# Sharpen your grinder blade and true the plates



## crankybuzzard

I made this video a while back and thought about it today when I sharpened my blade and refaced the plate. 

Thought it might be helpful to some others here.  There are 3 videos total that take you through the whole process. 

Mods, feel free to remove if I'm breaking any rules...


[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]


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## pc farmer

Perfect timing.   I need to do my knife and plates.


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## boykjo

]Nice tutorial CB........... 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






   Thanks for sharing

 On surfaces a good way to remove any indelible ink is with some acetone or you can use a dry erase marker of the same color and it will remove the indelible ink.


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## rgautheir20420

Thanks for this! I have been having a hell of a time with my go to plate getting gummed up while grinding. If the meat is practically frozen, it won't chop very well. I've noticed it has what looks to be grooves so this might be hindering the blade and plate mating up and grinding well.


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## reinhard

Excelent!! I'm sure most of us need to sharpen our tools of the trade.  Thanks for the video's.  Reinhard


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## fished

CB

Very good video's and directions.  I haven't sharped mine yet.  I've only used them about five or six times.  But even at that it would be good to know that they are sharp and true.

Thanks

Ed


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## atomicsmoke

I have to sharpen these? That's it...I am returning my grinder.


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## boykjo

atomicsmoke said:


> I have to sharpen these? That's it...I am returning my grinder.


???????????    You just got it.. It should last a long time before needing to sharpen the blades.


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## atomicsmoke

boykjo said:


> ???????????    You just got it.. It should last a long time before needing to sharpen the blades.


Was tongue in cheek. You know...like buying those "never sharpen" knives.

Great tutorial.


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## themule69

Very good info.







Happy smoken.

David


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## boykjo

My blades are not cutting like they were when I first bought my cabals 1hp commercial grade stuffer. That said I am waiting for the new cabals to open here in the next town in April to buy new plates and a blade. My parts are stainless steel. I'm going to buy a new set before trying this method on the old plates. I do have access to a precision surface grinder at work and could sharpen them that way but I think this method will suffice. The only concern I have is contaminating the Stainless steel plates with the sand grit. Maybe a do a passivisation on the plates after they are sharpened

Just rambling...........


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## crankybuzzard

boykjo said:


> My blades are not cutting like they were when I first bought my cabals 1hp commercial grade stuffer. That said I am waiting for the new cabals to open here in the next town in April to buy new plates and a blade. My parts are stainless steel. I'm going to buy a new set before trying this method on the old plates. I do have access to a precision surface grinder at work and could sharpen them that way but I think this method will suffice. The only concern I have is contaminating the Stainless steel plates with the sand grit. Maybe a do a passivisation on the plates after they are sharpened
> 
> Just rambling...........


The surface grinder would provide the best facing for the plate/knife combination for sure!  But, most surface grinders have a magnetic plate to hold the parts, and I've had stainless parts get contaminated with carbon steel bits, which ended up giving my stainless parts "freckles".  If you're set up for passivation, that would take care of any issues that could arise from carbon steel and/or sand.

For the record, I love my carbon steel plates...  Once the patina hits, I have almost zero corrosion issues.  I also give them a nice silicone spray after final washing.


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## boykjo

I'd have to build a jig to hold the plates I'll try this method first


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## ab canuck

Great tutorial, Way better than buying extra blade and plates. Thx.


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## SmokinAl

I'm glad this got bumped up.

I haven't seen it before!

Great tutorial Charlie!

Al


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## crankybuzzard

It works well most of the time.  Once you get everything trued up the first round, it's a lot easier on future maintenance.


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## muddydogs

First time I did my plates I thought my arm was going to fall off by the time I got the three plates and blade somewhat square. I still have some deeper gouges in my plates which will get worked out over time I'm sure. From what I saw with my LEM plates I will never run a new set of plates or blade without first squaring them up using CrankyBuzzard's tutorial. If I would have done a little sanding on the new plates and especially the blade I would have saved a lot of time by not having to remove all the wear the new ruff out of square blade imparted on the new plates. 

For those of you that might be wondering what you can use as a good flat surface one idea is a piece of glass from a picture frame. I had an old picture frame laying around which has a glass picture cover, some cheaper frames use plastic. For this job I left the glass in the frame and just set the sand paper on the glass, other jobs I might remove the glass from the frame but I put it back into the frame when I'm done to protect the glass from getting broken.


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## bena

muddydogs said:


> First time I did my plates I thought my arm was going to fall off by the time I got the three plates and blade somewhat square. I still have some deeper gouges in my plates which will get worked out over time I'm sure. From what I saw with my LEM plates I will never run a new set of plates or blade without first squaring them up using CrankyBuzzard's tutorial. If I would have done a little sanding on the new plates and especially the blade I would have saved a lot of time by not having to remove all the wear the new ruff out of square blade imparted on the new plates.
> 
> For those of you that might be wondering what you can use as a good flat surface one idea is a piece of glass from a picture frame. I had an old picture frame laying around which has a glass picture cover, some cheaper frames use plastic. For this job I left the glass in the frame and just set the sand paper on the glass, other jobs I might remove the glass from the frame but I put it back into the frame when I'm done to protect the glass from getting broken.


add to this is that if you have a local glass/window company they have scraps that are 1/2" to 1" think glass (use for doors/etc) that they will give you or sell a lot for a few bucks that will outlast you.


