convex edge on folders

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sweet_hitch-hiker

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Apr 12, 2009
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I was wondering if there would be any advantages to having a convex edge on a folder as opposed to a V grind. i've never convexed an edge but it seems fairly easy to do and maintain. i've really only ever seen it done on large/thick fixed blades and wanted to know if it would be effective on the thinner profile of a folder. thanks
 
Simpe answer; you would see little advantage in a already thin knife but thicker saber ground bades it can make a noticable difference. Depends a lot on the knife and your convex ability.
 
I see lots of videos on sharpening convex knives (already convex) and it appears to be quite simple, using only a leather strop.

But, can you - and is it beneficial, to intentionally "convex a factory V grind" on your knives?

I mentioned sharpening a knife that's giving me fits: BM 940, S30V - so let me use it or another folder I got with a very small and abrupt bevel, as it arrived from the factory, like my BM 710 D2 as an example.

Am I better to use a felt tip pen - mark the edge - and once found, touch up the factory grind?

Or, try to intentionally convex it by mousepad sharpening, then moving to a strop - trying to force a convex edge on a blade that may not be a candidate?

How do you determine the blade to be a candidate for making it into convex?
 
you can convex pretty much any blade shape or thickness. some blades might not show the convex edge compared to others. i make convex edge fillet knives from bandsaw blades and i think they work better than a v edge. a thin blade would be easier to convex than a thicker blade along with being easier to touch up.
 
thin blade would be easier to convex than a thicker blade
Click to expand...

How would you propose the best way to achieve this w/o power tools?

I have a SharpMaker w/ ALL rods, from diamond to x-tra fine.

I can strop with sandpaper and leather. Those are my tools and my skill level is intermediate.
 
@cziv
The easiest way I've found w/o power tools is the sandpaper with a soft backing method. For something that is flat V ground, rest the "ledge" of the V on the sharpening media, and do the stropping motion, I found knives that are originally hollow ground are much more difficult to do.The convex will be subtle and will almost look like a profile grind at first, but the more you use it and re-touch up, the more prevalent the convex will look.

If you knife is really thick or highly damaged, ie. nicked or gouged, you may want to start with something like emory paper, you have to be real careful not to scratch up the finish on your blade at this point. Once you have the "ledge" of the V part ground off, you want to proceed by lifting the blade a bit more so you can visually see the edge make contact, but with this it is usually better to under-estimate yoru angle as opposed to over-estimating. To much pressure or to high of an angle will give you a rounded butter knife edge :(
 
will a convex be good for edc in that it is going to be able to match a V grind in sharpness? i know it's good for chopping, but is it gonna get the scary sharp edge a V will get?
 
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