Most conventional grinders spin too fast to sharpen delicate hand tool edges. Without the cooling effect of a water bath, the heat they produce can overheat the steel and cause it to lose temper or turn blue. That won’t be a problem with RIKON’s new 8-in. Wet Sharpener — its design makes it suitable for sharpening all steel cutting edges around the shop and home.
The model 82-100 Wet Sharpener is powered by a 1/4hp (1.6 amp) motor that’s stepped down to spin the grinding wheel at just 115 rpm. This ultra-slow grinding speed, coupled with the machine’s deep water trough, which bathes the grinding wheel during use, ensures that tool edges can’t overheat.
RIKON provides an 8-in.-diameter, 220-grit vitrified aluminum oxide grinding wheel that’s 1-5/8-in. wide, to sharpen efficiently but not over-aggressively. It’s suitable for use on turning and carving tools, knives, plane irons and chisel blades, axes and more. Opposite the sharpening wheel, there’s an 8-in.-diameter, 1-1/4-in.-wide leather strop wheel to remove burrs raised during grinding and to hone the final edge to razor sharpness. A tube of honing compound is included, for charging the leather strop before use.
A large metal tool-rest on top of the sharpener can be adjusted up and down, and it will guide the included holding jig for sharpening straight-bladed tools. By raising or lowering the tool-rest, you can change the bevel angle of the edge being sharpened. And to help set that sharpening angle, an angle measuring tool is provided.
For added versatility, this sharpener has a dual-rotation feature that spins the wheels in forward or reverse. An all-in-one waterproof power switch in front both turns the machine on and off and allows you to choose which spin direction you prefer for the sharpening task at hand.
A rugged plastic housing protects the motor and internal wiring, while adding stability. Two holes on either side of the housing enable the machine to be bolted to a worksurface. Or, for easy portability, you can move the 23-lb. sharpener around by its top handle, located behind the tool-rest.
RIKON’s model 82-100 8-in. Wet Sharpener has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $249 and is available now through RIKON tool dealers.
