Method for automatically resharpening a knife

A method for automatically re-sharpening a knife comprising:

• receiving a knife at a vice;
• during a scan cycle:
• advancing a grind head, relative to the vice, to an initial longitudinal position proximal the vice;
• longitudinally retracting the grind head, relative to the vice, from proximal the initial longitudinal position toward a longitudinal end position;
• as the grind head retracts from proximal the initial longitudinal position toward the longitudinal end position, recording a sequence of vertical positions of segments of an edge of a blade of the knife 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:
• advancing the grind head, relative to the vice, to proximal the initial longitudinal position;
• actuating a grind wheel in the grind head;
• longitudinally retracting the grind head, relative to the vice, from proximal the initial longitudinal position toward the longitudinal end position along the blade profile;
• and
• while longitudinally retracting the grind head, pitching the grind head, relative to the vice, to maintain an axis of the grind wheel substantially parallel to local tangents along the blade profile.