SYSTEM FOR SHARPENING CUTTING EDGES
A sharpening system for a meat grinder is provided. The sharpening system embodies two types of sharpening stones for sharpening the cutting edges of the knife blade and the hole plate, respectively, of the meat grinder, wherein each type of sharpening stone operatively associates to the drive arbor of the meat grinder. By interchangeably replacing the knife blade along the drive arbor with one type of sharpening stone so as to sharpen and resurface the hole plate, or replacing the hole plate along the drive with the other type of sharpening stone to sharpen and resurface the knife blade, the present invention provides hands-free sharpening with no additional machines or tools.
1 . A system for sharpening both a cutting knife and a hole plate of a meat grinder having an arbor for attaching said cutting knife and hole plate, comprising:
a universal arbor head provided at a distal end of the arbor, the universal arbor head having a peripherally disposed first shape portion and a centrally disposed second shape portion, wherein the first shape portion is adapted to rotate relative to the second shape portion;
one or more first sharpening stones having a first shaped arbor hole dimensioned to operatively associate with the first shape portion; and
one or more second sharpening stones having a second shaped arbor hole dimensioned to operatively associate with the second shape portion.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first shape is square and the second shape is circular.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more first sharpening stones includes a coarse grit abrasive stone and a fine stone.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more second sharpening stones includes a coarse grit abrasive stone and a fine stone.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the universal arbor head is removably attached to the distal end of the arbor.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein each second sharpening stone provides a lock notch for securely locking said second sharpening stone to the meat grinder.
7 . A method of sharpening a hole plate of a meat grinder with only a set of sharpening stones, the meat grinder having an arbor for operatively attaching a cutting knife and hole plate, comprising the steps of:
providing the system of claim 1 ; and
replacing the cutting knife with one first sharpening stone by operatively associating the respective first shape arbor hole with the first shaped portion so that the one first sharpening stone rotates relative to the adjacent hole plate so as to at least resurface said hole plate.
8 . A method of sharpening a cutting knife of a meat grinder with only a set of sharpening stones, the meat grinder having an arbor for operatively attaching said cutting knife and a hole plate, comprising the steps of:
providing the system of claim 1 ; and
replacing the plate hole with one second sharpening stone by operatively associating the respective second shape arbor hole with the second shaped portion so that the cutting knife rotates relative to the adjacent one second sharpening stone so as to at least resurface said cutting knife.
9 . A method of sharpening both a cutting knife and a hole plate of a meat grinder with only a set of sharpening stones, the meat grinder having an arbor for operatively attaching said cutting knife and said hole plate, comprising the steps of:
providing the system of claim 1 ;
replacing the plate hole with one second sharpening stone by operatively associating the respective second shape arbor hole with the second shaped portion so that the cutting knife rotates relative to the adjacent one second sharpening stone so as to at least resurface said cutting knife;
replacing the one second sharpening stone replacing with hole plate; and
separately replacing the cutting knife with one first sharpening stone by operatively associating the respective first shape arbor hole with the first shaped portion so that the one first sharpening stone rotates relative to the adjacent hole plate so as to at least resurface said hole plate.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the universal arbor head is initially removably attached to the distal end of the arbor.