Convex blade sharpening

[falling rain]

A quick question for the knife bods - I've got an NL5 Idun from Fallkniven it's a great knife but I don't seem to be able to get it quite as sharp as I'd like it. The details of the steel etc are --------- A world first as regards to the blade - it's in laminated VG10 steel, where the edge is made of Fallkniven's now renowned VG10 steel and the sides consist of tough, all-stainless 420J2 steel. This combination is unquestionably the best, since it brings together all conceivable and desirable properties such as resilience, resistance to torque and edge-durability in a single blade. With laminate technology one can expect an additional 20% strength in the form of resistance to bending, as compared to an ordinary VG10 blade. This ensures qualities that no other manufacturer in the world can offer. Totall length: 215 mm. Blade length: 100 mm. Blade thickness: 5 mm. Weight (kniv): 180 g. Steel: Laminated VG10/420J2. Edge hardness: 59 HRC. Butt cap: Aluminium.Guard: Stainless steel. --------- Does any of this mean anything in regards to sharpening the knife. I've used the Hoodoo hone on a bit of wood with wet and dry and a mouse mat backing but still can't quite get it razor sharp. Is it because the steel is so hard and I need to work on it a bit more or what Any advise fro the knife enthusiasts appreciated. I have no trouble at all on scandy grinds and use water stones and get a perfect edge. Knife is here - http://www.countrytrader.co.uk/acatalog/Fallkniven_Northern_Lights_Series.html second from bottom of the page

 

[spamel]

I've recently acquired a BRKT Fox River, and also find that the edge doesn't feel sharp, but when I shave my arm, little hairs pop off all over the place. I wonder if because the edge isn't so fine it feels less sharp? Can you shave hairs with your knife?

 

[spamel]

Cracking looking knife that, by the way!

 

[falling rain]

Well the odd hair does pop off yes, and when I make feather sticks it seems to work OK ish, but I can't help feeling it could be sharper. If I run a finger over the edge I can put a fair bit of pressure on the edge and not get cut. If I'd try this with my scandy knives I'd be cut.

 

[falcon]

I can identify with this......I use a hoodoo hone on my F1 with 1200 wet'n'dry on a mousemat backing and never achieve the "shaving" standard I can get with the scandi's. I get a very good practical edge, fine for feather sticks but not quite there...... Should we be sharpening for longer with this kind of edge on this hard steel...?

 

[sxmolloy]

I have a Fallkniven F1 which came with a convex grind and I had the same problems. I thought it was due to the fact that the blade is so thick (4.5 mm) and the convex grind dosen't really thin out the the blade towards the sharp edge.

In the end I re-ground mine on my DC3 sharpener so I ended up with a more "v" shape grind and this has improved the performance very well.

The only problem, if you can call if that, is that I did my re-grinding free hand so scratched the blade quite badly, the edge is now much better but the knife just dosen't look as good.

ATB....Stu

 

[falling rain]

I can identify with this......I use a hoodoo hone on my F1 with 1200 wet'n'dry on a mousemat backing and never achieve the "shaving" standard I can get with the scandi's. I get a very good practical edge, fine for feather sticks but not quite there...... Should we be sharpening for longer with this kind of edge on this hard steel...?

Glad I'm not the only one then............. I suppose I'm looking for the 'bite' of a scandi blade and it's not quite there. Is this normal for convex blades then

 

[Buckshot]

Nick are you stropping afterwards?
I use the hoodoo hone often on some of my blades. The 1200 W&D takes it down so far but stropping really does the bizz.
I was showing my brother in law the hoodoo hone last week and sharpened his stainless Opinal. The 1200 got it so the odd hair would cut but he was really surprised that with a little strop I could clean shave my arm with no problem.
I somehow doubt the metal will be as good as you knife though.

Cheers

Mark

 

[Ratbag]

I can relate to this too - when I got my F1 I struggled for ages to get it as sharp as my other knife. I think one reason is that the convex grind inherently doesn't "feel" as sharp as a flat or scandi grind.

So I got fed up of this and, encouraged by advice on here which assured me that the F1 could be proper sharp, took a deep breath and started right at the beginning with an 800 grit wet'n'dry on the Hoodoo hone. I took it right through all the grades to 2000 grit, finishing with a mega session on a loaded Starkie sharp. The resulting hair poppin' edge "feels" better and seems to be longer-lasting than the factory edge (and it polished the blade up nice too!) and it's only needed stropping since.

I sometimes use variations on my Hoodoo hone, like varying the thickness of foam underneath the wet'n'dry (dependent on the grind profile) or stropping on loaded corrugated cardboard. Maybe a bit of experimentation will give you the result you're after. Stay with it and I'm sure you'll get results.

Regards

Rat

 

[falling rain]

Nick are you stropping afterwards?
I use the hoodoo hone often on some of my blades. The 1200 W&D takes it down so far but stropping really does the bizz.
I was showing my brother in law the hoodoo hone last week and sharpened his stainless Opinal. The 1200 got it so the odd hair would cut but he was really surprised that with a little strop I could clean shave my arm with no problem.
I somehow doubt the metal will be as good as you knife though.

