Chisel Grind to Convex Grind?

[Frank A.]

Hi all. I have a small fixed blade knife with a chisel grind on it. I am not crazy about the chisel grind and would like to change it to a convex grind. I have a Ken Onion Worksharp that I use to sharpen my knives, but I have never done this to a chisel grind before . Does anyone see any problems (or have any tips/suggestions) for doing this? Thanks in advance for your replies!

Frank

 

[Alberta Ed]

I put a V grind on my Emerson CQC7A, which Emerson calls a V-grind but it still had a chisel edge, using a DMT coarse hone. Took a bit of time but I was pleased with the result. If your knife is completely flat on one side, then I doubt you can do much with it. If it's a V grind except for the edge, it's possible. There are a number of blade grind specialists on this forum who could grind it for you. Or you could just go out and buy another one more to your taste .

 

[HeavyHanded]

I wouldn't do it.

If you do, I'd recommend you only grind the chisel side and leave the flat alone. You could easily wind up with a knife that has an overly broad apex if you don't work the convex well back from the shoulder.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Agree with HH's input above.^

And as mentioned before that, with the blade being completely flat on one side, that really limits how much improvement can be made. If the goal were to make it fully convexed & symmetrical on both sides, too much of the blade would have to be ground away to make that happen. Just wouldn't be worth it.

The one thing I'd consider myself is just rounding/smoothing the shoulder of the beveled side only. Don't mess with the cutting edge itself, if you can avoid it. There can be some benefit, when cutting into thick, tough materials like cardboard or stiff plastic by rounding off the hard edge of the bevel's shoulder, which reduces it's tendency to bind up in tough materials. Polishing the convexed shoulder would reduce that friction even more. But beyond doing that, I'd just let it be.

I feel convexing is worth it in situations with very thick-bladed V-grinds, for the reasons mentioned above. It's about reducing binding & friction at the shoulders of the bevels, as I see it. Same benefit in thinner blades too - but the payoff is bigger and more noticeable with really thick bladed V-grinds.