# meat grinder blade sharpening



## millionsknives (Apr 25, 2014)

My grinder has gotten a lot of use and I think it's time to tune up the blades.  As I understand it, I need to flatten the blade and the disc.  What does everyone use for this?  I don't have a belt sander or anything.

I have a diamond plate that I've been using to flatten sharpening stones.  Would that work?


----------



## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

Realize that both your blade and the plate now have contours that conform to one another.  The plate is probably dished and the knife conforms to its contour.  Therefore it'd be necessary to both sharpen the knife and to "face" the plate flat to avoid any gapping between the knife and plate.  Chop Rite, the manufacturer of manual grinders, provides that service.  They'll "face" the plate and sharpen the knife for a nominal charge.  Otherwise I'd simply get a new blade and probably new plate.


----------



## millionsknives (Apr 25, 2014)

That's what I meant by flattening.


----------



## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

The blade I "feel" but don't know positively you could probably flatten on a flat bench stone, like an 11" x 2" bench stone from SharpeningSupplies.com. But when it comes to plates, I hear that they're hardened, really hardened so that you'd probably need a "machine setup" to flatten it. For advice you can either contact Sharpening Supplies or Chop Rite now known as *Chop Rite Two*.


----------



## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Meh.....

With both my 30 qt Hobart and my kitchen aid meat grinder, I do the same treatment:

Rub the faces of the die on my 1000 grit diamond stone, then on my 4000 grit stone.  Both stones are pretty flat.  Then I rub the knife on the same stones.  The knife has a flat back on each of its "arms" or "wings" and a bevel.  I have no idea what the bevel is, but after flattening the back, I just touch the bevel up  up with a pocket diamond hone to remove any burr or nicks.


----------



## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

foodpump said:


> Meh.....
> 
> With both my 30 qt Hobart and my kitchen aid meat grinder, I do the same treatment:
> 
> Rub the faces of the die on my 1000 grit diamond stone, then on my 4000 grit stone. Both stones are pretty flat. Then I rub the knife on the same stones. The knife has a flat back on each of its "arms" or "wings" and a bevel. I have no idea what the bevel is, but after flattening the back, I just touch the bevel up up with a pocket diamond hone to remove any burr or nicks.


For my upcoming meat grinder attachment to my Hobart N50, I plan to use anything from coarse india to soft arkansas to maintain a crisp edge at each of the exit holes. As to the "propellor" blade or chopper (as well as the plate), always hone using a "figure 8" motion.


----------



## millionsknives (Apr 25, 2014)

I've been using this to flatten stones. https://www.japaneseknifeimports.co...accessories/products/diamond-flattening-plate

Works great!

For knives I hardly care how flat the stones are. For meat grinder plates and blades, razor blades, and single bevel knives it matters quite a bit.


----------



## chefross (May 5, 2010)

I learned a trick from a butcher long ago.

If you have multiple dyes with varying hole sizes, match a propeller blade for each one.

This way each time you use them you'll only be using them for the coarseness you're grinding.

Large, medium, and small all have their own blade.

Works great. 15 years now, and have never had to sharpen anything.


----------



## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

Chefross said:


> .................................
> If you have multiple dyes with varying hole sizes, match a propeller blade for each one.
> 
> This way each time you use them you'll only be using them for the coarseness you're grinding.
> ...


Yes, use a dedicated blade for each and every plate because the blade and plate will "wear together" and the curve or bow that the blade develops will conform to the opposing contour of its plate. They'll be a closely matching pair. For each plate that I own, each plate has its own blade to match.

In other words the contour of the matching blade and plate conform to each other.


----------

