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TwinStick

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Jan 21, 2011
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So, i was bored & though i would see just what this stropping thing/convex edge is all about. Here is what i did.
Went to the hardware store, auto parts store & office supply store.

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I picked up a few things as you can see. The HD thick paint sticks were free, 400/600/1000/1500 grit sand paper, epoxy, mouse pad, metal spring clips (to hold paper to pad while stropping---should have got bigger ones)

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I cut the mouse pad with my Becker BK13 to fit the paint sticks & epoxied them on.

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Then i epoxied them together. I did'nt plan to originally, but one just seemed too thin. I wanted to be able to do this while sitting down &/or watching tv, without slicing my leg, & also wanted to make it somewhat field portable when vehicle camping.

So, when i was done, i sharpened my BK2 for 2 hrs. It made it MUCH duller than i had it with my Gatco set at 25 degrees. IDK WTH i am doing wrong. I have watched a LOT of stropping videos. Am i starting with too fine a grit (400)? I ended up using the Gatco again, set at 25 deg, it shaves paper again, easily. Any thought or tips ???
 
Sadly< I cannot help you. What I can say is that I have had the SAME problem when I tried this. I went all the way up to 2000 and got no results whatsoever
 
I can't say for certain, but looking at that mouse pad, it looks to be WAY too soft for what you are doing. Might just be the pic, but it looks like foam instead of neoprene.
 
The side i glued to the sticks was a shiny cloth. It does seem like some type of firm foam, IDK for sure. Any help is appreciated.
 
Yeah, that is your problem then. That foam isn't near dense enough for what you are after. Neoprene or leather is the way to go. If you got an old leather belt that would work great. I made one darn near identical last week and it has everything crazy sharp.
 
I have seen plenty of people use mousepad and sandpaper to do the initial reprofile on a convex edge.
The idea there is for the pad to curve beneath the edge and for the sandpaper to remove material faster.
Once the reprofile is accomplished, then you can move onto finer grits, and then to a leather strop, perhaps loaded with paste at first, and then moving ultimately to a bare strop with a smooth surface.

ETA: By the time you've gotten to the bare strop, you don't want to be putting much pressure on the blade at all.
All you're trying to accomplish at that point is to take off any light burrs or wire edges that might remain.

.
 
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Guyon said:
I have seen plenty of people use mousepad and sandpaper to do the initial reprofile on a convex edge.
The idea there is for the pad to curve beneath the edge and for the sandpaper to remove material faster.
Once the reprofile is accomplished, then you can move onto finer grits, and then to a leather strop, perhaps loaded with paste at first, and then moving ultimately to a bare strop with a smooth surface.
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Yeah I ain't saying not to use a mousepad, just use a neoprene one and not the really soft foam ones. The foam on those is too soft, like memory foam or something.
 
This just don't sound right :o but maybe i was pushing too hard ? I thought that was the objective of a convex blade---to have a nice even "roll", so that upon cutting, the material was instantly pushed away from the blade, reducing friction & it having to slide across the entire blade ????????????? :confused:
 
You can wind up having a burr that you're just flipping back and forth from side to side.
With either a bare leather strop, or one with some fine paste, and some light pressure, you can remove such a burr.
 
there could be many issues here.. first and foremost not every knife sharpens the same... get good at sharpening it with just the sandpaper to where is will push cut paper.. once you have that down pat move on to re profiling the edge to a robust is a must convex edge:D..

don't be discouraged just play with it a bit, better yet try to do another knife first and see how that goes.. like say the bk11 you have in the pic.. convex that sucka..

take care,

rob
 
Thanks everyone. Especially Guyon. I read & followed those instructions. I now believe i have a convex edge on my daughters BK11. It is as sharp as i can get with what i have. I now need either a 2 sided strop w/compound &/or some 2000/2500 or higher grit abrasive paper. Shaves paper better than it ever has, but i'm not quite there yet.
 
I feel your pain, I've been trying to convex my BK2 for the last 3 Saturdays. Duller than a butter knife but I can see my frustration in that nice mirror finish. I've removed so much material I'm gonna end up with a fillet knife! I chalk it up to the learning process and more quality time with my blades. Now I went out and got myself a HF 1"x30" belt sander. Waiting for my new belts so I can cause more carnage!
 
Johnnie Wadcutter said:
I feel your pain, I've been trying to convex my BK2 for the last 3 Saturdays. Duller than a butter knife but I can see my frustration in that nice mirror finish. I've removed so much material I'm gonna end up with a fillet knife! I chalk it up to the learning process and more quality time with my blades. Now I went out and got myself a HF 1"x30" belt sander. Waiting for my new belts so I can cause more carnage!
Click to expand...

Yeah, they had the 25% off coupon on Memorial Day. I've got one of those sanders and am yet to get any leather belts for it. I need to correct that.
 
I have a 1x30 HF belt sander as well. It works EXCELLENT for getting blades in the ballpark & save me a LOT of time, but i just don't have the convex thing down yet.
 
TwinStick said:
I have a 1x30 HF belt sander as well. It works EXCELLENT for getting blades in the ballpark & save me a LOT of time, but i just don't have the convex thing down yet.
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interesting...... a belt sander/grinder is the easiest way to achieve a convex, put some slack in your belt don't use the platen and hit it with 120.. if you have a leather belt stop it with that..

I still think its the geometry on the bk2 that's killing you..
 
Well, i have a leather belt for it & a 1200 grit belt. I do use the portion where there is no backstop to the belt. I think the trouble is that it has to be SO close to the belt, i am afraid its going to take the knife out of my hands. I will work on my technique, but i do not want to use my good blades to do it, just in case. Want to get it down pat before i try it on my Beckers or Spec-Plus knives.
 
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