Sharpening wheel

Mcdust · Jan 1, 2026

Save your gas and buy a low speed (1725 rpm) 8" bench grinder. you will want a different stone for fine grinding like delicate chisel and plane edges. I have a white one which runs cool, recommended and sold by Todd Tool and Abrasive. you may be able to get the grinder from Harbor Fright. Good luck

Fred in BC · Jan 1, 2026

What McDust said for rough stuff like splitting mauls and first pass for sharpening chisels, knives, planer blades.
A big diameter wheel (8 or 10 inch) can give you a hollow ground edge, with a little practice. Hollow ground makes it easier to hand sharpen to a really fine edge
Stationary belt sander works well, 220 grit belt will get things pretty sharp. You can burn the sharp edge if you're not careful. Keep a bucket of water handy, and dip the blade often.
Haven't tried a flap disc, but I like them for other stuff.

For chisels and knives, after the wheel, lay a sheet of good quality wet and dry sand paper on a sheet of glass, or other really flat surface, start with 220 grit, then 400 grit. Wet the paper with water or oil.
A sheet of the good, black wet and dry paper will last a long time if you sand wet.

For a sharp edge, you need to strop the edge after you sharpen with abrasives. Old leather purses are a good source of stropping leather.

If you want to get into sharpening, a cheap jeweler's loup is a good investment. You can see the sharp edge, and the burr that the strop removes.

If you get your chisel sharp enough to shave hair off your arm, you will be amazed at how much more accurate your wood work can become.

redmt · Jan 1, 2026

Just to add my .04 worth,,, I have a 20" with electric motor and a 6-1 reduction on it. It pretty cool conversation piece. I also have a 1935 Yates American. It's on a massive cast iron stand and trough. The stone alone weighs 780#.

Jstpssng · Jan 1, 2026

You've got that right! I have about half of a dozen implements using various methods, and every one of them is powered by something other than my back.

jigs_n_fixtures · Jan 1, 2026

You can round the old pedal wheels, with a diamond stone, or a wheel dresser. They are very soft. All you need to do is clamp on a cross piece to hold a tool stable.

Little Red Tractor · Jan 1, 2026

I think you'll find that it'll do a nice job on an axe, but it'll take some doing to develop a feel for it. I had my grandfather's tucked in the corner of my garage, but finally got tired of it just taking up space and gave it to a guy who likes to tinker making swords. Don't know if he's still using it or if the novelty has worn off for him as well.

BryceSteiner · Jan 2, 2026

I was using a bench grinder but I gave that up for flap disk on the cordless angle grinder - I can sharpen the brush hog blades without ever removing them. Mower blades I just put in the vice and the angle grinder sharpens and polishes them beautifully without the problems with the grinder.

MarblemountLane · Jan 3, 2026

I have my grandfather’s (born 1899, died 1997) pedal grind stone. He had a funnel modified for a slow water drip on the stone. Frankly, this is pretty much just an heirloom now. It is stored under cover. The primary reason you see so many of these old sandstone wheels with big flat spots is … rain. Over time, rain will erode the upper surface.

Most of my axe work is done on my Grizzly G1015 2x72 belt machine. It was a lot less money than a Burr King “square wheel” grinder, and I’m not a knife maker. I have bench grinders, and even round carborundum pocket stones if I want to sharpen by hand in the field. Also, I have sharpened many an axe or machete with a file.

If you want a low speed grinder, they are available. The old pedal grind stone is just for the fun of “doing it the way Grandpa did.”

veedub · Jan 3, 2026

I have one one these without a treadle it’s got a hand crank. I’ve always wanted to fab up a pedal for it but haven’t yet. Got it for free on the side of the road once. Great find. My 10 year old cranks it for me if I want to use it. Does a decent job on axes and whatnot. Someone suggested converting it to electric, sounds like you are trying to get away from that but from what I have read you need to be extremely careful if you want to run one of these with a motor, it needs to be geared down to pedal speeds otherwise the centrifugal force can blow them apart to pretty devastating results.

