It is difficult to imagine a modern kitchen without such a useful mechanism as a meat grinder. With its help, any housewife can do without even a food processor. But over time, even the sharpest blade becomes dull and ceases to perform its functions. The way out of this situation is quite simple - you need to sharpen the knife again. We will talk about sharpening methods further.
Characteristics of knives
Any meat grinder has at least two knives:
- stationary;
- mobile.
One of them is motionless. It is a circle with many small holes. The second knife is a spare part with several blades usually with four. During operation, the knife rotates and due to this, the products are chopped. And then the crushed pieces are pushed through the holes of the stationary part.
Breakdown reasons
One of the parameters of a good grinder operation is the sharpness of the cutting edges of the movable blade. However, when meat contains small bones or veins, the blade becomes dull. Gradually, more effort is needed to grind the food.
Another parameter of effective work is the distance from the stationary part to the moving one. The smaller this distance, the better the grinding will be. Over time, due to wear, this distance increases. In addition, due to the fact that knives, as a rule, are made of ferrous metal, they, oxidizing and rusting, lose their sharpness.
So that reduce the amount of effort needed to grind food(and in modern conditions and the amount of consumed electricity), you need to sharpen the blades for a meat grinder in a timely manner.
Grinder knife sharpening techniques
There are several options for sharpening a knife:
Whichever sharpening method is chosen, it is imperative to carry out preparatory work. Lubricate the blades with sunflower oil and let dry for 5-10 minutes. It is also necessary to do the same with the sharpening tool. This is required so that the sharpening tool does not deteriorate at the very beginning of work. In addition, this preparatory stage prevents the formation of splinters due to possible incorrect position of the knife during sharpening.
Using a dedicated machine
The most convenient option, of course, is to use a special machine. It is designed specifically for sharpening meat grinder blades and has a smooth abrasive surface. Before work a special paste is applied to the disc which contains the smallest abrasive particles. Due to this, after the composition dries, the surface of the disc becomes rough. After connecting the device to the electrical network, the disc begins to rotate and the cutting edge of the parts is gently pressed against it. During work, it is imperative to take breaks to prevent overheating of the metal.
Despite the simplicity of the method, this procedure requires certain skills. If you hold the knives at the wrong angle, you will not be able to sharpen, moreover, it can be dangerous.
Another the disadvantage of this option is its high cost... A knife sharpening machine is quite expensive and not easy to find in a regular store. Sometimes it is easier and safer to see a specialist or use another method.
Using a whetstone
A sharpening stone is much easier to purchase in a store. It is much cheaper than a machine tool, and there are several options for its use.
First option. Sharpening is done by rotating the knife. In this case, the sharpening stone should be at least 2 times the diameter of the knife. The knife lies in the center so that the blades fit snugly against the surface of the stone.
Holding the knife in the middle of the stone with your hands, you need to make circular movements. Gradually you need to increase the rotation speed if possible... You can finish sharpening if all the blades are the same without chipping and visible irregularities. Moreover, this method of sharpening can only be used on not too dull knives.
The second option is the rotation of the stone. This method is suitable if there is no result from the first. Since the sharpening force will depend on the amount of friction, then the stone must be fine... The size of the stone may not exceed the size of the part. A knife is taken in one hand, a stone in the other. They are tightly pressed against each other and circular movements are made. This procedure can be performed more efficiently by securing the part rather than holding it in your hands. For protection, be sure to use gloves. After the end of sharpening, the blade is allowed to cool and rinsed under running cold water.
Using sandpaper
Another popular way to sharpen a meat grinder knife is to use sandpaper. The thickness of the sandpaper depends on the thickness of the blade. The thicker the metal needs to be processed, the larger the grain fraction should be.
The procedure itself is very simple. Taking a knife in one hand and paper in the other, you just need to gently rub each blade until it becomes sharp. The movements are similar to those that occur if you just wipe the surface.
Thus, if you follow any uncomplicated method, you can keep the meat grinder in perfect condition without resorting to outside specialists.
With the help of this simple adaptation you will be able to sharpen your mincing knives quickly and correctly. Fast, because a drill, machine or screwdriver is used to rotate the knife, and rightly so, because the device gives the optimal pressing force on the entire plane without skewing.
It will be needed to assemble the fixture
- A pair of long balts with four nuts to them.
