Best sharpener for deeply recurved blades

T

tfc111601

Joined
Jan 10, 2003
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Someone please help me out on deciding which sharpeners work best on recurved blades. I can sharpen them with much effort and patience on bench stones but I mar up the finish quite often which requires alot of scotchbrite rubbing to get out. Is there a preferred new sharpening system out there that works well on recurves and how do they work? I'm looking at the Sharpmaker and Edgepro right now but any input would greatly be appreciated. Thanks
 
The 204 will do the best job on it. Just keep the edge you're doing 90deg to stones(ie hawkbill, tip: handle goes down, base: handle goes up). Same thing applies here. As you hit the back of the recurve, your tip is low, handle is high... as you go through the recurve, your handle goes down, raising the tip...
 
My Edge Pro worked great on my Kershaw Boa; that's about as extreme of a recurve as it gets. The Sharpmaker will work very well too though. It depends on your budget and your patience. The Sharpmaker doesn't always work very quickly; the stones just don't remove metal as fast as the Edge-Pro's waterstones.
 
How does the Edgepro sharpen a recurve? Seems the bevel would be ground in differently because of the limited motion of the arm the stone is mounted on. Do you move or tilt the blade as its lying on the base to accomplish an even bevel through the recurve? Please someone explain, and is this harder to accomplish than the Sharpmaker's recurve sharpening motion?
 
I use an Ultimate Edge diamond sharpening steel. It has sort of an elipsoidal cross-section and the curve fits recurved blades well. I use one of the longest models. I got a good deal on it from Top of Texas knives.
 
Ben Dale at Edge-Pro told me that he is making a different type of waterstone for knives like the Strider Nightmare.
 
I can't verify Ichabod's statement from Ben Dale, but if so that's cool! :) tfc111601, it's a little difficult to explain. The bevel won't be the exact same angle throughout the length of the edge. It will be consistent each time you sharpen it though. You do need to move the blade around on the table a bit to sharpen properly. Ben has a video now, that should help a lot if you choose to go with the Edge-Pro. Ben is very good with customer service as well; if you need a little help or advice when starting out he is very friendly on the phone.
 
The Sharpmaker is probably the easiest at maintaining an edge on a recurved blade.

Also Ben at Edge Pro also stocks 1/2" wide waterstones that are specifically for recurves. They are thicker (not wider) than his normal stones, so they can be used as is (which is what Ben does), or ground down with sand on a concrete block to any profile you want.

Ben also sells aluminium blanks, which I've heard some people glue a wodden profile to and then stick sand paper to.
 
The sharpmaker will work if you want a "system". I kind of like curved hones on the recurves so I would also suggest the A.G. Russell Field Sharpener (as long as your blades aren't too long). This has a fixed 15-degree angle which is great for thinning your edge. Then you tilt the blade slightly away from the hones for a few finish strokes at closer to 20-degrees. It has diamond rods as well as ceramic rods.

http://www.agrussell.com/imagescsu03/ag3750.jpg
 
Originally posted by Roadrunner
I can't verify Ichabod's statement from Ben Dale, but if so that's cool! :) tfc111601, it's a little difficult to explain. The bevel won't be the exact same angle throughout the length of the edge. It will be consistent each time you sharpen it though. You do need to move the blade around on the table a bit to sharpen properly. Ben has a video now, that should help a lot if you choose to go with the Edge-Pro. Ben is very good with customer service as well; if you need a little help or advice when starting out he is very friendly on the phone.
Click to expand...

Can the EdgePro be purchased in a store, or just ordering and waiting for shipping?
 
The only place I've seen the Edge-Pro for sale is on Ben's site and at www.edcknives.com . I don't know of any retail stores that carry them; they are very much so a specialty item that few can justify spendint the money on. Those who do are generally very happy with them though. :cool:
 
I've tried several sharpening systems, and I love the wonderful results I get with my Spyderco 204. Its great for all my knives.

The corners of the Sharpmaker perform thier own function. But the FLATS of the 204 is narrow enough to sharpen any recurved blade without messing up the grinds... Unless you mean some pretty severe recurving, like VERY exotic.

Most standard recurve blades, and I bet ALL foling ones, will benefit from the 204's design.

I really love this system.
-me
 
This was posted earlier, but got munched in the Bladeforums server debacle. I'll just post the pictures and if anyone needs an explaination, I'll add later. I used a Ultimate Edge Diamond Sharpening Steel, 5" Long - Wide Oval, for this mod, cost was $14.95 plus shipping.

Compared to the Sharpmaker, Lansky, and bench stones (free hand), this method has provided me with the most consistent and reproduceable bevels on recurved portions of my blades, and the sharpest edges. Of course, some other blokes may be more adept at the Sharpmaker and Lansky systems than I.

TT2Toes
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I have found the standard one inch wide hone on the Edge Pro
to work quite well. The only difference on a re curve is that only the edges of the hone make contact with the blade. I tried a cut down hone ( Ben recommended I try 1/2 inch ) but I can honestly say it was no easier. Still the hone only made contact on the edges.

So the trick with the Edge Pro is to let the two edges of the hone do the work. Still twice the contact area than a Sharpmaker on its corner hone setting.

Also the polishing tapes worked. I was happily surprised, expecting them to tear up. Worked slow, and was very happy with results. Knife was a Ken Onion Scallion, with a stronger re curve than the example in TT2Toes's photo above.
 
NOSMO:
You must be more adept than I with your EdgePro 1" stones.
On my KO Scallions, I found that the corners of my EdgePro stones were creating depressions or even grooves in the recurved parts of the blade. Plus, I was taking off way more metal on the outside curved areas (belly) and transition area than I wanted to, in order to get the entire inside curved areas honed.

Not wanting to destroy the graceful line along the belly and inside curves, I opted for the oval diamond rod modified and mounted on my Apex honing rod. This way I get a convex surface contacting the blade recurve resulting in lots more control over placement and pressure, and thus avoiding the prior tendency for the standard stone edges to try to dig in and cut grooves in the blade. Oh, after the diamond steel I finish off my recurves with the regular polishing tapes on the standard blank too (though I'm tempted to try sticking a tape to the oval steel and using it that way, and yes I go straight from the diamond to the polishing tape).
TT2Toes :D
 
TT2Toes
I know what you mean about getting grooves. I got a few and put them down to lifting off the re curve part too soon.

I only have one re curve and if I get more I will definitely try your idea as it looks like it will be far more precise.

I think I should have mentioned in my post above that I spent a good 2 hours working that Scallion blade to the point I was happy with it. As the only part of the hone touching the blade was the extreme edge, it was very slow going.

It can be done with the 1" wide hones , but your mod looks like the perfect solution.
 
The spyderco system really does work well. Take the time to learn how to use it properly and you will be able to sharpen recurves and most serations.

Tom
 
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