Bored. Share your preferred recurve sharpening Go-To's !

J

Jamesh Bond

Joined
Jan 14, 2007
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My Spyderco Pro File set is my first and main Go-To. Such awesome stones !

Been known to use the coffee cup trick quite a bit when I'm away. Car window tops work wonders as a final hair popper too. Even smooth stones from Taco Bell landscapes have been utilized quite effectively. Heh.

I keep a Gatco Tri-Seps at the dojo for touching up everyones knives. Works great too, even with my buddy's ridiculous Spyderco Cricket.

For a deep recurve, I've found that cardboard shipping tubes are absolutely perfect for stropping inside the radius.

Ive also tried burnishing with glass bottles, and smooth steeling, but i personally didn't get stellar results, specially with the glass. Maybe my approach is flawed ?

Lastly, i carefully rounded one edge on the coarse side of my Crystolon benchstone, to await the day when i finally get up the to reprofile my Mini Commander.

I like to keep my options open lol !!

So, what are YOUR "Go-To's?"

And for what knives ?

Im predicting a lot of "Sharpmaker" in the mix (which is totally fine and awesome ), but i'd love to hear your various preferences, techniques, and equipment. Who knows, this may even get interesting.

Thx.
 
The only recurves I have are Emersons, so I only have one side to worry about. I use a SM if I really need to bring back the edge. I may stand an Emerson diamond sharpener up against the rod so that the diamonds actually do the sharpening. I have to angle the knife some for the SM but it works pretty well.

Mostly, though, I use strops and compound. I recently picked up a Flexcut strop that's curved a bit. It's a good fit for the Commander and mini-15 blades that I have. I loaded it with Flexcut Gold and I;m using it ATM. Seems to be doing well. My other strops have diamond compound on them and I use the edges to get in the recurve part of the blade.
 
I use my waterstones and slightly curve the edge, works perfect and I feel it keep better consistancy.
 
Oval cross-section diamond 'chef's steels' in 10"/12" lengths work very well for recurves when used in 'Sharpmaker' fashion, with the rod supported upright at an angle of your choosing. Between the extra length and diamond abrasive, they work fast as well for thinning & rebevelling chores. I used one to thin a Case Hawkbill down to ~10-11°/side (measured with an angle cube), and it worked surprisingly well.

Obviously, the same rod could be supported horizontally and used like a bench stone as well.


David
 
Spyderco's golden stone (ceramic) does wonders, work sharp field sharpener--its rounded ceramic stone w/ various levels of corse/ smoothness... And as you mentioned mugs, car windows... My recurves are Emersons as well. What kind of dojo/ martial art do you practice?
 
Hewlett Flipstick 1-2-3 or Edgetek Ultra Flipstick (same thing rebranded) can be used to sharpen recurve blades AND it is threaded to work with the rod included in the DMT Aligner "Deluxe" kit screw on the flipstik instead of the serration-cone and you're good to go.
 
Sharpmaker would be my best bet for dealing with recurves, if not I have a diamond hand sharpener that is curved that will do the job or the corner of my norton economy stone.
 
All my stones have one long side eased into a very shallow curve. As with Jason, I find this gives me a lot of control and mechanically I don't have to change anything compared to how I usually sharpen.
 
8,10 & 12 " Chef's choice oval steels here also , as well as Eze-Lap 8" and Model M diamond steels. These are my daily touch-up devices anyways for the last 15 years or so.
 
Aias said:
Spyderco's golden stone (ceramic) does wonders, work sharp field sharpener--its rounded ceramic stone w/ various levels of corse/ smoothness... And as you mentioned mugs, car windows... My recurves are Emersons as well. What kind of dojo/ martial art do you practice?
Click to expand...

Nice. Ive been wondering about both of those.

I practice Awayan Sikaran Arnis De Mano. Basically a regional FMA system thats eclectic dirty karate and single/double sticks/bolos. We are also fortunate enough to have one of the very few certified Martial Blade Concepts full instructors in the country, as well as a certified associate instructor. So . . . Ya, knives too. Obviously !

BTW, I HIGHLY recommend MBC to anyone interested in REAL (not PracTac lol facepalm) weapon defense. This is far from my first rodeo, and with that said, I've NEVER witnessed a simpler, more effective system. Michael Janich is a genius. Not because he so much developed anything secret or new, but in his brilliant way of breaking everything down into simple concepts, physics, and trimming the fat. And in his gifted ability to explain and idiot proof it all. Really cool guy too.

We're actually having an MBC seminar at our dojo this weekend with one of Mike's head guys, Eric Mayes, from Rocky Mountain Self Defense in Denver. He is a BLAST, and will have your head exploding. Check out some youtube to get a feel for his concepts and teaching ability.

Mike based his system on FMA, so it blends seamlessly to our martial arts. I am incredibly blessed to have gotten so lucky. Plus, we just have such a great group of human beings. We are more of a family than a gym. No ego issues, chest thumping, or other typical MA Alpha BS. During the first free week trial period for newbs, we are sizing up them as much as they are sizing up us.

