Convexing with a Mouse Pad

B

BCBlade

Joined
Jul 8, 2010
Messages
16
I've been trying to sharpen the convex edge on my SAR-3 with a Mouse Pad and sharpening paper lately, but I can't get any results at all. Would you folks have any suggestions/common mistakes made, etc?
 
Lift at the end of the stroke, don't roll. That is a good beginner thing to do:) Or not to do, however you want to look at it.
 
If you push down too hard on sandpaper on a mouse pad, the sandpaper just slightly curls up on the edge and removes the fine edge.
 
Use very little pressure, just enough so that the edge is depressing the sharpening material.
 
What grit are your using?

Already said,

Light touch. No more than the weight of the knife (with bigger heavier knives, I don't even let the full weight of the knife rest on it).

The angle you want to strop at is basically the same angle the edge would begin "catching" or cutting if you were going edge first.

Bark river has a video tutorial also I believe.

Also get a strop and some buffing compound. I only use sandpaper when it gets really dull, or dinged. And then it really only takes a little bit of sandpaper to get it back to hair popping sharp.

Also, you have to make sure you are even hitting the edge at all. Many people make the mistake of trying to sharpen with too shallow of an angle, and end up only hitting the shoulder. One trick to do, is to color the edge with a marker to be sure you are even hitting the edge.

Stick with it. It will pay off, and there will be an "ah ha" moment to make it all worth it.

Once you figure it out, there will be no easier edge to maintain.
 
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My original thought was "double click the mouse" AND if that does't work.... :p

best off listening to those other guys:D
 
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giant1 said:
That's a great link :thumbup:

I've watched heaps of vids on youtube about convex edging but none that show a full re profile.
Click to expand...

I was hooked (and skeptical) as soon as he said he said that it was a bear-fighting knife. Turned out to be a great vid.
 
That vid WAS cool. I'm too gentle on my knives, which is why I'm not the best at convexing. Not sure I'd like to spend 6 hours, but his . . . aggressive nature in teh beginning to remove the shoulder and start the convex was just shocking. I'd never thought to treat a knife like that. THEN he went to 80-grit. EEEK!!!!

I'm curious how many grits he went thru from 80-2000. The scope was cool, too. I liked seeing the edge in detail like that.
 
Yeah, pretty amazing what he does. However what I don't understand, how can U put a convex grind on a flat saber grind if you have a flat surface. Leather backing, mouse pad or glass, it should not matter since the grind of the Esee-5 (the larger V shape bevel) is flat so how can you produce a convex shape on a flat metal without having a concave sanding surface or using a "rocking" or "rolling" motion. You can't press a flat metal surface (the saber grind knife) into a softer backing and produce a convex surface. He keeps the knife flat on the leather/sandpaper. What I think what he actually did is thinning out the saber grind (flat) towards the "convexed" edge and sure enough, it's sharper since it has gotton thinner. No proof, that he actually has produced a "full convex grind". What do you think?
 
awestib said:
Yeah, pretty amazing what he does. However what I don't understand, how can U put a convex grind on a flat saber grind if you have a flat surface. Leather backing, mouse pad or glass, it should not matter since the grind of the Esee-5 (the larger V shape bevel) is flat so how can you produce a convex shape on a flat metal without having a concave sanding surface or using a "rocking" or "rolling" motion. You can't press a flat metal surface (the saber grind knife) into a softer backing and produce a convex surface. He keeps the knife flat on the leather/sandpaper. What I think what he actually did is thinning out the saber grind (flat) towards the "convexed" edge and sure enough, it's sharper since it has gotton thinner. No proof, that he actually has produced a "full convex grind". What do you think?
Click to expand...

I agree after watching the video... I don't think its physically possible to create a full convex, or even a convex edge using a hard piece of leather under the sand paper (without rolling your wrist). A mouse pad or something similar has a lot of give behind it. A leather strop, has hardly any... so even if it does technically create some type of curvature on the edge, it must be so slight that it would be very hard to tell from a regular v-grind.
 
That guys good, thats one cool vid. :thumbup: He makes it look so easy and it was perfect where the sabergrind met the flat part of the blade.
 
Leather has some give. I think he pushed down pretty hard in the early grits, thinned out the saber AND some of hte convex. Full convex? No. Did it continue to convex while he was sanding? Likely.

(I'd have to do it myself. . . with a cheaper blade. . . to really see if it worked. I think part of it had to do with the initial convexing that helped make the profile.)
 
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