- A pair of thin bolts with two nuts to them.
- Two springs.
- A piece of thin steel plate.
Making a device for sharpening meat grinder knives
The first will be to make a device for sharpening a cruciform knife. We measure the inner size of the square hole with a vernier caliper.
We grind the head of the bolt on a taphole machine under a square with the dimensions of a square hole in the knife.
We assemble the device in the following sequence:
We put a washer on a bolt with a square head, then a spring. Then another washer, two nuts. We pull the spring with nuts so that pressure is created and the spring does not hang out just like that. Now we tighten the nuts together with two keys, so that in the future nothing will unscrew.
The device is ready.
But before we start sharpening the edges that are adjacent to the mesh knife, we will sharpen the perpendicular planes. Let's do it on the same band machine.
Let's put everything aside for now and start making a device for a mesh knife.
You will need a rectangular piece of metal. You can take steel or aluminum.
We apply the mesh to the knife to mark the boundaries and cut off the excess, drill three holes: in the center and on the sides for the guides.
We drill a middle hole for a large bolt. And va small ones under thin bolts.
We collect the device. We insert the central thick bolt, having previously screwed one nut onto it. Then we fix it with another nut.
We insert thin bolts of the same length into small holes and also fix them with nuts with effort.
The device is ready. The main thing is that the central bolt is below or equal to the length of the thin bolts relative to the level of the rectangular plate. See the photo.
The fixtures are now ready.
Grinder knife sharpening
Sharpening will be done on a vertical drilling machine, but you can easily use a hand drill or screwdriver.We fix the device for sharpening the mesh knife in the chuck.
We will produce sharpening in three stages: first with coarse-grained sandpaper, then with a fine one, and at the end with the finest one.
Place on a flat lining made of a piece of steel or other material. The main thing is that the surface is perfectly flat. Then put sandpaper with a large grain on top, then the mesh knife itself. We lower the device so that all the bolts fall into the holes. You don't need to go to the very end. It is necessary for the spring to create pressing forces.
We turn on the machine and sharpen the knife within a few minutes.
Next, we stop the machine and replace the sanding paper with a finer one. We continue to sharpen the knife for a few minutes.
Now it comes to finishing paper with the finest grain.
The result is obvious:
The same must be done with a cross-shaped knife: first, large paper.
A meat grinder is an irreplaceable thing in the kitchen. With its help, each housewife will be able to cook a huge number of minced meat and vegetable dishes. Despite the fact that on modern kitchen other universal appliances have already appeared, such as a blender or a food processor, the meat grinder still confidently competes with them. However, the blades of the device become dull after prolonged use, and the question of how to properly sharpen the knives of a meat grinder one day becomes relevant.
Why grinder knives need to be sharpened
Depending on the frequency of use of the meat grinder, its blades lose their sharpness. This can occur due to the formation of small chips and depressions in the place where the movable and stationary cutting elements come into contact.
Knives in a meat grinder must be sharpened at regular intervals.
The most common reason for the unsatisfactory operation of the meat grinder is the bluntness of the knives, if they were originally made from low-quality raw materials.
Basically, the device works with a relatively soft product - meat. But small bones or tendons, when grinding, fall on the cutting edge of the blade, which leads to a gradual loss of sharpness. At the initial stage, you may find that the meat grinder began to "chew" the meat, and soon after that it completely stops grinding it.
Also, with improper care, the metal from which the knives are made begins to oxidize and rust. It also negatively affects their severity.
Today, manufacturers produce all the components for small household appliances in sufficient quantities. You can easily buy a new sharp knife for a meat grinder,. But this will require additional costs, in addition, the problem is often revealed at the moment when the cooking process has already begun.
Cutting elements for electric and mechanical grinders have approximately the same shape and composition of the metal alloy. The only difference is that in a mechanical device the knives are rotated manually, while in automated devices there is a built-in motor that performs a similar function. Therefore, you can sharpen the blades in the same ways.
Important! The frequency of sharpening knives should correspond to their dullness. As soon as you start to notice that the grinder is not grinding food enough or is simply crushing them, it is worth updating the edges of the blades.
The nuances of correct sharpening
Grinding of products in a meat grinder is provided with 2 knives:
- fixed knife-mesh;
- four-blade cutter.
