Abstract: An automatic knife sharpening machine may include a vice to grip a blade of a knife and a pair of grind wheels to grind material from the blade. The machine may include a scanner to determine a profile of an edge of the blade, and a sharpness sensor to determine a sharpness level of the edge. The machine may include a controller. The controller may perform a first sharpening pass on the knife by moving the grind wheels into contact with the blade, and advancing the grind wheels longitudinally along the blade from adjacent the vice towards a tip of the blade with the grind wheels in contact with the blade. The controller may determine, using the sharpness sensor, the sharpness level of the edge after the first sharpening pass and perform at least one second sharpening pass when the determined sharpness level is less than a threshold sharpness level.

Abstract: An automatic knife sharpening machine may include a vice to grip a blade of a knife and a pair of grind wheels to grind material from the blade. The machine may include a scanner to determine a profile of an edge of the blade, and a sharpness sensor to determine a sharpness level of the edge. The machine may include a controller. The controller may perform a first sharpening pass on the knife by moving the grind wheels into contact with the blade, and advancing the grind wheels longitudinally along the blade from adjacent the vice towards a tip of the blade with the grind wheels in contact with the blade. The controller may determine, using the sharpness sensor, the sharpness level of the edge after the first sharpening pass and perform at least one second sharpening pass when the determined sharpness level is less than a threshold sharpness level.

Abstract: One variation of a method for automatically re-sharpening a knife includes: receiving a knife at a vice; during a scan cycle, scanning the grind head along a blade of the knife from an initial longitudinal position proximal the vice toward a longitudinal end position and recording a sequence of vertical positions of segments of an edge of the blade at various longitudinal positions of the grind head based on outputs of a sensor arranged in the grind head; calculating a blade profile for the knife based on the sequence of vertical positions; and, during a grind cycle, actuating a grind wheel in the grind head and pitching the grind head while driving the grind head longitudinally along the blade to maintain an axis of the grind wheel substantially parallel to segments the blade profile corresponding to longitudinal positions of the grind head, relative to the vice.

Abstract: One variation of a method for automatically re-sharpening a knife includes: receiving a knife at a vice; during a scan cycle, scanning the grind head along a blade of the knife from an initial longitudinal position proximal the vice toward a longitudinal end position and recording a sequence of vertical positions of segments of an edge of the blade at various longitudinal positions of the grind head based on outputs of a sensor arranged in the grind head; calculating a blade profile for the knife based on the sequence of vertical positions; and, during a grind cycle, actuating a grind wheel in the grind head and pitching the grind head while driving the grind head longitudinally along the blade to maintain an axis of the grind wheel substantially parallel to segments the blade profile corresponding to longitudinal positions of the grind head, relative to the vice.

Abstract: One variation of a method for automatically re-sharpening a knife includes: receiving a knife at a vice; during a scan cycle, scanning the grind head along a blade of the knife from an initial longitudinal position proximal the vice toward a longitudinal end position and recording a sequence of vertical positions of segments of an edge of the blade at various longitudinal positions of the grind head based on outputs of a sensor arranged in the grind head; calculating a blade profile for the knife based on the sequence of vertical positions; and, during a grind cycle, actuating a grind wheel in the grind head and pitching the grind head while driving the grind head longitudinally along the blade to maintain an axis of the grind wheel substantially parallel to segments the blade profile corresponding to longitudinal positions of the grind head, relative to the vice.