Sharpening device with replaceable sharpening elements

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As can be seen in the attached figure, the inventive sharpening device comprises a base element 10, an intermediate element 14 and a sharpening element 17.
When readied for use, the sharpening element is positioned on the intermediate element and the intermediate element is in turn positioned on the base element so as to form a single unit.
However, these elements are also manually separable as is indicated in the figure.
The base element 10 includes a block 11, which is preferably made of wood (e.
g.
oak), a flat paramagnetic layer 12 which is located on an upper surface of the block 11, and foot pads 13 which are attached to the lower surface of the block 11.
The flat paramagnetic layer 12 is preferably composed of a zinc-clad sheet metal plate and the foot pads 13 are preferably composed of rubber.
Both the flat paramagnetic layer 12 and the foot pads 13 can be fixedly attached to the block 11 by the use of a water-resistant contact cement.
The entire base element 10 can be optionally coated with a clear finish for moisture protection.
The intermediate element 14 includes a lower magnetic layer 15 and an upper contact layer 16.
The magnetic layer 15 will be strongly attracted to the paramagnetic layer 12 of the base element 10 when brought into close proximity thereto.
The magnetic layer 15 is preferably composed of flexible magnetic rubber and the contact layer 16 is preferably composed of a thin, flexible sheet of vinyl plastic.
The sharpening element 17 is composed of a piece of grit paper having a rough upper surface 18 (e.
g.
, provided by a layer of silicon carbide particles adhered thereto) and adhesive 19 on its lower surface.
The adhesive 19, which may be in the form of a continuous layer or separated strips, will readily stick to the contact layer 16 of the intermediate element 14 when positioned thereagainst, yet will be manually detachable therefrom when desired.
The inventive sharpening device, after assembly as indicated in the figure, can be used in one of two ways