Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Drawknife with folding handles
Joe shelton
Is it easier to grind such a knife than is the case with a drawknife whose handles are fixed?
I'm very clumsy so far using a drawknife on a grinder wheel, even though I've studied how Curtis Buchanan does it.
I sorta think taking the handles off would clear the machine better.
Thoughts?
Re: Drawknife with folding handles
Jack Guzman from Maine
When rehabbing an antique drawknife I needed to grind the edge to reshape the bevel. After this step all I need is to touch up the edge with hand held stones. To grind it I needed to set up a belt driven wheel so I would be able to grind without the handles getting in the way. I think it would be much easier to do this grind if the handles were removable. I could have used my usual grinder.
Re: Drawknife with folding handles
William Duffield
Probably not, but it depends…
If you have a grinder with two wheels, in every case I've found, the motor housing interferes with one handle or the other, or with the lugs where the handles are connected. Both of my Witherby 10" removable/foldable handle drawknoves have a permanently attached lug (carriage bolt) which interferes by about 1/8" with the motor housing, lifting the right side of the dege a smidgen off the wheel. If the lug bolt was a little shorter or was removable, or the motor housing was a smaller diameter, there would be enough clearance. This is a CBN wheel, which has a constant 8" diameter. If you have an Alumina wheel, it will eventually wear down, increasing the problem. You can't see it in the picture, but the wheel only touches the edge of the knife on the far left edge of the wheel.
These 10" drawknives are just short enough that the other wheel doesn't interfere with the lug bolt. If I had a 12" drawknife, its handle lug would also interfere with the other wheel.
I searched the net, and found this one whose lugs don't stick out as far, but I would strongly recommend experimenting with it and your grinder before buying one like it.
I have a 6" belt sander that I use on some of my drawknives because, as explained above, I can't sharpen them on my grinders. One side has enough clearance, handle on or handle off.
But even the belt sander doesn't work perfectly due to the lug bolts interfering with the support and drive mechanism on the other side of the sander. The pictures show that it can't sharpen the last half inch or so. That's not a show stopper, because the last half inch of the edge can be quickly sharpened with a stone.
A 2" wide belt sander, as preferred by knife makers would probably be the optimum tool for the job.
YMMV!
Re: Drawknife with folding handles
Larry Barrett
If you have InstaGram, here is how Caleb James sharpens a drawknife: