Sharpening stones for recurve?

[Dr Heelhook]

Is there a good curved bench stone for sharpening recurve blades? I could use a rod, but I'd prefer to get a bit more contact surface. Any good brands not too expensive?

 

[Murindo]

DMT sells Diamond "Waves" and "Honing Cones" with MSRP from $ 40 to $ 80.

Rods work as well as the Spyderco Sharpmaker using the corners of the stones.

Another alternative is to glue fine sandpaper to a dowel. I would think a 3/4 or 1 inch dowel would meet your needs.

 

[bikerector]

I've used the buck edgetek stick with good results. 3 diamond grits on one rod and a decent curvature.

The contact surface thing is tricky because you would need a rod with an arc angle that matches your knife's recurve, but would otherwise still have the reduced contact area on the rest of the knife unless one or the other is flexible. I have used sand paper on a sanding block or mousepad and sanded in a stropping motion for knives like kukri's, or anything I want a covex edge on, with good success and it conforms to the angles to add a large contact patch which is especially useful on the larger kukri's.

 

[number9]

That's a good geometry question. I think two arcs of dissimilar curvatures would still have an intersection of one point. So even a stone of a larger radius would have minimal contact with the recurve of the blade. That said, I have seen wedge shaped stones, with curved edges. The wedge shape yields two different radii. Do a google image search for wedge shaped sharpening stones.

I use either my Sharpmaker or Turnbox on recurved blades. Works better and easier than you might expect.

 

[JJ_Colt45]

you might want to check out the baryonyx schythe stones ... I'm not sure what type knife or blade size you're talking about but they work well for my uses ... I still use ceramic rods for smaller knives with good results.

 

[bikerector]

you might want to check out the baryonyx schythe stones ... I'm not sure what type knife or blade size you're talking about but they work well for my uses ... I still use ceramic rods for smaller knives with good results.

Scythe stones is a good recommendation if you're looking for increased contact, I think. I haven't used them myself but it's kind of what they're designed for.

As a technique consideration, consider sharpening in parts: before curve, after curve, the curve. Before and after should be able to be handled with a flat stone depending on stone width and after curve can certainly be handled with a flat stone. Sharpening the curve is the trickier part, of course, but easy enough with the right equipment (which you're already looking for).

 

[Mo2]

I just use the corner of my bench stone to sharpen recurves. I only have a Kershaw Blur as the only recurve I have now. Won't buy any more. For my tasks I don't need a recurve and find it annoying to sharpen because of that. It's really not hard though.

 

[Alberta Ed]

Teardrop-shape (in cross-section) slipstones are readily available from a number of places including Spyderco. They work great on recurves.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Scythe stones, no question. It's their forte.

 

[maximus83]

Check out the Baryonyx scythe stones, and look at their dressing options depending how much contact area you want.

http://www.baryonyxknife.com/baafoscst.html

For example: the Arctic Fox scythe stone is a good all-purpose grit, and you can have it dressed 'heavy' for max radius and contact surface. Cost around $16. I have their Bull Thistle scythe stone which is more coarse and I use for lawn and garden tools.

 

[HeavyHanded]

Is there a good curved bench stone for sharpening recurve blades? I could use a rod, but I'd prefer to get a bit more contact surface. Any good brands not too expensive?

Any vitreous oilstone or waterstone can have one long edge eased to a radius and use that. A larger radius makes the job easier, but even a fairly tight one will work.

 

[Dr Heelhook]

Thanks, everybody.

 

[David Martin]

Some good advice here, what Alberta Ed and HH said. I have several slip stones and have used them w/ success. I'm sure the scythe stone will
work. As well as some rounding on one side/ edge of a conventional stone. DM

 

[RadialBladeworks]

I use a Baryonyx round-edged Bull Thistle in conjunction with a fine ceramic rod and I absolutely love it. Takes no time at all to sharpen up to clean and effortless phonebook paper slicing. I'd probably throw a DMT Fine rod in between there, but even without it, I enjoy great functional success

 

[maximus83]

^Yes doing very similar. Use the Bull Thistle which at 100 grit, is good enough to get a working edge. Follow with Sharpmaker 400 mesh diamond rods, or the medium (gray) ceramic rods as pictured below, to finish. This for large chopping blades and tools. Here's a cheapo kukri I did this afternoon. As pictured, for large blades I can mount the ceramic rod with the corner protruding from my stone holder, and run the recurve over that edge like a bench stone. The BT followed by the gray ceramic put an edge on this 440a kukri that will slice newsprint.