Cheers

Mark

I normally do strop my scandi blades but wanted to get my Idun sharper before stropping which I havn't yet acheived. Don't get me wrong it's fairly sharp just I feel it could be better. From what everyones said maybe it's just the way convex blades are. It'll slice through a sheet of paper too but running along the edge with my finger it dosn't feel 'that' sharp. I'll give it another go later with a good strop and see if that does it then. I think the metal is fairly tough stuff and would imagine once a good edge is acheived it'll hold for a long time. Did you use any stropping paste Mark? I wonder if that would help?

 

[falling rain]

I can relate to this too - when I got my F1 I struggled for ages to get it as sharp as my other knife. I think one reason is that the convex grind inherently doesn't "feel" as sharp as a flat or scandi grind.

So I got fed up of this and, encouraged by advice on here which assured me that the F1 could be proper sharp, took a deep breath and started right at the beginning with an 800 grit wet'n'dry on the Hoodoo hone. I took it right through all the grades to 2000 grit, finishing with a mega session on a loaded Starkie sharp. The resulting hair poppin' edge "feels" better and seems to be longer-lasting than the factory edge (and it polished the blade up nice too!) and it's only needed stropping since.

I sometimes use variations on my Hoodoo hone, like varying the thickness of foam underneath the wet'n'dry (dependent on the grind profile) or stropping on loaded corrugated cardboard. Maybe a bit of experimentation will give you the result you're after. Stay with it and I'm sure you'll get results.

Regards

Rat

Cheers for the advice Rat. I'll pop into homebase and get some different grades of W&D and put aside plenty of time to give it a go.

 

[spamel]

I also strop my knives after Hoodoo use, I use the red polishing stuff from a dremel on my strop, polishes the edge nicely and does get it really sharp, but like you say it never actually feels razor, until I cut myself with it!!

I think there is a bit of technique involved with the Hoodoo hone, I cocked my first couple of go's right up!! But then I realised I'm not trying to sharpen the edge, I need to remove the metal from either side of the knife and leave the edge alone. Now it seems to work all the time and I have got quite quick at it. I even started convexing my Opi 8 as I think it holds an edge really well this way and slices like a dream. I prepped some German salalmi with it the other night, the missus was using a steak knife to cut it and having a rough time by all accounts, in comes the Opi and slices straight through, nice and neat. I reckon it could be used for surgery!!!

 

[Ratbag]

Axminster is your friend...

http://www.axminster.co.uk/recno/5/...roduct-Hermes-WS-Flex-(Wet-and-Dry)-19877.htm

 

[Buckshot]

B&Q is expensive for that sort of thing.
I went to a local car shop who sell W&D in single sheets - much cheeper than B&Q or Halfords.
Yes I did use a paste, whilst in the car shop you could get a tube of Autosol or similar polishing paste?
I sharpen my Billhook using this method as well as smaller blades.

Cheers

Mark

 

[falling rain]

OK Thanks for the advice chaps. Looks like I'm going to do a bit of shopping for Wet and Dry and stropping paste. And invest in an hour or so of sharpening. I'm using WD40 to lubricate the W&D at the mo, this shouldn't affect anything should it?

 

[Buckshot]

I wouldn't have tought so Nick. The lubricant only moves bits that you slice off out the way so it doesn't get clogged, I wouldn't imagine it matters what you use as long as it can move out of the way fast enough.
Water and WD40 are both quite runny so shouldn't be a problem.

Mark

 

[addyb]

My Clipper feels like a razor. Literally. I had an accident with it back in March and I still have the massive scar to prove it. I take a long time sharpening and stropping it, but whatever I do must be working because it's shaving sharp and scares the heck outta me. I know Sandvik 12c27 isn't in the same league as VG-10, but I do get the feeling that it must be a really fine grained, well heat treated steel. It performs excellently for me and it will continue to do so because I can't afford anything better.

My two cents!

Adam

 

[hollowdweller]

My F1 is one of the sharpest knives I own. I use it in the kitchen to dice garlic even.

I found that it seemed to be slightly harder than my carbon steel blades but once I had sharpened it a bit seemed as easy to touch up and keep sharp.

I have a Jemico adjustable strop like this

For the Fallkniven I adjusted the tension a bit looser than I use for like Bark River Blades, but not as loose as a khukuri. Then I laid strips of 600 grit sandpaper on them and sharpened the Fallkniven. Maybe I thinned the edge down a bit but I'm not so sure cause I didn't do it for that many passes. Anyway it worked great and now I just use the green side or the green side with 1200 grit and it keeps it shaving sharp.

 

[Bjorn Victor]

Hello,

This is what you need:
http://knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/751826/all/1/

In short: abrasive cloth on a gel filled mouse or palm rest. This works well for some but I found that I needed to finish up with a few strokes on a spyderco sharpmaker (the white bars, 20 degree angle on both sides), but any sharpening stone will do. I works really well for my Fallkniven S1.
This gives me a shaving sharp edge (I shave on both sides of the edge equally well, so no burr!).

Hope the helps,

Bjorn

 

[sharp88]

Iv had an F1 for a while now and recently Iv been having the same problems with the grind. I'v given it more that a few runs on a 1000/6000 grit japanese water stone, but its not making much difference. I'd make more of a V shaped grind on my bench grinder, but I'm simply to sqeemish to do it. Does anyone know of a particular knife specialist who'd do it for a reasonable fee? :bluThinki

I wonder if Bison Bushcraft would do it? I bet it would be a hefty price though, they wanted £60 for a basic sheath sheath to fit one of my knives! Ha I'd rather make it myself!