Rolled the edge on my Becker Necker / BK11

[fisheric]

My necker from the factory wasn't particularly sharp. So being the knife knut that I am I just had to get it shaving sharp. The first thing I noticed was this steel is very easy to sharpen.

Anyway I am a noob when it comes to knives. After hearing so much talk about how strong this steel was I decided to give my blade a more acute angle in preparation of my fishing trip the next day. I have read here on the site that from the factory it has a 15/15 degree bevel. I probably took it down to 10/10 on my Japanese water stone. I then lightly stropped it on some worn out 1500 grit and a mouse pad because I couldn't get rid of the burr.

While fishing for crab on the dock in Pacifica I was trying to enlarge a carved notch to rest my pole in. It was whatever kind of wood boardwalks and piers are made of. I took probably 8 slices of wood and my blade was jacked. The edge rolled and lots of micro chips.



It is my fault I am sure for making the edge too thin. Like I said I am inexperienced when it comes to nice knives and changing grinds and such.

I want to repair my knife but I can't reprofile it on my water stone because the angle will cut into the stone now.

I guess I could try to use sand paper on a hard surface to reprofile and then goto the water stone or I could go with convexing the edge.


Can you guys give me your opinions on what I could do to get the best performance out of this knife?




(also what do you call it when you only convex the edge of a knife?)

 

[dawsonbob]

The 1095 CV steel in your BK-11 is a great steel, and it really is easy to sharpen. I think that 10 degrees might be a little too acute for general use though. That angle might make for a great little slicer, but may not work for general use. I would suggest reprofiling back to the original grind angle for general usage. There's no reason that you can't have a shaving sharp edge at the original angle (mine are).

There are several Blade Forum members who offer sharpening service for reasonable (read inexpensive) prices. You might want to send it to one of them to re-profile and work their sharpening magic one time. After that you can maintain it yourself.

You could, of course, reprofile the edge yourself with sand paper and a mouse pad for a nice convex edge, which is called, oddly enough, a convex edge (grin).

An alternative might be to invest in something like the DMT Magna Guide sharpening system which can be had for around $40 (or less) from many places on line. The diamond stones in the DMT Magna Guide system work pretty well for reprofiling and maintaining an angle.

Hope that helps.

 

[fisheric]

The 1095 CV steel in your BK-11 is a great steel, and it really is easy to sharpen. I think that 10 degrees might be a little too acute for general use though. That angle might make for a great little slicer, but may not work for general use. I would suggest reprofiling back to the original grind angle for general usage. There's no reason that you can't have a shaving sharp edge at the original angle (mine are).

There are several Blade Forum members who offer sharpening service for reasonable (read inexpensive) prices. You might want to send it to one of them to re-profile and work their sharpening magic one time. After that you can maintain it yourself.

You could, of course, reprofile the edge yourself with sand paper and a mouse pad for a nice convex edge, which is called, oddly enough, a convex edge (grin).

An alternative might be to invest in something like the DMT Magna Guide sharpening system which can be had for around $40 (or less) from many places on line. The diamond stones in the DMT Magna Guide system work pretty well for reprofiling and maintaining an angle.

Hope that helps.

That does help. What I meant was a true convex grind starts all the way at the spine and curves to the cutting edge. What I am talking about is taking a flat ground knife, like my becker, and convexing just the cutting edge. What is that called?

 

[dawsonbob]

That does help. What I meant was a true convex grind starts all the way at the spine and curves to the cutting edge. What I am talking about is taking a flat ground knife, like my becker, and convexing just the cutting edge. What is that called?

A convex edge. A full convex grind starts at the spine, as you've said, but if you're only convexing the edge, it's a convex edge. A convex edge is fairly simple to do with sandpaper and a mouse pad. A full convex grind, however, is best left to those with a belt grinder/sander who have experience in that (way beyond my capabilities).

On my knives with a convex edge, I've just done it myself: I wouldn't tackle a full convex grind. My knives that have a V grind, I sharpen with a DMT Magna Guide or freehand (depending on the result I want, and how lazy I am).

 

[fisheric]

gotcha! sorry I was getting confused.

I wouldn't mind having a convex grind on my becker but I don't want to rub off the epoxy coating.

I think I will just convex the edge for right now.