What's a good way to sharpen a convexed BK14??

brewcitymike

brewcitymike

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Aug 26, 2011
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As the title says I need to know a decent method to sharpen a BK14 that has been convexed. I recently had one loaned to me but it was pretty dull and when I gave it a little run over my fine stone nothing seemed to change. The big problem here is that I only currently own a few stones, one pocket size ceramic rod pull thru and one of those weird pull thru's that have some kind of metal rods and you hold it by its long, almost hair brush style handle and the two sets of crossed rods stick off the top end. Well if anyone has any ideas I'm all ears.
 
I hear good things about some sandpaper on a mousepad, or try using a strop. You might want to try a belt sander sans the platen as well. However if it is a borrowed knife it might not be too good to take it to the sander.

From what I know (granted it's very limited) a convex edge might not "feel" sharp but it should cut extremely well. I don't know why that sticks out in my mind, but take it for what it is.
 
If it's already convexed, a strop is the way to go. Just maintain it by using some green compound on a strip of leather. If you want an even finer edge, get some white compound for the other side.
 
Sandpaper on a mousepad is good, followed by stropping. Of course, I like to take shortcuts and use a Work Sharp followed by stropping, but the sandpaper method works great.

Here's a good vid on how-to with the sandpaper.
[video=youtube;8qlM2JDJkQY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qlM2JDJkQY&feature=plcp[/video]
 
Nice video. Starring Mr. Personality... :D

BrewcityMike;
The key to sharpening anything is to make sure you've reached the edge. Sounds academic, right? By far the biggest reason when I hear "the knife won't sharpen" is that the stone never reached the actual cutting edge.
Keep sharpening one side with a fairly coarse abrasive of choice using the method of choice until you feel/see a feather burr develop along the entire edge (just having it in one place doesn't count -- it's got to go all the way across). Soometimes the only way to detect it is to feel a step or drag with your finger nail. Only then are you sure that you've make it all the way to the point. Now flip the blade over and do a similar amount of stokes until you again see/feel a feather burr. Only NOW you can start to think about finer stones and stropping.
In your example of picking up a fine stone only and not getting the knife sharp, I can guarantee that you made the primary bevel nice and shiny, but never made it to the secondary to make the rounded-off part pointy again. Remember what happens when a knife gets dull -- the point rounds over. You need to remove enough metal to make it come to a point again.

It takes a while for the talent to develop, but it's a joy when it does!
 
Great video. I think my biggest mistakes in learning to sharpen a convex blade was in using too much pressure and not starting out with a coarse enough sand paper. I usually start with 180 and work my way up from there. Also, check YouTube for a ton of how to vids.

Good luck!
 
sandpaper and mouspad is great way to go thats how i got mine put a super lean convex on it. . but do not use alot of pressure other wise u will just keep rolling the edge over to the other side becouse ur backing has to much give to it.hope it helps. also i think 180 is a little to low imho i started 220 and it only took me about 20 minutes. cant post pics becouse idk how to from this tapatalk app but i hope u understand wat i mean
 
I use some sandpaper (320/600/1200/2000) and a piece of about 1/8th inch thick leather as a backing if the edge is really dull or chipped since I find mousepads have to much give...Never had that problem with leather. Otherwise strops with differnt compounds and stuff on it for regular maintainance.
 
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