Cramsey3006,
Want to sharpen Bark River , Blackjack knives , your statement automatically puts a convex edge on your blade , then , it is not designed to sharpen knives with a convex grind seems confusing to me , at first glance . I think you sense my problem . A convex edge is hard for me to picture ,if a Work Sharp Sharpener will do it automatically , my problem is solved . Your help is appreciated . (Any help for that mater) . Much thanks .
Lionknife
There's always a lot of confusion with convex edges vs convex grinds.
When we (as in many people on BF) talk about a convex edge, we are talking about the actual
cutting edge itself. Any grind type can have a convex edge. Flat grind, hollow grind, saber grind, scandi, etc. The sharpened portion of the
edge will have a very slight curvature to it, instead of being a straight angle. This reduces the drag on the shoulders of the
edge allowing it to cut more efficiently. You can restore the sharpness by dragging the blade backwards with the edge against your sharpening media (stone, leather strop, sandpaper, powered belt, etc), stropping it sharp.
A convex
grind means that the
blade itself has a slight curvature to it, either from the spine to the edge (full height convex grind) or from the shoulder of the grind to the edge (partial convex grind). There isn't a defined edge on a blade of this type, as the grind to the edge is continuous. These are generally sharpened with a leather strop or fine grits of sandpaper with backing to allow the abrasive to slightly flex to the curve of the grind. Again, you are pulling the spine of the knife towards you to sharpen, but with a convex grind, the angle is usually lower than what you would use to sharpen a knife with a convex edge, meaning no secondary bevel on the blade.
Your Bark River and Blackjack knives are convex grinds with no secondary edge bevel.
Of course, I do have to admit that I've seen convex grinds with secondary bevels. They seem to be getting more popular.
You can sharpen any type of grind with a power tool like the Worksharp or a belt sander, but it will take some practice to get it right. When I say that the Worksharp isn't designed to do convex grinds, what I mean is grinds with no secondary bevels. This tool is designed with having an angled bevel on the blade. For a blade with no bevel you can take the guides off, hold the angle as shallow as it needs to be and go to it. I don't have any blades with a convex grind, so I can't tell you how effective it is to sharpen with the Worksharp.
For knives like yours, if it were me, I'd invest in a good leather strop system with different strop compounds.