Slomo928 · Jan 3, 2026

Not sure why the default is to mechanical sharpening. Grinders have a high probability of overheating the edge and possibly effecting temper. Unless your ax is really dull, a good two grit oil stone will sharpen it better than any grinder. If it’s really dull, start with a mid coarseness ******* file to bring the edge down before using the oil stone. If you want a razor edge finish with an Arkansas white stone (only lubricate that with water). Sure, it takes a few minutes, but the results far exceed a grinder with no over heating.

rednekker · Jan 3, 2026

many people use an angle grinder to sharpen blades.

Jallcorn · Jan 3, 2026

We had a smaller one growing up in central Texas. Had a hand crank. I’ve had best luck using an angle grinder with a flap disc. I can get an axe almost razor sharp. A good file works well too, draw filing method.

Gord Baker · Jan 3, 2026

Leave it be. A disc on a small right angled grinder will do the job better and much quicker.

texaswren · Jan 3, 2026

You're listing different things to sharpen, all of which require very different techniques for sharpening. I'd never allow any of my wood chisels near a grinder of ANY type. I only sharpen those on diamond stones, with a Veritas tool for establishing the angle. Mower blades are crude and subject to major abuse, so I sharpen them with a hand-held grinder (the blades on my big mower weigh fifteen pounds each, so it's easier to move the grinder than hold the blade). Compared to most sharpening jobs, I have to remove a LOT of metal sometimes, and life is short. I'll start with a grinding wheel to establish the edge and do crude balance and finish with a flap disk. For axes and hatchets, I've had reasonable success with my belt sander, but if there are serious nicks, I might clean it up with the bench grinder and a fine wheel to start with. I'll often finish with a diamond stone. Air tools with sanding disks are also handy, and run cooler. Always keep water handy for any power sharpening job and feel the temperature often.

Always true and dress your wheels, otherwise you're just trying to sharpen things by banging on them with a rock. It's also very useful having a good corner on a grinding tool, which you can only establish with dressing. Having a good tool rest you can adjust to the angle of the stone face is also extremely handy. The wheel grinder is best for sharpening drill bits, lathe tools and cleaning up METAL chisels ONLY (and punches), but it's a lot easier when they're electric, because it's a real test of skills do any precision grinding when your whole body is having to move to keep the stone going—unless you've got a kid to serve as the motor.

Joedirtyshirt · Jan 3, 2026

One of my favorite memories with my Pop, his had pedals and pulley for electric motor added onto the hand crank, he preferred to have us grandkids crank wheel/stone he said it made his scythe sharper we would crank and take turns at the wheel when he was done he pulled out his stone to make it super sharp, then we went out to the clover patch and made a few passes and gathered up enough to feed the rabbits and pigs , I bought my uncle’s scythes last month now I have to find a stone to make like the one I used when I was a kid before my grandkids get to big to relive that memory

1M05 · Jan 3, 2026

I have the same thing only they have made several improvements over the years.

MongoCT · Jan 3, 2026

You mentioned wanting a non electric option, so I say grab it.
I used one for years growing up. Mainly for basic cutting edges that needed simple sharpening. Axe, mower blades, sometimes the scythe, etc.
It wont give a great technical sharpened edge like you might want for a wood chisel or hand plane, but that pedal powered wheel, they can be nice to use.
When you inspect, rotate the stone 90 degrees and see if it holds or rotates back for imbalance. There's usually decent friction in the hub so an alternative is to spin the wheel fast and see if the stand stays fairly steady or if it starts shaking due to imbalance. As has been mentioned, check the stone for cracks. You can lightly ping the stone all over with a metal tool and see if it resonates equally or if you get pings here and a thud there.

aircommuter · Jan 3, 2026

I have this grinder in my shop, two different grits might work on an axe but a knife would likely never be seen again.
All joking aside my dad picked one of those pedal grinders as a yard art piece. I tried it and you don’t really need worry about being out of round since at those speed whatever you are sharpening has time to follow the stone. I use a Work Sharp belt unit and it does a good job. For wood shop chisels I hand finish them on a diamond flat piece.

RiversideFarm · Jan 3, 2026

My grandpa cut an old tire in half and attached it below the stone. He put water in the tire so the stone got rewet every time it made a revolution.

AnotherBueller · Jan 3, 2026

I'll buy it. Doesn't spin fast enough to burn the edge on anything you want to sharpen. They're not hard to pump/crank. The old ones had a oil drip can as well.