Bark River Slicing Trouble

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_Wraith

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Sep 30, 2015
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I have had my Bark River Bravo EDC for two days now. To my disappointment it came fairly blunt so I immediately pulled out some sandpaper and got sharpening. I worked my way up to black and finally green compound on my strop, however it still doesn't slice well and does not bite as deep into wood as it should. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

Here is a picture of the edge
29lo75l.jpg
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Make sure to run the convex well back up the blade face. If you only sharpen it at the edge you are likely making the cutting angle very broad compared to how it ought to be. If not comfortable doing this, I'd consider sending it back and having them put a better edge on it - those aren't exactly cheap knives.

You really shouldn't even see a transition along the edge, and the logo printing underneath the shoulder transition will slowly fade away - shoot for a continuous arc from shoulder to edge.

BTW, nice knife! I'm planning on picking one up in the near future.
 
HeavyHanded said:
Make sure to run the convex well back up the blade face. If you only sharpen it at the edge you are likely making the cutting angle very broad compared to how it ought to be. If not comfortable doing this, I'd consider sending it back and having them put a better edge on it - those aren't exactly cheap knives.

You really shouldn't even see a transition along the edge, and the logo printing underneath the shoulder transition will slowly fade away - shoot for a continuous arc from shoulder to edge.

BTW, nice knife! I'm planning on picking one up in the near future.
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Should I start with sandpaper if so what grit?
 
From the pic you posted, I would recommend you find someone experienced in sharpening. It looks like you are ruining the factory cutting edge by doing away with the correct angle. If it is a convex angle, don't force it to go flat grind, etc.
 
_Wraith said:
Should I start with sandpaper if so what grit?
Click to expand...

I would think 320 or so, and work your way up. Here's a video I made a ways back using sandpaper on my Bark River Necker showing some ways to shape the convex and keep track of it as you go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SalomUAvMHI

Realistically, kindasharp has a point. I'm not sure I'd hire someone as opposed to sending it back to the factory, but I wouldn't want to do too much to that knife without some experience shaping convex edges. You could do something as simple as using regular tan sandpaper over a brick and shape a few hardwood or plastic shims from the hardware store into rough knife shapes. Even a piece of aluminum flat stock would make a good trainer. It doesn't take too much time in to understand how to shape/sharpen your knife, getting it looking good cosmetically is a bit tougher but not much.

The video will give you a good idea of what you're dealing with.
 
I would send it to Josh at Razor Edge. Based on my experience, he will do a much better job than the factory.

I would also suggest getting a "beater" knife to practice sharpening. You can pick one up on the exchange or the makers forum. Then you can practice and make all the mistakes you want without damaging a great blade like the Bark River.
 
_Wraith said:
I have had my Bark River Bravo EDC for two days now. To my disappointment it came fairly blunt so I immediately pulled out some sandpaper and got sharpening. I worked my way up to black and finally green compound on my strop, however it still doesn't slice well and does not bite as deep into wood as it should. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.
Click to expand...

It's possible that you're using too much pressure and wrapping the sandpaper around the apex. This thread has a nice visualization:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/750008-Stropping-angle-plus-pressure
 
Thanks for all the replies, I'm not to keen on sending it anywhere as shipping is expencive from australia.
 
HeavyHanded said:
I would think 320 or so, and work your way up. Here's a video I made a ways back using sandpaper on my Bark River Necker showing some ways to shape the convex and keep track of it as you go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SalomUAvMHI

Realistically, kindasharp has a point. I'm not sure I'd hire someone as opposed to sending it back to the factory, but I wouldn't want to do too much to that knife without some experience shaping convex edges. You could do something as simple as using regular tan sandpaper over a brick and shape a few hardwood or plastic shims from the hardware store into rough knife shapes. Even a piece of aluminum flat stock would make a good trainer. It doesn't take too much time in to understand how to shape/sharpen your knife, getting it looking good cosmetically is a bit tougher but not much.

The video will give you a good idea of what you're dealing with.
Click to expand...

Thanks that video really helped me out :)
 
_Wraith said:
Thanks for all the replies, I'm not to keen on sending it anywhere as shipping is expencive from australia.
Click to expand...

Sorry. I did not see that. Glad the videos helped. Keep us posted on how this works out for you.
 
You work fast! You have officially taken possession of it.

That looks orders of magnitude better, hope its cutting to expectations - looks like it should be.

The biggest issue going forward (and why I do my convex shaping on a hard surface) is keeping the geometry nice and thin going into the edge - the area right behind the apex. If you rely too much on a strop, especially a softer one, is very easy to make the cutting edge broad again like in your first pic, but it will be better camouflaged.
 
HeavyHanded said:
You work fast! You have officially taken possession of it.

That looks orders of magnitude better, hope its cutting to expectations - looks like it should be.

The biggest issue going forward (and why I do my convex shaping on a hard surface) is keeping the geometry nice and thin going into the edge - the area right behind the apex. If you rely too much on a strop, especially a softer one, is very easy to make the cutting edge broad again like in your first pic, but it will be better camouflaged.
Click to expand...

How do you sharpen a convex grind on a hard surface?
 
Same as the video, the surface on that sharpening widget (Washboard) makes the wet/dry sandpaper as firm as a softish waterstone. Doing them on diamond plates is about as challenging as it gets cosmetically, but the principle is the same - use a slight roll of the wrist to shape the arc. Concentrate on those regions that most directly effect performance - on convex the area a few mm back from the edge - though it pays to thin the entire thing as you go a little at a time so you don't ever have to deal with a big correction.

You can also break it down into a series of facets, but is maybe easier to induce a slight amount of rock, limiting yourself as to how high you let the spine elevate. Normally I approach it with a series of overlapping scrubbing movements, and blend it all together on a sheet of paper with some honing compound. The radial Sharpie marks are mighty helpful when learning.
 
_Wraith said:
Is it normal that the bark river logo is starting to fade?
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It just means you're hitting more of the full height of the blade, which may or may not be a good thing depending on what you want to do. In your case, I believe it is. I had something similar happen with a Fallkniven F1 once I adjusted for being too obtuse with the edge.

In any case, awesome job. Like others have said, that is leaps and bounds better than before. Really nice work.
 
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