convex?

R

razorsdescent

Joined
Jan 16, 2005
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i just want to clarify a few things i think i already know... and hopefully people who know a little more will correct any of my mistakes.

this is what i know or at least what i think i know:

a convex edge on a knife means that instead of having a small bevel at the very edge forming the final point is slightly curved till it meets at a point like the cross section of an fmj .223.

instead of sharpening in a traditional manner its more like an advanced method of stropping.

now this is where i get into my questions:

what advantages does this offer? i see alot of knives that seem to be designed for chopping have a convexed edge but if you hit something like a hardened nail wouldnt having a chip in a convexed edge be really hard to get out? if i wanted a hard use military knife or a survival knif eor something in that vein wouldnt it be impractical to resharpen it in the feild?

if i were to buy a knife convexed could i put a traditional edge on it?

where do convexed edges origionate?

The more i appreciate different styles of knives and the more i learn the less i seem to know... there is always something new out there alot of people think that a knife is a simple tool but i disagree for me its a passion.


thanks for any advice or info that cna be offered on the subject. sorry if i come off like an idiot.
 
Yes, you may say, it is an advanced method to strop a knife, even though you are really sharpening it as you would in the common way.

I see no difference, if the edge is damaged, to restore it, v- grind or convex means the same effort to make IMO.

The advantage of a convex edge is, the edge is as strong as some 60° included edge (or say 40°, the way the bevels are made) but not as thick right behind the edge, so they cut better.

Convex is oftenly found on chopping tools. Swords were always ground like this AFAIK.

I found them to be a great combination of strength and cutting power.
 
Blop said:
I see no difference, if the edge is damaged, to restore it, v- grind or convex means the same effort to make IMO.

QUOTE]

lety me clarify i mean that you could keep scraping at with a small pocket stone or a diamond rod which you can easily throw into your cargo pocket or a pack but i believe the tools nececessary to resharpen a convex would be less portable and less readily available in an emergency.
Click to expand...
 
razorsdescent said:
lety me clarify i mean that you could keep scraping at with a small pocket stone or a diamond rod which you can easily throw into your cargo pocket or a pack but i believe the tools nececessary to resharpen a convex would be less portable and less readily available in an emergency.
Click to expand...
You can just pack sandpaper and use your thigh as a surface for sharpening as it will give it a convex edge, it will be much more lighter than stones.
 
Any case first thing is to straigthen thre edge again. If there is a large chip (great emergency) i see no difference in clearing in "first aid".

I mean, in the field, with not much more than in my backpack.
 
I have been hesitant to carry my Bark Rivers while hunting because of the sharpening aspects; guess could carry emery paper but most everyone has a diamond stick or a whetstone on them while we are hunting. The convex thing has given me pause also; nice discussion.
 
BOrrell said:
I have been hesitant to carry my Bark Rivers while hunting because of the sharpening aspects; guess could carry emery paper but most everyone has a diamond stick or a whetstone on them while we are hunting. The convex thing has given me pause also; nice discussion.
Click to expand...

Thank you, i havent really heard many discussions about this kind of thing so i decided to start one, barkies are what i had in mind but i was thinking about buying a busse collectors grade and then found out that it was convexed so it pushed me over hte edge and i decided to ask some questions.

Dag-nabit thank you for the link.
 
I maintain convex edges with emery boards from the nail care isle of CVS. They're easy to pack and cheap to replace.

Frank
 
Back before chainsaws,axes were (and still are) convex and were sharpened by hand with a file. Just use a stone with a slight rolling motion towards the spine.
 
All I know is that I can sharpen quickly and easily with convex, but I can't sharpen on a stone if my dog's life depended on it.
 
A convex edge is stronger ( as has already been mentioned), because there is more steel backing up each edge section, that is, the force distribution is more evenly and broadly dispersed. That is one benefit, but there are others. It was already mentioned that a convex edge may offer less resistance when cutting or chopping through something, because of the gradual taper vs a V-edge that offers more resistance at the top of the edge. Another benefit of the convex edge is that it is easier to sharpen, because like stropping, you don't need to worry too much about the angle, whereas with V edge sharpening, maintaining a consistent angle is very important.

Besides the fact that V-edge sharpeners for the field are much more common, it's not hard to sharpen a convex edge in the field. To me this is a non-issue anyways, as I sharpen at home before or after I am to go out.

I don't think a chip in the edge affects a convex edge more, or that it is harder for some reason to get a chip out of a convex edge. I would imagine it would take the same amount of work to get a chip out of either a V-edge or convex. In fact, to me it would be a lot easier to get a chip out of a convex edge, because I can use my belt sander (not having to worry too much about the angle) vs the amount of time it would take to reprofile a V-edge with stones (a long time).

Yeah, it takes a different set-up and a little learning curve to sharpen convex edges, but once you get used to it, you might end up convexing all your knives!
 
• A chip in your blade does not render your knife useless while out and about.
The chip will wait till you get home :D
• One can sharpen (touch up) a convex edge on a stone.

[humor] it's a knife, not rocket science [/humor]
 
I found this video set to be the best explanation of every basic thing there is to know about convex edges.....

http://www.knivesshipfree.com/p4/Sharpening-Videos/pages.html

also, if I may throw in my own question....can you take a traditionally ground knife, and put a convex grind on it using the methods used for sharpening a convex edge, with a more aggressive grit? ....if that makes any sense....
 
Roger999 said:
You can just pack sandpaper and use your thigh as a surface for sharpening as it will give it a convex edge, it will be much more lighter than stones.
Click to expand...

Exactly and sandpaper is a lot lighter and easier to carry compared to stones.
A small strop would also be very easy to carry especially within a backpack.
 
heavy_-j said:
if I may throw in my own question....can you take a traditionally ground knife, and put a convex grind on it using the methods used for sharpening a convex edge, with a more aggressive grit? ....if that makes any sense....
Click to expand...

Yes, you certainly can, just watch the heat treat on the primary bevel and the edge especially. Thin steel heats up quicker. Of course some folks have done this by hand with sandpaper, so then you don't need to worry about heat, Could take a while though with the mousepad method. Nothing like a belt sander and a bucket of water to make it go faster.
 
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