Sharpening Question

[Ol' Timer]

What is the best method to sharpen a tanto point blade?

Thank you.

<center>"An armed society is a polite society"
Robert Heinlein

 

[Dr.Lathe]

This is MY opinion of what a functional tanto point/blade should look like. The main blade is double hollow ground with high but not full grind lines. The edge on the main part of the blade is very thin and RAZOR sharp. The point is convex ground and much thicker than the main part of the blade. This provides a strong point for thrusting while leaving the main edge sharp for slashing.
The point edge is ground and polished almost to a finished edge. I just touch it when finish sharpening the whole blade. The knives above are neck knives, my larger ones are ground the same way.
If I was going to resharpen one, away from the shop, I would use a fine DMT diamond hone with water followed by a leather strop.
Neil

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[This message has been edited by Dr.Lathe (edited 01 December 1999).]

 

[PartTime]

I’ve had good success treating the knife as two separate blades; 1) the cutting edge 2) the tip. I generally sharpen the tip 1st, just a you would a chisel, then the cutting edge, as you would any other knife. The trick is to blend the two sharpened edges where they meet at the corner. It can be frustrating, but you’ll get it.

TJ