Knife sharpening query

B

Bear Custom Builds

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Feb 28, 2020
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Hello everybody, I am new here and finding all the information very helpful for my knifes and my knife making, but there is one thing I can’t find. I was wondering if anybody knows how to sharpen a recurve blade. I have two and don’t know how to sharpen them. Any and all suggestions/ideas are welcome.
 
You need a sharpening implement with a slight convexity. This can be as simple as rounding over one edge of a stone, or it can be a diamond honing rod, or sandpaper wrapped around a wooden dowel. If you want to preserve a sharp tip the stone with a rounded edge is easier, as it is easier to stop before you pull the tip off the edge, blunting it; with dowels and rods you may need to sharpen that part separately and blend it with the rest of the edge.
 
Normal Edge Pro stones are 6 by 1 inches, but they also make 6 by 1/2 inch stones for recurve blades.
 
"stop before you pull the tip off the edge, blunting it"

Yes! Rounded tips are an easy mistake to make.
 
I would recommend the spyderco sharp maker. Very easy for recurves. Mr. Wizard had already pointed out rounding the corner of a bench stone. I use this method too and it works well!
 
If you are using guided sharpening, this technique may work well. Try it on less expensive knives first though.


if you are good at hand sharpening, the same technique can work on the edge of the stone.
 
fishface5 said:
Yes! Rounded tips are an easy mistake to make.
Click to expand...
This seems unavoidable when trying to sharpen all the way to the tip on a standard rod sharpener; one would need to precisely stop a stroke with the tip exactly over the center of the rod. I consider this a serious design flaw in rod-only systems. The flats of a Tri-Angle stone are an achievable if somewhat small target.

H Haffner I have a set of 1/2" width stones for my Edge Pro. Even with those on a recurve only the edges of the stone contact the blade. It is more effective to radius the stone edges to increase the contact area. Since you sometimes want a sharp stone edge for work against a ricasso it is helpful to have a second set of stones, but they don't really need to be 1/2" stones unless you are dealing with something more than a typical recurve, e.g. kris style waves (below). Nevertheless 1/2" stones can be had inexpensively in the form of a BORIDE Engineered Abrasives polishing stone kit.

a-collection-of-balisong-knives-with-wavy-blades.jpg
 
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