Sar8

[Dmytro]

I keep looking at my SAR8 LE and can't decide to use it because I have no idea how to sharpen the convex edge. Any suggestions?

I sharpen all my other knives on diamond and water stones, but even with a micro bevel it is still very different than what SAR8 came with

 

[myowngod]

http://www.barkriverknives.com/convex.htm

 

[AZTimT]

I just use a double sided leather strop with black and green compounds on my SAR 8 SE's under normal use and it brings the factory edge right back to shaving sharp no problem. I find that getting the knife much sharper than that is not necessary as the first couple of cuts on media heavier than paper/cardboard will bring it back to shaving anyway and then it stays there for quite a while.

For more severe use and/or edge damage I use a 5" sanding pad on my drill press at 500rpm. The 3M pad I use has the mousepad material built into it and it is quite a bit faster than convexing by hand yet never heats up the metal high enough to not touch with my bare hands, heck I can touch the pad with my hand while it is rotating and it does no damage to skin. You can also change out the peel and stick sanding discs for different grits.

Don't be afraid to use her as she's a very impressive blade to say the least!

 

[Joshua J.]

I maintain a convex edge with stones. Just make sure to grind down the back bevel (the blade just behind the edge) with each sharpening.

 

[M67]

As AZTimT said, a leather strop with black and green compounds work well. After using the leather strop then you could strop it on newspaper, even blue jeans work.

Or if the edge isn't rolled or anything, you can go strainght to the newspaper.

If you used it a lot, 2000 grit sandpaper laid on a stack of newspaper (enough to have some "bounce", not rock hard) might not be a bad place to start either.

 

[Dmytro]

I maintain a convex edge with stones. Just make sure to grind down the back bevel (the blade just behind the edge) with each sharpening.

Do you have a close up picture of how a convex edge looks that is maintained with stones?

 

[Joshua J.]

First off is the Tank Buster, which is probably most related to the topic at hand.
It did take a few hours on a rough stone to shape the edge, sharpened to around 15 degrees per side on the straight and 20-25 per side near the tip.

The S90V Military is still pretty close to stock angles (15 per side), no re-profiling here, but it is convexing nicely over time.

This D'Allara Drop Point was sharpened nearly flat with the primary bevel. The final edge angle is around 10 degrees per side, with virtually no steel behind it.

 

[Dmytro]

Thanks for sharing!