Something other than Mousepad?

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d.weglarz13

Joined
Jun 4, 2008
Messages
1,945
Hey. Does anyone find that something other than a mousepad works better for convex edges? i.e. leather(what type?), different kind of rubber, etc? thanks. I find that many people say the mousepad is too soft. Do a lot of you prefer leather? thanks
 
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Mousepad for shaping the convex, harder surface like leather on wood for sharpening.
Shaping requires firm pressure, sharpening a light touch.
 
JRE EMS Sharpening block, last tool you'll ever need for convex.
 
Phonebook! Not so much give that you'll round off your edges - not so hard that you'll leave facets above the edge is you don't hold the angles just so.

Second choice: benchstones and caffeine

Third choice: beltsander in a well-ventilated area with eye protection, a breathing mask, and hearing protection if needed.
 
a sanding block from Wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot, Harbor Freight, Auto Zone, etc. The JRE block is a Preppin Weapon, but there are many types and brands.
 
hardheart said:
a sanding block from Wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot, Harbor Freight, Auto Zone, etc. The JRE block is a Preppin Weapon, but there are many types and brands.
Click to expand...
Ayup. I use a black rubber block made for auto body work ... think I only paid like $5 for it at Checker, tho that was some years ago. I like to use it with emery cloth, but wet/dry paper works well, too. Nice thing is you can clamp it in a vise and use it sort of like a semi-squishy benchstone, or just hold it in your hand for field use.
 
You can sharpen a convex blade on waterstones. Japanese sword polishers do it all the time.

Don't use the hard resin-bound stones like the Shaptons. Natural waterstones are good, so are the soft resin ones (Naniwa Super), and vitrified ones (King, Bester, Beston, Sigma Power, Suehiro) and magnesia-bound stones (various).

It takes a bit of practice, but anyone can do it.
 
DocNightfall said:
You can sharpen a convex blade on waterstones. Japanese sword polishers do it all the time.

Don't use the hard resin-bound stones like the Shaptons. Natural waterstones are good, so are the soft resin ones (Naniwa Super), and vitrified ones (King, Bester, Beston, Sigma Power, Suehiro) and magnesia-bound stones (various).

It takes a bit of practice, but anyone can do it.
Click to expand...

Their stones are also curved.
 
knifenut1013 said:
Their stones are also curved.
Click to expand...

Indeed, but mine aren't. I use a diamond plate (DMT or Atoma depending on my mood) to flatten my stones before use. The trick to getting a smooth, even convex is a combination of three techniques:

a) using the right amount of pressure--
Waterstones are not completely rigid. They flex somewhat under pressure. (You can see this when you lay a freshly-used waterstone on a granite reference block, shine a light in between the two to reveal a gap, then press down hard on top of the waterstone. If the gap of light is small enough, it will disappear.) In addition to that, once you work up a bit of slurry, the water-suspended abrasive particles are compressed into the stone as the knife is stroked over them, then rise up out of the surface again as the blade goes past. In this manner, the suspended particles can hug the surface of the blade along a tiny, tiny convex arc.

b) controlling the wear pattern of the stone--
You sometimes want the stone to dish a little bit but not too much. Once you have, in your judgment, the right amount of concavity in the stone, you can prevent any further sigificant amount of dishing by trying to evenly utilize the entire surface of the stone.

c) a rolling wrist action--
Hard to describe, but it is what it sounds like.
 
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