Sharpening a recurved blade...

BryFry

BryFry

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Jul 29, 2009
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I'm thinking about getting a BM Skirmish, but I usually stay away from recurved edge's since they are more difficult maintain.

I've had some luck sharpening my Kukri's by folding sandpaper around a cylinder (like a pringles can or dowel) ....But I'm just wondering what methods other people use for their inwardly curved blades?
 
A Spyderco Sharpmaker or any similar sharpener is useful for recurves. Just drag the blade down the length of it and the curves of your knife will naturally follow the angled sharpener.
 
as has been said and as you know, a recurve requires a narrow abrasive surface to get at that inside curve.

a sharpmaker will work. crock sticks will work. the edge of a benchstone will work. and, i think (though i haven't tried it), your sandpaper-around-a-dowel should also work.

ultimately, repetitive sharpening of a recurve is the test of your commitment to this particular edge geometry ;)
 
For me, I find that I just sharpen it like I would any other knife. I don't really change the sharpening style, but I think that this the wrong way to sharpen recurves...if anyone could chime in it would be appreciated. At the same time though I have been doing this to a cheap M21 g10 that I have beaten the crap out of. I think that I am flattening out the blade which is a positive IMO. Hope that makes sense.

-alex
 
I tried to sharpen my Mini Skirmish with a Lansky deluxe kit and that totally sucked.
My new Spyderco Sharpmaker just arrived today and should sharpen the knife fine, I'm trying it this evening and will let you know.
 
Greetings: In order to maintain a uniform edge grind width on recurve blades a slight modification in Sharpmaker technique may be helpful. When sharpening a straight blade, keeping the handle horizontal while using the rods is fine. On a recurve I only use the edge of the rods. As the blade is moved down the rod Slightly ELEVATING the handle when sharpening the belly of a drop point or clip point blade keeps the rods from cutting into the primary grind and somewhat avoids creating a wider grind width. This is the section of the blade where the curved portion transitions from the straight edge through the CONVEX curve to the pointed tip. On a recurve, slightly LOWERING the handle, when honing the CONCAVE portion, of a blade will help keep the edge grind width the same as the rest of the edge. This becomes a SeeSaw motion when working from the top to the bottom of the rods. Where the edge is straight the handle is horizontal. Where the edge is recurved the handle is slightly dipped. Where the blade bellies the handle is slightly elevated. If the blade is kept horizontal at all times while using the Sharpmaker rods the grind edge width may be thin along the straight portion, become wider at the tip, slightly narrower through the belly and widest along the recurve portion. The Sharpmaker may uses fixed angle rods instead of horizontal bench stones but it still seems to be free hand sharpening to me. On the other hand I'm old and senile. OldDude1
 
Funny... maybe I learned the "old fashioned way" or something... I don't have any difficulty sharpening my recurved and hawkbill blades on a flat bench stone. ZT, BM710, Case hawkbill, etc. Just sharpening them freehand like any other blade seems to work fine. I don't understand this purported difficulty, or why this has become such a hot topic lately.
 
puukkoman said:
Funny... maybe I learned the "old fashioned way" or something... I don't have any difficulty sharpening my recurved and hawkbill blades on a flat bench stone. ZT, BM710, Case hawkbill, etc. Just sharpening them freehand like any other blade seems to work fine. I don't understand this purported difficulty, or why this has become such a hot topic lately.
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Well, I've found that when using a flat stone on a small recurved blade, the flat part of the stone can not be made to touch the recurved part of the edge. -Only the corners of the stone will make contact.

I supose that if your stone has rounded edges and you keep using it, it will have an effect, though not as smooth as I'd like. :)
 
The ability to free hand sharpen WELL using bench stones is an enviable skill. Like many other tasks requiring dexterity and precision some people are better at it than others. Of course, practice and repetition helps quite a bit. I recall watching an older relative (a cabinet maker) sharpening assorted wood chisels, draw knives lathe turning tools etc. using two bench stones. One stone was so badly dished it could double as a soup bowl and the other was as smooth as the craters of the moon. The tools however, after a few minutes of work in his hands, using these stones, were razor sharp. I cut myself twice stupidly "testing" their sharpness. He personally showed me how EASY it was to get a fine edge on a double handled draw knife. This is basically a twelve inch half hollow ground total RECURVE blade. I watched intently as he sharpened. The result was Razor sharp. Then I tried it as he watched and promptly turned the edge into a rip saw blade. Obviously this was harder than it looked. He sharpened it again, this time in slow motion. The technique he used, but was unaware of, involved almost constant minor and subtle adjustment to both stone contact pressure and the angle of contact with the blade edge. What appeared to be one smooth uniform stoke along the stone was in fact constantly varying very slightly in angle and pressure. He hadn't noticed these automatic adjustments until I drew it to his attention. He explained it as 'just knowing what to do based upon how the edge FEELS and SOUNDS" as he drew it along the stone. He could feel what was needed. I could not. Perhaps many of the people who sharpen freehand on bench stones are UNCONSCIOUSLY making these small precise adjustment based upon tactile feedback and experience. I find a straight blade profile easier to sharpen well than the concave and convex profile of recurves. Quality sharpening is a learned skill but personal TALENT may cause those who are good at it to easily dismiss the difficulty that some others find in free hand sharpening. If quality blade sharpening was universally easy, few professional sharpeners and non-bench stone systems would exist. Just the opinion of one old dude. OldDude1
 
BryFry said:
Well, I've found that when using a flat stone on a small recurved blade, the flat part of the stone can not be made to touch the recurved part of the edge. -Only the corners of the stone will make contact.

I supose that if your stone has rounded edges and you keep using it, it will have an effect, though not as smooth as I'd like. :)
Click to expand...
That's true, and after a while the edges of the stone will become rounded from sharpening a recurve. Until that point, the corner of the stone acts just like a rod.
 
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