Sorby Proedge

[Bill Voss]

I have been looking at the Sorby Proedge sharpening system and have a few questions that hopefully someone can help with:

- Can carving knives be sharpened using this system? I looks like knife handles might hit the metal edge of the belt "enclosure".

- Is a leather honing belt available?

- Does the belt rotate CW or CCW?

- How easy is it to change belts?

Thanks for any assistance!!

[Mike Minto]

bill, i have one. it's a good sharpener; i use it for turning tools, except for fingernail gouges. for those i still use a grinder, i find it works better on the 'wings' of the tools. i don't know of a way to sharpen knives with it other than by free-handing them; don't know how well that would work, haven't tried it. you can sharpen carving tools with it. the belt rotates towards you. have not seen a leather belt for it. would be nice if you could reverse the rotation on the thing for honing with a leather surface, that's for sure. lastly, changing belts is not a big deal; couple of 'wing nuts, remove a guard, release tension, switch belts and re-assemble. hope this helps, mike

[Bill Voss]

bill, i have one. it's a good sharpener; i use it for turning tools, except for fingernail gouges. for those i still use a grinder, i find it works better on the 'wings' of the tools. i don't know of a way to sharpen knives with it other than by free-handing them; don't know how well that would work, haven't tried it. you can sharpen carving tools with it. the belt rotates towards you. have not seen a leather belt for it. would be nice if you could reverse the rotation on the thing for honing with a leather surface, that's for sure. lastly, changing belts is not a big deal; couple of 'wing nuts, remove a guard, release tension, switch belts and re-assemble. hope this helps, mike

Thanks for the reply! Although I'm a carver I posted under Turning as this section seems to mention the Sorby Proedge more often.

Sounds like the belt runs counter clockwise, top to bottom on the front side? No way to change the rotation? :confused:

Regarding knives, one thing I was concerned about is the metal "case", for lack of a better term, that appears to be just outside and behind the belt. Knife handles might hit the metal although that handles can be "modified"/trimmed.

I have received suggestions on making a belt by joining the two ends of a leather strip. Create app. 2-3" overlap, thin overlap on both ends from full thickness tapering to end. Apply heavy coat of contact cement to both piece, let dry to touch and press ends together or use hammer taps to get it to fuse. I would assume clamping would help also.

[Lee Richmond]

Bill,

You are correct that the belt guard could get in the way. I leave this off of mine all the time. I do kitchen knives with no problems and I would say that carving knives could be done in a similar fashion. I do it free hand with a fine belt. I can take a chip out of a Hattori knife in a few minutes, which is saying something.

There is no leather belt, there is a honing wheel that attaches to the side.
The belt is traveling down as you face the machine. If you reversed the direction, the tool rest would not function properly.

I can change a belt in 20 seconds. If you leave the guard installed it would take a few minutes.

I hope that this helps.

Lee Richmond
President
The Best Things Corporation
299 Herndon Parkway
Suite 210
Herndon, VA 20170

703-796-5544 TEL
703-766-0966 FAX