Boker Subclaw Sharpening question?

A

Agent Iron

Joined
Feb 5, 2005
Messages
299
How tough is it to sharpen the Boker Subclaw? It looks like an effective design that recieves great praise. I want one, but it has to be reasonably easy to sharpen.....Anyone do it on a belt sander?

Thanks
 
I doubt hawkbills can be sharpened on anything flat, nor a Sharpmaker.
I would get a Lansky stick set.
 
You could do it on a sharpmaker no problem. I do Recurves, wharncliffs, anything. You just set it so that the corners of the stones are being sharpened on, not the flats.
 
SuzukiGS750EZ said:
You could do it on a sharpmaker no problem. I do Recurves, wharncliffs, anything. You just set it so that the corners of the stones are being sharpened on, not the flats.
Click to expand...

Eh, sounds like a pain. The Lansky sets are relatively cheap ($16-ish for coarse and fine)
 
Nah its easy. Been using it for years. For tough jobs i do freehand but for all other sharpening i use it. It's freehandish. It's a good system to learn on.
 
you can do it on a belt sander. it just takes a little practice. i use paper wheels to sharpen hawk bill or recurve blades.
 
I have done recurves and hawkbills on a 1X30 belt sander, I have found thin micron belts will give more flex to accommodate the curve when you use the corners of the belt.
 
I sharpen recurves all the time on my 4x36 belt grinder/sander.. The trick is to run the belt out a little past the edge of the platen so you get a bit of flex in the edge of the belt. It also helps to break the edge of the belt and soften it up a bit. This helps keep the edge/corner of the belt from bighting and leaving an uneaven or chattery grind. Recurves are a bit more tricky and they are much more easily screwed up if one isnt careful. As for hand tools to sharpen a hawkbill or recurve I've found the Hewlett 12" oval type diamond steels are the perfect tool for the task. When the steels are new and somewhat coarse they work great for reprofiling and edge by hand and when they become more worn they are great for general touch up work on all blade shapes and types. The spyderco triangle stone will work well for this unique blade shape but I've found that the triangle shape of the stones can slightly round the points of the hawkbill when the sharpening stroke is finished and the tip clears the corner. The oval shaped abrasive used correctly avoids this and leaves the tips much cleaner and crisper looking.
 
A little bit of fine sandpaper wrapped around a pencil has always worked really well for me, on hawkbill blades.
 
The Sharpmaker is one of the easier ways but it is possible to use a Lansky kit to sharpen most hawkbills. Here's my Tasman Salt, sharpened with a Lansky Diamond kit. It's a little uneven but I'm not sure I could actually do any better with another method.

DSCF1593.jpg

DSCF1591.jpg
 
spoonrobot said:
The Sharpmaker is one of the easier ways but it is possible to use a Lansky kit to sharpen most hawkbills. Here's my Tasman Salt, sharpened with a Lansky Diamond kit. It's a little uneven but I'm not sure I could actually do any better with another method.
Click to expand...

Looks like you still got a small burr on there... You strop it yet?
 
I knew someone would notice that. :D

The picture was taken in the middle of my sharpening session, I usually use the Lansky to set everything and then knock the burr off while putting the final touches on with the Sharpmaker. :thumbup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top