Sharpening a convex edge.

I use leather behind sandpaper for most of my convex sharpening. Its easy to push too hard into a mousepad and dull an edge. For recurves, get a dowell and put leather around it then sandpaper around the leather.

Edited to stress how important I think it is to color the edge with a sparpie periodically while sharpening. Often you find yourself removing material from the wrong spot. Highlighting the edge really helps you focus your effort and save a lot of time.
 
Hey Tim have you checked with Australian Industrial Abrasives they should be able to supply you with belts up to 400 grit at that width

Cheers. Brendan

aut viam inveniam aut faciam
 
Fiddleback said:
I use leather behind sandpaper for most of my convex sharpening. Its easy to push too hard into a mousepad and dull an edge. For recurves, get a dowell and put leather around it then sandpaper around the leather.

Edited to stress how important I think it is to color the edge with a sparpie periodically while sharpening. Often you find yourself removing material from the wrong spot. Highlighting the edge really helps you focus your effort and save a lot of time.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips fiddleback!

B.Mitchell said:
Hey Tim have you checked with Australian Industrial Abrasives they should be able to supply you with belts up to 400 grit at that width

Cheers. Brendan

aut viam inveniam aut faciam
Click to expand...

Nah I haven't tried them. 400 zirc?
 
I would sharpen last. it reduces accidental cuts that can be petty bad. also sanding the blade may well ruin the edge any way. What I do is I sharpen and hand sand, usually moving up through the gits at the same time.
 
How can I sand then sharpen? The convex merges into the blade. If I sanded the blade up it would just get scratched again sharpening.
 
On fully convexed blades I use a leather backed piece of steel for hand rubbing (of course I use the other side for "normal" hand rubbing.) The thought of hand rubbing a sharpened blade seems like a good way to get a hand full of sutures.

You can put a couple of layers of duct tape following the edge to help prevent accidental scratching from sharpening.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top