do the work instead?
Precise X Y and Z movements it what it does best.
Clamp a jig onto the bed, clip in the knife at the right angle, mount the waterstone to the print head, with a thin foam cushion to adjust pressure. Set Z then upload gcode to move X and Y uniformly over the blade until done!
If blade mounted vertically on its back, then it could do both sides of the blade without repositioning.
I might take this and add an adjustable handle grip to either side so that the knife can't move while the mechanism is locked in place - if you don't mind, of course!
Of course! Make sure to share it for everyone else on Thingiverse as a Remix.
You should put a slot in the base to hold the angle block, so you don’t need to fiddle with it while you set the height of the stone. Then you can just lay the stone on the block and tighten the set screw. 🤓👍
Finally, a useful 3d object:) But I have some concerns about the magnets holding the blade: Yes, ceramic magnets are strong as hell, but only towards ferromagnetic materials. Stainless steel usually isn't that magnetic, because it has very little ferrite inside its structure. Perfect austenitic stainless steel shouldn't be magnetic at all I think. Also, many knives have a very small flat area, the rest is already in an angle (the grind), consequently leading to the knife on the sharpener to tilt arount a little bit, messing up the blade angle. I assume your design is still very innovative, even when not flawless, because the mechanical clamp on the back of the blade, that is used by most commercial products, is often in the way of the stone when the blade angle is low and the blade not very wide. I once had the idea, to clamp the knife on its tang instead of the blade with a vice next to the sharpener, works great, but only works when you take the blade out of the handle, which is obviously impractical... Maybe a soft jawed custom vice that universally fits knife handles could work, but I haven't tried it yet. Another idea for a future 3d printing project?
I added a second row of magnet for the V2.1 design. They hold down the blade quite well.
Fisheye sounds far more appealing than Fischmilch.
Fantastic as always, Stefan!
... i see the link to the magnets is gone... looking at making this as soon as I can order (... lockdown atm).
Have you thought about widening the base on which the knife lies, might help with larger knives ?
also option, a groove (or slot for the back of the knife to sit in ? Just some ideas ?
Could you make a 3D printed Wicked Edge Knife sharpener?
Really like the new Logo. And awesome segway into your sponsor xD
Hi, thank you for this great design. As someone who is using this technique and building several of these from wood, metal etc.. Id like to ask you to tweak this design a little for other users. The idea is not bad at all. But there really should be just a few things to improve. 1st knife clamp, the knife itself shouldt move at all, once youll sharpen expensive blade, id could do serious damage, magnets are great helper to hold knife before its tighten. 2. there should be 2 horizontal bars to prevent movement and make it easier to keep the right angle. 3rd stone holder should be adjustable, because piece of tape is not precision at all...4th make it more stable, because stability and lack of any movement of any part in any direction is the key.
Overall very good idea and only little should be twaeked to have awesome and one of the most usable design over thingverse. Im sorry I dont have skills like you have to design something that good and usefull. Thanks David
I actually bought one of those cheap sharpeners years ago but had to print a new anyway after it broke
This truly lives up the name of the channel :D
In Australia, cherry tomatoes are so hard they are only bought so they can be used in slingshots as deadly missiles. You can't cut them even with a hammer and chisel.
My man, absolutely brilliant work!
Ich find's cool, dass es auch Mal einen deutsch "großen" 3d-druck UA-camr gibt...
Danke! Jedoch gibts ja auch noch Tom Sanladerer.
Why not add slope and stopper(maybe some small rubber) at both end of the sharpening stone holder so you can use all of the sharpening surface without worry about cutting yourself.
*_the problem here is the same as with the LANSKY on which it is based. the further the grinding stone is from the centre of the blade edge, i.e. perpendicular, the more acute the angle [i.e. for example 12 degrees instead of 15 degrees] - this means two things: 1. the edge angle of the blade is not uniform over its length and 2. each time you do not insert the blade EXACTLY the same as the previous time, or, as in this case there is a slight movement due to the magnets not being strong enough, you end up with angle variations on the blade.... sharpening is far less a mechanical process than an art!_*
Stefan, very nice and very educational video, as usual! There is a problem of sharpening drill bits. Why do not you design similar tool for sharpening drill bits?
I think it's better to not drag the sharpener back and forth, if I remember correctly it is better to sharpen the knife in one direction, if that made sense. Like, only sharpen the knife when pulling towards you, lift it of the knife when going back. I'm not entirely sure though..
@CNC Kitchen how about adding support for a chisel and a plane, that would be awesome
I have this knife too. And a 250€ japanese knife. The ikea knife is very good!