The second knife is a rotating part, thanks to which the main chopping takes place. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the sharpening of all its sides.
In the accompanying instructions for the device, depending on the manufacturer, the mesh knife may have a different name. It is often referred to as a stationary knife or simply a net.
Fundamental rules:
- If you will be sharpening with a sharpening stone, take a metal ruler and make sure that its surface is perfectly horizontal.
- If the abrasive will be used sandpaper, then it is better to fix it on the work surface. It will not be superfluous to put any flat removable surface under it, for example, glass, to protect the table from scratches during operation.
- Pre-treat the knives with vegetable oil and let sit for 5 minutes. Do the same with the tool with which you will be sharpening. This is necessary so that a gentle abrasive paste can form during sharpening. It will also help to minimize scratches and splinters on the knives.
- To ensure even metal removal, try to press the center of the knife against the sharpening surface.
- The mesh knife also dulls during operation, so it also needs to be sharpened.
3 ways to sharpen meat grinder knives at home
Regardless of which method you choose for sharpening, you need to prepare necessary materials, with the help of which the work will be done. The correct organization of the process will allow you to sharpen knives quickly, efficiently and not damage them. You can return the blades to their previous sharpness yourself, having at home one of the sharpening tools and about 30 minutes of time.
There are several ways to sharpen meat grinder knives:
- on the grinding machine;
- using a grindstone;
- sandpaper.
All these methods do not require special skills and expensive devices. You can purchase everything you need at hardware stores.
On a grindstone
If you have absolutely no experience in sharpening meat grinder knives, buy a corundum whetstone from a specialized store. The best option will be if its diameter is approximately 180 mm, and the grain size is from 40 to 60 microns.
Sharpening stone - a simple and affordable tool for sharpening knives
The process itself has the following features:
- Sharpening should be done under a weak stream of water. To do this, place a stone in a sink and moisten it liberally. The water will act as a lubricant and cool the metal.
- Secure the whetstone to the work surface. To do this, you can put a rag under it.
- Take the cutter and place it with the blade against the stone.
- Perform a clockwise circular motion with even pressure on the knife.
- Continue sharpening until the surface of the element is completely shiny.
- After the sharpening of the rotating knife is finished, do the same with the mesh knife. To do this, place it on the stone with the side adjacent to the first knife.
- After sharpening both knives, check the fit. To do this, fold them together on their respective sides and look at the gap. No gaps should be visible.
- Finally, rinse the knives under warm running water to rinse off the abrasive.
- Assemble the meat grinder and try it out.
Important! The considered method is effective for blades that are not too dull. If the knives have had time to rust and are in disrepair, then it will most likely not give the desired result.
Video: how to sharpen meat grinder knives using a grindstone
On the machine
It is very simple and quick way sharpen the knives yourself. Sharpening is done using a rotating grinding disc. Before starting work, an abrasive goi paste is applied to its surface, which, when dried, creates a rough surface on the disc due to the content of small particles in its composition.
A little skill is required to work on a grinding machine.
Important! Use goyi paste # 4 with a grain size of 17–8 µm.
Sharpening of the mesh knife on the machine is carried out as follows:
- Apply abrasive paste to the surface of the easel wheel and wait until it dries. Only then will the device be ready for use.
- Switch on the machine. The disc will start spinning.
- Gently press the mesh knife against the surface of the disc. Try to distribute the pressure evenly.
Sharpening the cutter with a machine can be difficult if you have no experience with the machine. It must be carried out in 2 stages:
- First sharpen each of the 4 knife blades by leaning them against the rotating blade at an 80 ° angle.
It is very important to keep the tilt angle evenly relative to the machine.
- The second step will be to grind off the resulting burrs. To do this, carry out actions similar to sharpening a mesh knife.
It is necessary to sharpen the cutter on the machine, observing small breaks between the stages. This is necessary in order to allow the metal of the knife to cool down.
Video: an example of processing blades on a machine
Sandpaper
One of the easiest and most affordable ways is to use sandpaper. She will certainly be found in your home. As a last resort, you can buy it at a hardware store or hardware store. The cost of this tool is several times less than the cost of a grinding stone or machine.
Do not use paper with a coarse grain fraction to sharpen the knives of the meat grinder.
