so, this convex sharpening...

[hardheart]

Tired of waiting for my SiC, leather, and felt belts from Hand American (I really need to email them about the delay, their service is generally excellent) I went ahead and tore into my Martindale Golok and Paratrooper with a fine AO belt. the steel grinds easy enough, and getting the blade even warm to the touch takes more time than should worry anyone concerned with temper. Of course, these are fair sized blades, so the heat has plenty of metal to spread to. I got the chips out of the Golok, grinding until I got a half mm wide wire, then knocking that off with a 600 DMT sharpening steel. Did similar with the Paratrooper, though it wasn't chipped. Now the bevels are wider, shiny, and curvy.

Anyway, they don't shave, and I want to try to get them there. Sharpening approx. 2 feet of cutting edge on a mousepad + sandpaper doesn't sound like fun, so should I just wait for my 800 SiC belt, or could you guys recommend something else.

 

[db]

Do you have a belt that is all used up? If so you could use the back of it with some compound, or even without if you don't have any, or even try some compound on the grit side. A pretty good place and fairly fast for belts, took 3 days for my order last week.
http://supergrit.com/

 

[hardheart]

ooh, nice, and cheaper. Might try one of those cork belts. I still want my HA order, supposed to be getting a bottle of 1.8 micron boron carbide .

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Sharpening approx. 2 feet of cutting edge on a mousepad + sandpaper doesn't sound like fun, so should I just wait for my 800 SiC belt, or could you guys recommend something else.

You only need to sharpen the edge, it is < 0.1 mm wide, so it hones fast regardless of the size of the blade. You can get the edges to shave off the belt sander at 80 grit, same as you can with x-coarse hones. Some recommend worn belts, lots of makers do, however worn and loaded abrasives generate a lot of heat and pressure and have little abrasion. You can polish an edge with a highly loaded/worn india stone if it is all you have but it is recreation/punishment. You can just turn the belt inside out and load it with a polishing compound.

-Cliff