112 Sharpening Question (Dumb)

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cupton

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Dec 17, 2018
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I’m a recent 112 owner with a 112 Pro and a 112 Pro Slim TRX. Noticed there is a slight recurve to the blade and was curious what you all use to sharpen. I use the Sharpmaker for my other Bucks and Spydercos and kitchen knives. The Sharpmaker works fine but I just purchased the Work Sharp Guided system to try out since I’ve been wanting to learn a different style of sharpening. I’ve got a few old dull knives I’m going to practice on so I won’t be using my 112’s as my testers. 😉

So, seeing as how the 112 has an ever so slight recurve I thought I’d check in with the experts here. Do you all use a whetstone or similar or stick to the angled rods for your 112’s? Or is that slight recurve even enough to worry about?

Thanks!
 
In time you can work that recurve out just using a hand sharpener. I know a recurve is a pain to sharpen and I don’t like them either but I can work with them. I just don’t worry much about it and try to get as much use out of the blade as I can.

I use a worksharp hand sharpener or a smith’s diamond hand sharpener mostly but if I’m reprofiling an edge I use a diamond bench plate to get it like I want it.
 
TBH, I'm not an expert, but, I've never had a problem!
 
cupton said:
I’m a recent 112 owner with a 112 Pro and a 112 Pro Slim TRX. Noticed there is a slight recurve to the blade and was curious what you all use to sharpen. I use the Sharpmaker for my other Bucks and Spydercos and kitchen knives. The Sharpmaker works fine but I just purchased the Work Sharp Guided system to try out since I’ve been wanting to learn a different style of sharpening. I’ve got a few old dull knives I’m going to practice on so I won’t be using my 112’s as my testers. 😉

So, seeing as how the 112 has an ever so slight recurve I thought I’d check in with the experts here. Do you all use a whetstone or similar or stick to the angled rods for your 112’s? Or is that slight recurve even enough to worry about?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
The 112 is one of my favorites. I have the traditional with nickel bolsters, and have carried the slim micarta for a couple of years now. As GPyro GPyro stated above, a strop is an excellent way to go. In fact, I don't recall using a stone on my slim micarta yet. I made a two sided strop and absolutely love it.
 
Yes using a strop in between sharpening will benefit you more than you think. I regularly strop my knives as I go to keep them cutting with ease. However stropping isn’t going to do much to remove the recurve but it will help to keep the edge inline.
 
Thanks for the convo guys! Good info. That recurve is so small I wonder why it’s even there. Can it even be called a recurve? Is it there or isn’t it? Are my eyes playing tricks on me? I don’t see it on the 110 at all. I have no idea. None of those questions warrant an answer. Just having fun.
 
Interesting. I think with my TRX the factory bevel is a bit wonky which makes it look like it has more of a recurve than it does. The edge seems pretty straight but the bevel has a nice uneven curve towards the heel of the blade.

Wgmcn6yl.jpg
 
To tune up a slightly dull edge, I use a round ceramic rod. It works equally well on straight and recurve blades. If you stand your blade up on a ruler or straight edge and see light under it, it's ground with a recurve. My new in box 112 has a recurve. It's probably the result of there not being a sharpening choil and the difficulty of putting on the original edge termination at the plunge grind.
 
I used to freehand sharpen all of my bucks on a stone until I got an old model sharpmaker. In the field I use a small pocket stone if I need to sharpen; all other times I exclusively use the sharpmaker and then strop on a piece of scrap leather with some green compound.
 
that recurve isn't really supposed to be there...
it's from the hand factory sharpening. if ya put a bunch of knives together you'll see different degrees of it due to the sharpeners experience. it wont affect a sharpmaker or stone freehand. you'll be able to keep it sharp if you can hold angles......
 
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That's why I don't buy knives with recurved blades except for a couple hawkbills. Sure, you can sharpen them with a rod, but that's slower than using a flat stone or plate. A small recurve is just a gratuitous PITA. But a hawkbill can be useful.
 
If I'm not mistaken, the unintentional recurve near the plunge grind on factory blades is usually the result of doing the edge grind on belts. The edge of the belt deflects or curls a bit under pressure from the blade as the edge is being ground, so the edge profile ends up conforming to the slightly curled edge of the belt.

I use a small Norton Fine India stone to touch up the edge on several of my knives, including an old Buck 112 '4-dot' folder in 425M steel, pictured below in earlier, more pristine days after I'd cleaned it up a bit (it looks a little more used, these days :) ).
gWS2PwP.jpg


I radiused one edge of the India stone by rubbing it against a coarse SiC stone, to facilitate better contact in the recurves on blades like these. For more wear-resistant steels like S30V, I'd prefer a diamond hone for sharpening - so a round rod-type diamond hone can work for that. But even so, on blades with only slight recurve like this, the edge of a flat stone can still work well enough.
jDIB624.jpg

NcDbOMt.jpg
 
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