Sharpening a recurve

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L2bravo

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Jun 14, 2013
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Can a recurve be sharpened on a flat stone? Somethng like a ZT 0200 for instance. I haven't done one, but it seems that the part nearest the bottom of the blade will get very little pressure, and the swell near the tip will get the most. Won't this burn the blade down excessively? Especially near the tip?

Just curius how this works in practice. Thanks
 
I use sandpaper and a book. Place sandpaper on book then let the book hang off the edge of the table and sharpen, the book will bend and conform to the shape of the recurve, don't use too thick or too thin of a book and sharpen with a trailing edge or the sandpaper is going to get all cut up. Takes practice, I can't do it too well yet.
 
It's not that bad, just round the edge a bit.
 
Sharpmaker? Diamond sticks? I've got both. Would this be a better option? Are the flats of the SM stones too wide, or will they work?
 
The flats are thin enough you just have to follow the curve to make sure you hit all of the edge.
 
L2bravo said:
Sharpmaker? Diamond sticks? I've got both. Would this be a better option? Are the flats of the SM stones too wide, or will they work?
Click to expand...

The SM's flats will work. I re-bevelled a ZT-0350 using a Lansky guided set, and it's flat hones are the same width as the SM's rods (1/2" wide). It's even simpler if the edge angle is more acute, because the radius of the recurve becomes wider at a lower edge angle. Just keep pressure light, because the edges/corners of the rods will be doing all the work, and they'll concentrate a lot of pressure on a very small section of the edge.


David
 
It's definitely possible with small flat stones, though diamond rods make it a breeze. If you decide to have a true convex edge on your recurve, as many khukuris do, then it gets difficult.
 
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