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## HalfSmoked

Great post for sure nothing works better then sharp tools be it grinding knives kitchen knives or in my old line of work wood working tools. Not only is it easier with sharp tools but also safer. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





a point for a great and helpful post.

Warren


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## tropics

CB great post

Richie


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## gary s

Sure glad this made the Carousel  Great Info.

Gary


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## johnnie walker

Great tutorial, CB !I will have to give this a try.


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## ghoster

thanks Charlie.  great post.


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## dirtsailor2003

Good stuff Charlie!

I remember watching the videos when you first posted this and I thought I commented back then, but I guess not!


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## smokin jay

This is nice to know! Thank you Charlie! 

Points


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## crankybuzzard

Happy to know that it's helping others out.


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## jimmeiners

I have been needing to do that with my grinder and now that i have some good directions i know what i will be doing this weekend.


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## cal1956

grinder plates and blades are dirt  cheap , i just throw mine away and buy new ones after every 200 lbs or so


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## crankybuzzard

cal1956 said:


> grinder plates and blades are dirt  cheap , i just throw mine away and buy new ones after every 200 lbs or so


I'd be doing that several times a year if I followed your advice...  Not to mention for a quality blade and quality plate(s) I could buy several butts/chucks and make some sausage.

A couple of beers and a little effort later, my plates are usually better than when I open a new one from the package...

By the way, aren't you overdue to post something you've made instead of talking crap all of the time?


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## cal1956

By the way, aren't you overdue to post something you've made instead of talking crap all of the time?

yep your right it is but right now i'm having a few problems to deal with

(1)  wife is having her left knee replaced in tthe 24 th of this month

(2) i have a case of shingles

(3) i'm fighting the flu on top of the shingles

(4 ) a windstorm came thru and we had winds of 97 MPH last Monday that did a LOT of damage to my house and a storage building

but don't  worry i'll be back cooking just as soon as i can


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## cal1956

oh and i forgot to mention that my wife has been in a wheelchair for the past 3 months and we have another snow storm to deal with this coming weekend

but not to worrry , here in Colorado we are used to dealing with little problems like these


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## disco

Nice information I have saved!

Thanks, Cranky.

Point!

Disco


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## dukeburger

Great videos Charlie.

Same method we used 10 years ago in the garage butcher shop my boss at the time ran where I used to help cut wild game for the hunters. Spent many nights getting dizzy doing that!


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## loggie

This is awesome info thanks


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## driedstick

Great video's CB,,, great info right there 

I better check mine soon,,, do you check your brand new ones???


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## crankybuzzard

driedstick said:


> Great video's CB,,, great info right there
> 
> I better check mine soon,,, do you check your brand new ones???



I do check the new ones.  Most of the time the plates are nice and flat, but I have had a couple that needed to be touched up.  The new blades can always use a good lapping on the high grit paper.


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## driedstick

CrankyBuzzard said:


> I do check the new ones. Most of the time the plates are nice and flat, but I have had a couple that needed to be touched up. The new blades can always use a good lapping on the high grit paper.


sounds good,,, thanks,, something to do waiting for all this snow to melt LOL


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## bdskelly

I missed this when it was first posted.  Awesome info Charlie . Point! B


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## WaterinHoleBrew

Charlie, thanks so much for posting this ! Very informative !  Thumbs Up


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## ab canuck

Well I am out working nights for awhile and I thought nights are slower and I'll have some spare time. So I bought some sand paper and emery and followed this tutorial....... 













grinder plates.jpg



__ ab canuck
__ Aug 13, 2017






  They turned out great even though I ended up a little short of paper. Better than when they were new. A big shout out and Thx to you Charlie.


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## pc farmer

AB Canuck said:


> Well I am out working nights for awhile and I thought nights are slower and I'll have some spare time. So I bought some sand paper and emery and followed this tutorial.......
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> They turned out great even though I ended up a little short of paper. Better than when they were new. A big shout out and Thx to you Charlie.


I have to try this, I know mine are dull.  

Thanks for bumping this up.


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## bluewhisper

I'm running the Chop-Rite #10 that my parents bought in the 1950s. They had only the original 3/16 "hamburger" plate and they never sharpened the blade or polished the plate. When I got it, I could see how the blade-plate contact was not even because the finish on the plate showed light and dark areas, mainly dark in the center where the plate had worn after half a century of use.

I used a diamond sharpening "stone" and it was easy to sharpen the blade as shown in those videos. The plate took much longer and the finish could still be better, but the results  were clear. I got much less meat being mashed without passing through the plate.

However I suspect the auger is worn from its original specs. I can't be certain without a caliper and knowing the proper spec but it looks like the edges come to a flat end, like shaving the top off of a ridge. There's no way to fix that by grinding off metal; the only fix I can think of is replacement with the hope that the new auger will mate well with the bore of the grinder.

Edited to add, I also suspect that the shaft of the auger, which passes through the central hole on the plate, is worn and allowing more wobble which would throw off the mating accuracy of the blade-plate contact.

FWIW the Kitchen-Aid grinder I got from my parents was much newer but in much worse shape. The plate surface was visibly uneven.


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