Sharpening near the tip

[barny]

Hello,

I am having problems sharpening the last 1/4 inch near the tip, this goes for all styles and grinds of knives. What seems to be happening is that it is starting to round over. I have tried using a marker to see if I'm making contact to the edge and going slower, etc. and it still seems to round over. Does anyone know why I keep rounding it over or have suggestions? Any comments and help is welcomed!

Thanks in advance!
Eric

P.s. Currently I'm using wet/dry sandpaper right now on a flat bench or a mouse pad. Due to the problem I'm now thinking/searching for quality arkansas stones.

 

[richard j]

you are going over the tip. you need to watch when your tip makes contact with the sandpaper and stop. try the sandpaper on glass so you have a nice flat surface. if you want a different system check out the paper wheels. they work great and you can have your knives sharpened in minutes. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=578787

 

[BillWolfel]

I've run into the same problem on most knives. It's the geometry of the grind. Think of the edge in cross-section: along most of the spine, the cross-section plane is vertical to the longitudinal axis of the knife. However, as it follows the radius of the belly around and approaches the point, the cross-section plane rotates up and becomes more horizontal. Unless your honing stone moves in the same way, it'll lose contact with the edge and ride up on the shoulder of the bevel as you attempt to grind a deeper and more acute bevel. You can either rotate the stone or knife relative to the other as you hone around the belly, which is rather awkward, or patiently and completely reprofile the edge through the problematic section. Remember though, the modified bevel will be more acute and that much less robust--probably not significant for most.

 

[LexEdman]

Guys
I purchased Wicked Edge over a year ago and it was worth the money.
Ed

 

[barny]

Thanks with the replies so far. I have question now though, since I've used marker on the edge to see if I'm making contact with the whole edge, shouldn't that stop it from rounding over?

Eric

 

[Turbo Tension]

Not if you're going too far. I very slightly rounded the tip on my Busse Desert Storm Fighter by going to far when stropping on my sandpaper/neoprene pad combo. I had to go to 220 to to start over. It helps if you cut the sandpaper into 2-3" wide strips so you can see when your tip starts to hit the paper. When it does, that's when you stop tilting/turning the knife.