So, the sharpening process is carried out in the following sequence:
- Place a sheet of sandpaper horizontally on the worktable. For convenience, it is desirable to provide him with additional fixation.
- In a clockwise circular motion, rub the knife until you achieve the shine and sharpness of the blades.
- Do the same with the mesh.
Important! Movements should be only circular and resemble wiping the surface.
Video: sandpaper sharpening workshop
The process of sharpening meat grinder knives at home is quite feasible even for people without special experience and skills. All you need is a sharpening tool and some free time. If you notice a deterioration in the sharpness of the blades in the device, do not hesitate to process them.
An old manual or new electric grinder in the house is a must. Cooking minced meat is a matter of several minutes, but this requires a working meat grinder, which will not let you down in the midst of work. And if the unit starts to malfunction, the answer is always the same - dull knives. So the question arises of where and how to sharpen a knife for a meat grinder, if it is needed at the most crucial moment.
The device and principle of operation of the meat grinder
To understand how the knives work and why it is necessary to constantly monitor the condition of the cutting surfaces, consider the device and principle of operation of the unit.
The meat grinder consists of the following units:
- cast body (cast iron or aluminum alloy);
- cast auger (cast iron or aluminum alloy);
- movable four-blade knife;
- fixed grid with many holes;
- large front nut;
- a handle for rotating the auger (in electric meat grinders - an electric motor).
The meat is loaded into the receiving hopper, from where it is fed to the fixed mesh by means of an auger. Here the process of cutting meat takes place between the fixed mesh and the movable four-blade knife. Chopped meat in the form of minced meat is pressed through the mesh openings into the receiving container.
When sharpening is needed
To understand why sharpening is needed, you need to understand how all the details work during the production of minced meat.
When buying a meat grinder, all parts are completely new, since they have not been in operation. Therefore, the knives have an ideal contact surface. This is very important when the unit is running. There is a perfect cut of the next portion of meat that falls into working area unit.
But after some time of operation, the meat grinder begins to malfunction. If the unit is manual, then you have to apply more force to rotate the handle. At electric drive, there are interruptions in the rotation of the auger, overheating of the electric motor and its possible breakdown.
With an ideal way out of the situation, it is enough to buy spare parts in the store and, after replacement, continue to work calmly. But even this option cannot suit the hostess. After all, buying parts is economically unprofitable. It is necessary to figure out what is happening and how you can get out of the situation without buying new parts.
What happens to the grinder
After buying a meat grinder in a store, you need to read the instructions for use. Almost all manufacturers assure customers that the knives of their unit do not have a wear life and even sharpen themselves. Allegedly, during operation, the movable cutter, tightly in contact with the stationary mesh, slides along it and mutual self-sharpening occurs due to friction. But in reality, we do not observe this. Indeed, even in electric meat grinders, cutting parts are made not of high-quality steel, but of ordinary steel.
When grinding the product, tendons, all kinds of inclusions, up to small fragments of bones, fall. As a result of such work, the usual bluntness of the cutting parts occurs and the process of grinding the minced meat is disrupted. After a while, the meat grinder simply does not grind the meat, but crushes. Then the question arises of where to properly sharpen the knives for the meat grinder.
Grinder knife sharpening
So that you are not tormented by the question of where you can sharpen the knives for the meat grinder at the time of minced meat production, try to regularly inspect the parts. To do this, simply disassemble the unit and inspect the condition of the cutting units. If the surface is covered with rust, it must be grinded to prevent destruction by corrosion. You always have a choice: where to sharpen the knives for the meat grinder.
If you prefer to entrust this work to specialists, then you can contact one of the sharpening centers of specialized enterprises in your city.
Sharpening knives in the workshop
If you decide to sharpen the cutting parts in the workshop, then this should be done in advance. It is necessary to inspect the meat grinder once a month and identify all defects.
In the workshops, an Adems grinding machine and sharpening abrasive stones are used for ezochka.
If you have such a machine in your home workshop or garage, then you can sharpen your knives at home. Let's see how this can be done.
The machine consists of an electric drive and a horizontal faceplate. To perform this operation, you must:
- grease the plan washer over the entire surface with oil;
- sprinkle abrasive powder on the lubricated surface and distribute it evenly over the faceplate;
- turn on the machine and using magnetic holder we install the knife to be processed on the faceplate, pressing it in the center.
