I just got my first brk the gunny. Beautiful knife unfortunately though it came with a microbevel.. I really don't want to take this knife to the waterstones since it would be my first convex sharpening but I want this knife zero ground because I feel like it should be a hell of a lot sharper. My question is what is the easiest way to remove the microbevel? Sandpaper and flexible backing? Could I start on waterstones then go to the sandpaper method to get my original grind back? Haven't had a chance to test this knife out and I really don't think convex is going to be all it's hyped up to be but still want to give it a try.
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Bark river microbevel
- Thread starter Gradyw
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Grind it off.
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Hi,
Go ahead and use the knife, a "microbevel" is not any kind of problem on a knife, almost every knife has one, some are just more micro than others.
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I'd grind it off/out. My first Bark River came with one, on one side. Waterstones and finish on wet/dry as you suggested is a good way to go till you get good enough with just the stones.
So if I hold the blade on the stone where it looks like the edge hits the stone ( which it's not because of the microbevel) if I sharpen back and fourth like I always do will that create a convex? How much material has to be removed? It's 3v so I guess I can't ruin anything too fast.. I think I know exactly what to do and I think I understand it I've just never done it.. wish I could find a cheap convex grind blade to start on
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Make a crosshatch of Sharpie lines all up and down the blade so you know exactly where you're grinding. Do not be in a hurry or the temptaion to just elevate the spine and grind a new edge will be overpowering.
Ideally you would start just below the flat that comes down from the spine, and work mostly from there down to the edge. You want to remove a layer of steel about equal all the way down, maybe even thin it a touch higher up the primary.
Cosmetically it will be scary to start, it would be helpful to practice on another convex or Scandi first, maybe even practicing on a hardwood shim would be worthwhile. Just go slow and stay away from the edge initially. Any rough scratches will be removed later, for now you want a nice even layer of metal removed with as little removed from the cutting edge as possible. Hog off some steel and then with a light touch blend all the facets.
If you jump to a finer grit and see all manner of issues, drop back to the more coarse stone and fix them. Take your time.
Yea cosmetically it is scary! I don't want to fuck it up haha.. why can't I just remove a layer of steel on the edge side where the microbevel is? I'm sure there's a reason I'm just not seeing it right now. U have any suggestions of cheap convex blades similar to a gunny? Or anything close
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What's an "HT"?
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You could certainly just do the side with the issue. Cosmetically they won't match but from a functional standpoint it won't matter.
Either mark or scribe the Mora about an eighth inch from the spine and make this the shoulder on your new convex. Grind the old shoulder off and then blend the whole thing together, thinning it out as you go. Clean it up with successively finer grit wet/dry after roughing it on stones.
Depending on how you plan to maintain the knife, you could work it out over time, just make sure to spend extra time grinding above the final approach to the edge (area inside the red outline below), and melt the microbevel back into the primary. Over time the microbevel gets worn away and the edge becomes more acute. It is very important that the area above the edge be ground back as you go anyway, or the edge becomes less acute. In your case you're trying to fix the grind, so that little bit more has to come off.
Edit to add:
Since the knife is brand new and no budget blade, you might consider having it done by a pro or send it back to BR. There's a good chance they'll do it for the cost of shipping. Maintenance is a lot easier on a knife with the grind set the way you want it. If its going to be a user, you might as well roll up the sleeves, as the cosmetics are going to take a hit anyway until you get some experience. It isn't that tough, the above pictured knife is the first BR I bought and it came with a microbevel. In fact I actually put a small V bevel on it at one point early on before restoring it to a proper convex.
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In that pic I was working with a jig I'd built for my belt grinder to do precise convex, that one is 0° at the spine to 12° at the edge prior to finish stropping. Norton Blaze 60 grit, 120, and silicon carbide 320, 600, and finished it off on one of my Washboards with the stock compound (that's the surface its sitting on).
The pic below is the same knife before I ground off the last bit of flat along the spine and completely de-blacked it, done on Norton waterstones. Still a little hazy but not bad.
The knife had a small spot on one side of the blade where it looked like a glitch in the HT that showed up anytime the surface wasn't bright polished (pic below), so I decided to give it a full make-over. Is one of my favorite EDU's, I've had it for years.
My mora has a slight convex just from me sharpening it.. going back and fourth so quick really does create one.. what I'm wondering is if I did the same thing to my gunny and sharpening it to about the same degree to thin out the edge I wouldn't be doing anything to change the geometry other then thinning out the edge right? I would have to then blend that in with the rest of the knife correct heavy?
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Technically, you're removing a layer of steel and there's going to be a limit to how much you can change the angle since you're only working between the shoulder and the edge. At some point you'll probably realize that the red region I marked up is going way slower than you'd like. But that's where you have to concentrate your efforts. The stretch between the red area and the edge will go very quickly as the red area becomes thinned down, as will the area between the red and the spine/shoulder.
When you work on the Mora, try to limit the amount of rounding you generate. Mark it up with a Sharpie often and really work on grinding from the shoulder - don't let it float any more than the limit of your ability to control the angle. Just as with the convex there is a red area that has substantially more steel, on the Mora that region is right on top of the old shoulder transition. It goes quick at first and then slows to a slog. Use the upper edge of the new shoulder as your reference and grind down from that point.
Fudging it is not an option if you want it to turn out well - at this point you will have gained lots of respect for others that have done these conversions by hand, and you'll have a real good idea of why belt grinders are awesome!
Take a couple of slow controlled passes and then up the tempo for a flurry. Stop, check, repeat - a few slow ones to get the angle and feel and then increase tempo for a shot. Stop, reapply, continue. Any increase in the accuracy of your angle control will dramatically shorten your work time.
I hope this helps some...