re-profiling?

jnbh34 · Jan 17, 2012

i hear about of a lot of people reprofiling there knives and i was wonder what that means really? do you have the sharpening angle go from a 30 to a 20? and is it easy enough to do yourself on something like a lanskys sharpening system or does it really need a pro to do it? or am i just missing something and you have something totally different done.

David Martin · Jan 17, 2012

34, What your speaking of is rebeveling only the edge. Reprofiling is changing the grind (or sides) of the entire blade. DM

jnbh34 · Jan 18, 2012

Do you mean from flat to hollow grind also do people get reprofiling and rebeveling mixed up? It seems that the videos I've seen it at least looks that there just rebeveling them. But if they reprofile them why would someone reprofile a benchmade or another brand? Is it just personal preference or at is it needed in some cases?

richard j · Jan 18, 2012

i have some knives sent to me for both kinds of work. some guys want a thinner blade and some only want the edge thinned down or even convexed. it all depends on the knife and what they want to do with the knife.

stoffi · Jan 18, 2012

Different profiles (blade side geometry) do different things. For instance, a convex blade will work well for bushcraft tasks, as will a full flat grind or scandi grind. A hollow grind won't work well for bushcraft, but it's great for skinning and slicing. There's lot's to be said about blade grinds and many people don't agree on the pros and cons of the respective grinds.

Rebeveling is like has been said here, something that pertains to the edge exclusively. It can be many different geometries as well and they are all best suited for different tasks.

THG · Jan 18, 2012

If you take your bevels from 30° to 40° or from 30° to 20°, then you're reprofiling your edge.

You don't have to be a pro to do it, but it takes holding a consistent angle and lots and lots of time, unless you're using some kind of a power tool.

Obsessed with Edges · Jan 18, 2012

I know many knife nuts view it differently, but I was pondering the meaning of 're-profiling' a while back. The topic had been brought up in an old thread. I'd looked up the definition of 'profile'; it refers to the shape, look, or outline of something (anything). So, to 're-profile' is to change or otherwise alter the shape, look or outline of something. I tend to believe you can therefore 're-profile your edge', by changing the angle or shape. Or you can 're-profile your blade' in a similar manner. Don't really view it as right or wrong, either way.

As mentioned, 're-bevelling' is more specific as to what's going on, when changing or re-doing the edge bevel itself.

Noctis3880 · Jan 18, 2012

So I guess this would be a true "reprofile"?

I'm guessing this is like saying "clip" for guns when the proper term is "magazine". While Hollywood can't be blamed for the thing with knives, it will persist

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jnbh34 · Jan 19, 2012

so noctis what did you do to that knife or did you have it done and why did you do it? does it make it easier to sharpen or does it make it sharper?

THG · Jan 19, 2012

Obsessed with Edges said:
I know many knife nuts view it differently, but I was pondering the meaning of 're-profiling' a while back. The topic had been brought up in an old thread. I'd looked up the definition of 'profile'; it refers to the shape, look, or outline of something (anything). So, to 're-profile' is to change or otherwise alter the shape, look or outline of something. I tend to believe you can therefore 're-profile your edge', by changing the angle or shape. Or you can 're-profile your blade' in a similar manner. Don't really view it as right or wrong, either way.

I agree with that.

jnbh34 said:
so noctis what did you do to that knife or did you have it done and why did you do it? does it make it easier to sharpen or does it make it sharper?

It looks like he did a convex grind. Convex grinds are supposed to cut better because they reduce resistance/drag when cutting through materials.

richard j · Jan 19, 2012

i change a lot of knives from a v edge to a convex. they do cut a lot better than a v edge.

jacktrades_nbk · Jan 19, 2012

here is a small 're bevel' i did not long ago; doesn't look the best, but its a different cutter now.
factory edge

after

Noctis3880 · Jan 19, 2012

THG said:
It looks like he did a convex grind. Convex grinds are supposed to cut better because they reduce resistance/drag when cutting through materials.

Actually the idea was to simply thin out the blade behind the edge, but because I used the Worksharp to do it rather than a full size belt sander with a platen(lack of space), it ended up being more convex than the flat ground I would have preferred.

It does cut better though, and I'm hoping to apply the same treatment to a couple of Queen fixed blades to see how that turns out.