After surface treatment, another element is placed on the machine. Thus, the horizontalness of the working surfaces, working in a pair of parts, is achieved. The next operation is sharpening the edges of the movable four-blade cutter at an angle of 80 degrees using a grinding abrasive. The final touch is grinding the cutting edges of the movable knife and the horizontal surface of the grating on the vulcanite stone.
Sharpening the house with sandpaper
What to do if you understand during the production of minced meat: meat is not cut, but "chewed"?
You can sharpen knives at home. The easiest way to sharpen cutting element- at home with your own hands. Need sandpaper to sharpen fine-grain knives. It is not advisable to use coarse-grained skin, as it can damage the surface of the knife. Indeed, when sharpening knives in this way, one should not allow a lot of wear and damage to the cutting surfaces.
Sharpening is carried out on a perfectly horizontal surface. Having secured a sheet of paper, we begin to rub it with the processed surface of the knife until we achieve a clean working surface. We do the same with the other knife. Having finished processing, we check the parallelism of the surfaces for the light. Ideally, there is no gap visible between the torch and the grate.
You can check the meat grinder with the help of threads inserted through the grill of the meat grinder in the assembled state. Turning on the electric meat grinder, the cut threads should fall on the table.
On a grindstone
You can sharpen knives using sharpening stones. To do this, in the store we buy a whetstone made of corundum from 40 to 60 microns. We make a platform from a board to strengthen it and provide a water supply during work. Having strengthened the stone on a stand, having previously moistened it with water, we begin to sharpen the movable element, making circular rotational-translational movements. This forms a fine abrasive paste, which brings the surface to grinding. Periodically rinse the torch in water. When a shiny surface is reached, the part is considered to be sharpened.
We carry out the processing of the mesh in the same way. At the same time, we check the fit of the knives for the clearance of the surfaces. If there is no gap between the applied working surfaces, then the sharpening result is achieved and the grinder can be tested in operation.
On a grinder
The two previous methods work in the event that the production of cutting parts is insignificant, you just need to make a small reconstruction of the cutting edges and contact surfaces. For more serious wear and tear, a sharpening machine will help you.
When starting work, it is necessary to check the condition of the working disk of the machine. It must be perfectly flat and used only for sharpening work..
- It is necessary to apply GOI No. 4 paste on the working surface of the disk and let it dry.
- Then we turn on the machine and when the disk picks up speed, we begin to work.
- Pressing the mesh to the disk, we carry out the processing until a uniformly shiny surface is obtained.
When processing a knife, it is necessary to work intermittently in order to prevent overheating of the workpiece.
Then we start sharpening the four-blade movable cutter. Here the work is carried out in stages..
Working on a grinder will be efficient and fast if you know how to work and follow safety rules.
Dear visitors!!!
As we know, grinder knives are sharpened by specialists working in workshops, which are equipped with the appropriate equipment. But usually, we do not have everything. free time and the opportunity to visit specialized workshops to meet their needs.
Usually, you can use electric emery to grind the circular knife (grate) and sharpen the cutting edge of the cross-shaped knife (for a meat grinder).
Electric emery
Currently, electric emery is available in a large assortment in specialized stores, which of course meet their technical requirements.
Nevertheless, for some reason, we have to make this appliance with our own hands. The purchase of an emery wheel and a nozzle, which is installed on the rotor shaft of the electric motor, can be attributed to insignificant costs for the manufacture of electric emery. The electric motor itself for emery is borrowed most often - from unnecessary washing machine... It should be noted here that for grinding the lattice and sharpening the cruciform knife, there should be no radial and end beating when rotating the emery wheel. The end and radial runout of the rotating emery wheel will depend on how you set the emery wheel. That is, initially it is necessary to determine the displacement of the emery wheel (when it rotates) and then, to eliminate its beating.
Nevertheless, in terms of quality, preference should be given to special types of machines designed for grinding the grate and sharpening the cross-shaped knives of the meat grinder.
Grinder knife sharpening machine
Using this sharpening machine, you can set the required angle for sharpening the cutting edge of the knife, as well as grind the grinder itself directly.
If there is no such opportunity to purchase a sharpening machine for meat grinder knives and other cutting tools, I suggest you watch a video, which, I think, contains useful information.
That's all for now. Follow the rubric.
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