Knife with steep edge taper...

S

shadowspawn

Joined
Jul 12, 2011
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So I've been sharpening knives on and off for a while now and today was the first time someone handed me something that wasn't a santoku, french chef's, pocket knife or similar type of knife. It tapered very steeply towards the tip and my hand ended up in a very uncomfortable position when getting there. It looked something like this:
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Again I haven't had any experience sharpening something that drops so steeply so if anyone has any techniques to make sharpening more comfortable, I'd be interested in hearing it.
 
i dont get what you mean by what is dropping so steeply. what system are you using to sharpen? what angle did you want to acheive on the edge?
 
I have some Old Hickory and Ontarios (machetes) that have that type of curve. That one looks like the grind line and the edge get closer together as they approach the tip, so do mine. So, if I understand your question, that fast of a curve is the challenge. I can't really do those free hand either, stone or sandpaper.
What I could do would be either a sharpmaker type of system, or tape some sandpaper to my strop and keep the knife in place. Use a vice to clamp the blade, and go slow through that curve.

A "V" bevel on a Sharpmaker or Lansky would be the fastest most accurate way. Even then you'll be bringing up that handle very rapidly as you get to the curve and then the tip.
 
Is that the knife in question? Are you trying to say that the grind isn't full flat or close to it or that the hollow grind is done with a smaller diameter wheel than most?

Hollow ground knives present a problem as they are sharpened a few times and the edge climbs up into the grind. I believe that it should be sharpened as normal except when the edge starts to get thick as it gets into the thicker part of the blade. Then regrinding may be needed if the blade is worth the time and effort.

I think the knife in your picture is a Cutco. Don't they offer "free" sharpening?
 
I agree with the earlier comment, regarding sharpening in sections. When working at the tip, and the sharply-curved area preceding, keep the sharpening stroke going as directly perpendicular, into the edge, as you can. This implies working in very narrow sections, only as wide as the area of contact with the hone. Keep pressure very, very light in these areas, to avoid flat-spotting the curved section of the edge. This is much easier (more controllable) than trying to 'sweep' the stroke along the length of the edge, as might be done in the long, straighter sections. With more practice, a little 'sweep' could be employed in narrow segments of the curved area. But at the tip, especially, always keep the stroke going directly perpendicular into the edge in that section. This minimizes the chance of running the hone beyond & over the end of the tip, thereby rounding or blunting it, in the process.

Edit:
And, by the way, welcome to the forum! :)
 
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I was actually trying to sharpen in sections towards the end but I was worried about uneven sharpening if I were to do so. As per what system I use, I use generic $5 stones and cheap grade sandpaper but it gets the job done as I can't afford anything better. I'm hoping to get my hands on some norton sandpaper but until then, this cheapo sandpaper from Ace Hardware will have to do. Also I was referring to sharpening the microbevel not the primary bevel (which yes was hollow ground). Also yes the knife is a Cutco. A friend of mine had an old client who wanted her knives sharpened on that day and she asked me if I could do it for her. I couldn't get the knife as sharp as I had hoped to as I only had about 30 minutes to try to bring up a burr, but I did get it at least sharp enough to actually cut some paper (there were so many nicks in that thing, it wasn't even funny).
 
You might also find wet/dry sandpaper from 3M at Home Depot, Lowe's or Walmart. The 3M brand is on-par with Norton, in quality. I've used the 3M Wet-or-Dry brand, found at Walmart in an 'assortment' pack of 220/320/400 grit, and it works very well. I think the 600 grit can also be found in these stores.
 
It's a matter of technique, place the edge of the knife on a cutting board like you are about to cut something. Lift the handle keeping the edge in contact with the board, keep lifting until you get to the tip and stop. You now know the curve of the blade and about how much you will need to raise the handle in sharpening to get the belly and tip.

Now repeat this lifting movement but lean the blade to the side placing the blade in similar position to a sharpening angle. As you do this keep a loose grip on the handle and apply pressure near the heel/choil of the blade with your index finger, this pressure from your index finger does the sharpening. As you get to the belly and tip the blade will pitch and roll around the curve, it might feel odd at first but its the mechanics of sharpening.

Now put it all together, loose grip on the handle with the index finger putting pressure on the edge bevel, now push the blade down the stone (with your free hand if you like) and slowly lift the handle as the blade starts to curve. It's the same for every blade too.
 
shadowspawn, i have a method of hand sharpening that would be a lot easier to do a knife like that. you might want to check into the paper wheels for sharpening. they work great and you could sharpen a knife like that in about 2 minutes. check out this knife shape, talk about a hard to sharpen design :D. i had to sharpen about 40 of these for a maker. i done 241 total with the paper wheels. check out this thread http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=651061
attachment.php
 
LOL I am one of RichardJ's disciples. I have the same type blade. I never really let it get dull so a few pass on the slotted wheel does the job.

IMG_12581.jpg
 
I;m still confused as hell on first of all where the steep edge taper is.

also, why exactly is this type of knife hard to sharpen? I could see perhaps the one where richard j posted which seems to be a full flat grind with that type of edge/blade shape but the one the op posted has a normal Sabre grind.
 
NevadaExplorer said:
LOL I am one of RichardJ's disciples. I have the same type blade. I never really let it get dull so a few pass on the slotted wheel does the job.

IMG_12581.jpg
Click to expand...

+1 although you should be able to get your knife to push cut telephone paper/newsprint and/or cutting free hanging hair (wittling hair). the suprising thing is it really doesnt take that long to get to that point.
 
the edge on that cutco is a hollow grind. the paper wheels would put an edge on that blade in about 1 minute or less. a good convex edge would make wicked. a buddy has some cutco knives that he sent off for sharpening. the next day after getting them back he gave them to me to resharpen since he said i can get knives much sharper than they can.
 
eccvets said:
I;m still confused as hell on first of all where the steep edge taper is.
.
Click to expand...

he is referring to the very steep belly at the "tip". the edge there is amost 90° to the handle and that requires a prettty ankward position when sharpening on stones.
 
pwet said:
he is referring to the very steep belly at the "tip". the edge there is amost 90° to the handle and that requires a prettty ankward position when sharpening on stones.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks, I see what your talking about now. sharpening a blade like this on my paper wheels is so easy I never considered it would be that hard to do on any other type of system.
 
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What the hell? Replied to this 2 days ago. Guess it didn't post. Anyway here's the gist of the essay I wrote before:

@obsessed: Tried Walmart. No papers. Gonna try Home Depot later.

@richard: Scared of power tools so that's a no-go though I have read up on the ease of use and effectiveness of paper wheels. Also Cutco knives are more designed for the average person who doesn't maintain their knives and are sharpened at a relatively steep angle (or shallow angle if we refer to the blade) which won't feel as sharp as a knife sharpened at 30 degrees inclusive.
 
I think it's cause our Walmart is like right next to our Home Depot so they don't sell those kind stuff LOL. As for ordering online, that would be horrible for me. I live down in Hawaii that's why so even if the sandpaper is like $5, it would come out to like $35 after shipping and tax LOL.
 
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