Reprofiling

Joined
Oct 30, 2006
Messages
974
Hi guys Got a quick ? for you. How would I go about reprofiling an edge?

Thanks, ace

P.S. I dont have a sharpmaker
 
I assume you'll be doing this freehand, right? You need a very course benchstone. I've used a DMT extra course (220 grit), but even courser is better. Pick the angle you want, raise the spine of the blade until you get that angle, then use edge leading strokes on the stone until you raise a burr along the entire edge of the side not touching the stone. Flip it over and repeat on the other side. Remove the resulting burr with light strokes at a slightly higher angle, finish with progressively finer stones, removing the burr each time you change stones and when you finish. For an easy to maintain edge, create a micro bevel with a few light strokes per side on a fine stone at a higher angle (spine raised a little more).

There's a lot more details I could add, but that's it in a nutshell.
 
Depending on what blade size and material, you may benefit from getting a Harbor Freight 30x1" belt grinder, leevally supplies nice belts for it.
 
To reprofile, I have a DMT XX Course diamond stone. It was kind-of expensive, but I was glad I got it. It removes metal very quickly. A note, if you care how your blade looks, this can quickly put scratches on the side of the blade.

Whatever you get, get something that is course, harder steels can take what seems like an eternity to reprofile on finer sharpeners. The good thing about reprofiling is that you do not have to get the angle exact, just get it close and start removing metal. (You can practice on a cheaper knife if you have one). When sharpening, one thing that has greatly helped me is using a marker on the edge of the knife to see where I am removing the metal.
 
I asked a similar question not long ago.

I was set on picking up a coarse DMT whetstone, but I ended up going to Home Depot and picking up a cheap Norton benchstone for $5. It's coarse on one side and fine on the other. I used it without water, and it reprofiled the edge very quickly.

If you do get a stone, I recommend using coins to maintain your angle.
 
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