We are a bunch of nerds and dorks, which brings in all the more cool people. Kids love us because of our rampant Star Wars fandom. Its awesome to see the looks on the new kids faces when we break out the Force FX Sabers and shut off the lights to demo some drills !

LOVE IT, thx for listening lol. Derail over.

Back on topic:

JASON and HEAVY, it was actually a post by one of you that got me into rounding my benchstone edge. So thx to whichever one it was.

Actually thx to both of you for the incredible amount of knowledge you guys share, and the time you put in to do so.

Im sure everyone here has benefitted tremendously, as i have, from your work.
 
Chip repair with the ken onion worksharp; still thin behind the edge and sharp! :thumbup::thumbup:

21490331760_e14535b04c_c.jpg


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Typically I use paper wheels, or a ceramic rod (touch ups), a blue jean strop, arkansas stone, or carbide pull through sharpener.

Joking on the last one LOL...
 
Jamesh Bond said:
Nice. Ive been wondering about both of those.

I practice Awayan Sikaran Arnis De Mano. Basically a regional FMA system thats eclectic dirty karate and single/double sticks/bolos. We are also fortunate enough to have one of the very few certified Martial Blade Concepts full instructors in the country, as well as a certified associate instructor. So . . . Ya, knives too. Obviously !

BTW, I HIGHLY recommend MBC to anyone interested in REAL (not PracTac lol facepalm) weapon defense. This is far from my first rodeo, and with that said, I've NEVER witnessed a simpler, more effective system. Michael Janich is a genius. Not because he so much developed anything secret or new, but in his brilliant way of breaking everything down into simple concepts, physics, and trimming the fat. And in his gifted ability to explain and idiot proof it all. Really cool guy too.

We're actually having an MBC seminar at our dojo this weekend with one of Mike's head guys, Eric Mayes, from Rocky Mountain Self Defense in Denver. He is a BLAST, and will have your head exploding. Check out some youtube to get a feel for his concepts and teaching ability.

Mike based his system on FMA, so it blends seamlessly to our martial arts. I am incredibly blessed to have gotten so lucky. Plus, we just have such a great group of human beings. We are more of a family than a gym. No ego issues, chest thumping, or other typical MA Alpha BS. During the first free week trial period for newbs, we are sizing up them as much as they are sizing up us.

We are a bunch of nerds and dorks, which brings in all the more cool people. Kids love us because of our rampant Star Wars fandom. Its awesome to see the looks on the new kids faces when we break out the Force FX Sabers and shut off the lights to demo some drills !

LOVE IT, thx for listening lol. Derail over.

Back on topic:

JASON and HEAVY, it was actually a post by one of you that got me into rounding my benchstone edge. So thx to whichever one it was.

Actually thx to both of you for the incredible amount of knowledge you guys share, and the time you put in to do so.

Im sure everyone here has benefitted tremendously, as i have, from your work.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the detailed reply Mr. Bond. I will look into it! I've done Ueshi Karate, various forms of ju-jitsu, and am a 2nd Degree Black Belt in aikido... but I'm looking for the new thing--too back your crew is so far away.

As for the sharpeners, I love the golden stone... truly a great tool; I like the work sharp as well--it's fairly new and I've had good results so far. The latter gets carried in my pack with me.
 
Noice. Was originally looking into Aikido myself, but no instruction. Glad i found what i found tho.

Wish that golden stone was't 20,000 dollars. Just cant justify one when i already have the ProFiles.

CZECHMATE:

Nice recovery, turning that chip into a recurve. Be careful with those carbide sharpeners man.
 
Yeah, the golden stone is a little high in price, but I'll likely get a second should I accidentally damage the first (drop it, etc...). I'd feel worse about not having it and it become unavailable, than the 60 or so dollars spent (x2)--yes, I like it that much.

Aikido is a good ma, and lots of fun. The particular style/ instruction of aikido that I get is closer to the older school aiki-ju jitsu roots, so it has a bit more of an "aggressive attitude" than some of the other interpretations out there. One of the instructors is a 5th dan who studied in Iwama for a long time under the instruction of one of the founder's direct and close students. We have a pretty serious weapons program too... No one is a ninja or anything so fantastic, but we get a pretty darn good workout and learn a lot.

Too bad you were not closer--I'd let you check out the golden stone. My guess is that you'd like it.
 
I use various things: the edge of a regular bench stone, one of those giant 1" diameter croc sticks with wet/dry paper wrapped around it, or the JewelStik attachment on my KME. I can't say I have a fave; each method has its pros and cons, and some methods work better with certain knives.
 
I use either a Hewlett "stubby" diamond steel or a scythe stone.
 
Jamesh Bond said:
CZECHMATE:

Nice recovery, turning that chip into a recurve. Be careful with those carbide sharpeners man.
Click to expand...

Thanks; it was that or make into a giant serration and add more of 'em all the way back to the handle... ;):thumbup::rolleyes:

The recurve works really well; carves nicely too as it's still thin behind the edge due to how I ground it. The original blade grind was nice and thin too so that helped.:thumbup:;)

I think I sold all my V-sharpeners years ago... :D:D:D
 
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