Automatic feeding, grinding, and sorting of woodworking knives

An apparatus for grinding a knife, wherein the knife is an industrial woodworking knife for power-operated rotary cutter heads, the apparatus comprising:

• a frame;
• a guide track assembly supported by the frame, wherein the guide track assembly includes a track and an endless loop with at least one lug, wherein the track has a pair of knife support surfaces disposed along opposite sides of the endless loop and configured to support the knife thereon, the support surfaces define a flow path, and the endless loop is rotatable to move the lug in a first direction from a first location along the track to a second location along the track to thereby advance the knife on the track along the flow path from the first location to the second location;
• and
• a grinding assembly having at least a first grinding wheel and a first motor configured to rotate the first grinding wheel, wherein the first grinding wheel is disposed downstream of the receptacle along the flow path.