Convex/recurve field sharpening.

M

monsterdog

Joined
Oct 27, 2008
Messages
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I bought a Spyderco Woodlander, very nice knife, but I am starting to fear I did not think too much when I did.

Other than stropping the edge, how would I sharpen this convex edged, recurved blade in the field?

Or at home for that matter. I do not have any power equipment for this sort of operation, and I am not sure the mouse pad method will work on a recurve? (A technique I have actually never tried yet)

I am much more confident with the pair of spyderco pro-files I own. Can these be used on this blade, or should I not even try?

Can you get any kind of stone or rod that would be fairly easy to use on a large recurve with a convex edge?

Should I leave this thing in a box somewhere and get a different blade to take camping, riding, etc?

Sorry for the question overload :rolleyes:
 
You can order a fine ceramic rod from www.ragweedforge.com for 1$ or 2$ depending on your size preference. They work good on mild recurves like your Spyderco. Another option, which will give a less polished edge, are the medium grit Smith's diamond sharpeners they sell at Lowe's, Wal-Mart etc. A sharpmaker rod's corners should work fine at home, or if you feel like bringing it int he field it should do the job just fine. Another thing you can do is carry several grits of sandpaper and wrap them around a round stick or a corner of a hard surface and use that. I lay a piece of 1200 grit sandpaper on the corner of an old desk I have and use that corner to touch up my serrated blades.
 
read my response in this thread for how i sharpen extreme recurves:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=597897

but for most recurves i use my altoids sharpener. it works fine;
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Guess I have to bite the bullet and try the sandpaper, just feel so much more comfortable with a rod or stone, but do not want to ruin my knife's edge.

That altoids "kit" looks pretty nifty, is that leather on the back there?

What kinds of grits do you carry in the box and how long does the sandpaper last you?
 
if you want, you can use a rod just fine, use it like a stone. the ceramic rods that vivi linked to would work fine i imagine, if that's what you feel best about.

there is leather on the back, its meant to be loaded with compound and used for a strop, but i don't want compound all over my pocket or bag, so i leave it bare and carry some 0.5 micron film inside the tin.

i usually carry several pieces of 400, 800, and 1200, as well as the 0.5 micron film. a sheet of sandpaper will cut just about indefinitely, but it will lose alot of bite pretty quickly. i can use a sheet of 400 to sharpen up a pretty dull 3-4" knife usually, after that it is only good for touchups. different brands of sandpaper will last differently too.
 
Well if a round ceramic stick can do it, the rounded side of my pro-files should work just fine.

I am mostly concerned about flattening the edge with a rod. But I guess stropping it on my jeans or a strap would be fine most of the time.

Thank you very much for all the information :-)
 
siguy said:
read my response in this thread for how i sharpen extreme recurves:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=597897

but for most recurves i use my altoids sharpener. it works fine;
Click to expand...

I want to make one of these altoids sharpeners and learn how to convex some knives. I have a leather coaster that is about the same thickness as the mousepad. I cut it to fit the altoids can. Would I still need a mousepad or would the thick piece of leather be good enough of a backing for the sandpaper?
 
benny, it will probably work well as a backing for the sandpaper as long as it has a bit of give to it. some people convex sharpen on an MDF backing, which is rather stiff relative to the mousepad. it just changes how much curve you will have in your edge.
 
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