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Post by phoneman on Jul 5, 2014 13:23:00 GMT
I thought Rob might appreciate my use of British English....."Veriest tyro" (complete beginner, or less elegantly, "for dummies") is an expression used by either Charles Hayward or Ernest Joyce, British woodworking writers of the last century.
Several decades ago I tried to sharpen a plane blade with my stationary woodworking belt sander. I ended up destroying the belt, which ended the experiment. The experience has remained with me. When I realized the ProEdge operates with the belt revolving into the edge, as in my experiment, I became puzzled.
I have never actually used a ProEdge. However, I trust Jeff and Rob, so, if they say it works, I will accept that on faith. Perhaps the forum would explain this for me.
Thanks,
"the veriest tyro", Ken
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Post by Rob on Jul 5, 2014 15:56:27 GMT
Are you sure you haven't been at the Independence day Brandy Ken :-)
Seriously though, I wondered that myself when I first started becoming intrigued by the pro-edge. One is tempted to believe it will split the belt at great speed and it all end in tears. I'm no machine specialist so can't give the official explanation but I'm pretty sure its to do with 3 things:
The sharpening is actually done on a metal platform over which the belt is driven. This "platen" is very thick gauge steel and is rock solid so the platform at the back of the belt is very very robust and I'm sure that lack of give helps mitigate some of the risk of a blade catching the belt. The angle of attack must have something to do with it. I myself have sharpened skew chisels many times and I would think they, with their shallow angle would be at most risk of catching the belt and yet, my experience, also rock solid. They are presented at a bevel angle of only 15 degrees typically.
The final thing I can think of is the material the belts are made from. Its good quality, fine woven cloth type stuff which is sufficiently dense when coupled with the abrasive to stop the edge from catching it.
Other than those things, perhaps Jeff will have more factory based know how. It does seem to defy logic but I can assure you it feels perfectly safe when in use. Technique I guess plays a part too...a light touch is all that's necessary while the abrasive remains sharp enough to cut, beyond that you replace the belt.
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Post by Jeff Farris on Jul 6, 2014 11:15:04 GMT
Rob covered a lot of ground, but missed the biggest point. The belts are spliced, rather than lap-seamed. Normal woodworking belts have a lap seam that is thick enough to catch an edge, where a spliced belt will not.
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Post by Rob on Jul 6, 2014 12:45:28 GMT
There you are, I knew Jeff would have some inside track on it. I guess that also explains why the Sorby belts are a little more expensive than the clones ie they're purpose made and substantially safer. That must incur a more costly manufacturing process which is reflected in the price.
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Post by phoneman on Jul 6, 2014 17:56:01 GMT
Thanks, Rob and Jeff. After spending my working life as a repairman, the first thing I look for is "operator error". That must have been a major factor in my disastrous experiment. Better quality tooling is always helpful.
Jeff, will you keep me posted if you are every demonstrating in Ohio, especially in Columbus or Hartville.
Thanks,
Ken
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