I have been dreaming for a long time of owning one of those automatic sharpeners from cooksaw company. I currently have a manual sharpener that strikes the face of the tooth only. This sharpener does an OK job for the money but it takes a little time to run it and of course it wears the tooth down. I have a theory in mind that because the cat claw sharpener gets down in the gullet and up the back of the tooth, that you don't wear the tooth down, the blade just gets smaller in width. Also, it seems to me that you could correct a tooth that has slight damage to the tip by running the blade through the grind three or four times. Now for my question....am I fooling myself into thinking this is the better way to go and should just stick with what I got or is what I mentioned above actually possible with one of these sharpeners? I would like to hear from one of you who run this sharpener and have successfully corrected damaged teeth with it. Anyone else feel free to comment too.
I have a cooks sharpener and have been very pleased with it. You are correct on both counts. You will not wear down the tooth height, in fact you can actually make the teeth taller by dressing the wheel and grinding down farther into the gullet. Slight damage can be corrected with several passes, however as the damage gets worse you have to consider how much time you want to put into a $20 blade that has already used up some of it's flex life.
X 2
awesome! that's been my main concern........next to having the money :-\ . I didn't want to spend that much money on one and it not do any more than the cheap one that I have now.
I have a cat claw and for me, it has been a great machine. If you are interested, now may be a good time to get one. The "list" price is $2495 and the sale price (the usually selling price) is $1795. That is what I paid for mine and it has been worth it. In their latest catalog (Issue 1 2014) it is on sale for $1495 through 31 March 2014. When I bought mine, I went over to the factory to pick it up. Also got a good instructional session on the use of the machine. Not only is it an excellent machine but the support is outstanding.
The Cook's Cat Claw sharpener is a great machine. Being able to sharpen the whole profile of the blade is important; just doing the face of the blade doesn't work for long. The band will not only cut better, it'll last longer 'cuz you're grinding out any microcracks in the gullet.
I have a cats claw and Jim H. is right on all counts. Mine has easily paid for itself. Every band through it now is money in my pocket. One or two damaged teeth are no big deal, they say you can have up[ to three in a row. Rather than waste all the teeth by over grinding just make sure the bad tooth is not over set and sharpen as normal, you will get to that tooth in due time. Frank C.
Quote from: bandmiller2 on March 06, 2014, 08:33:16 PM
you will get to that tooth in due time. Frank C.
x2 - That was what I was going to say.
I have had my CatClaw for 12 years and love it - everything has been said.
Bob