I bought a Clipper, now what the heck do I do with it?

[Hoodoo]

Is convexing "new"? I'm by no means a knife expert, but I get the impression that it's some kind of recent-ish phenomenon - everyone seems to be doing it (including myself shortly, it seems!) Is it new, or is it that knives tend not to come with convex edges (because it's difficult to do during manufacturing, perhaps?) thus it's something that you have to do yourself to get a good profile for buschcrafting, carving or whatever?

Lots of old timey knives came with a convex grind. Scagels and Marbles are good examples. Of course, many axes come standard with a convex edge. Convex edges became very popular over the years among bladeforgers due to the influence of Bill Moran and his "Moran edge."

Not all convex edges or grinds are equal. If you have a very thin convex grind it can be very fragile. I have chipped many convex-ground blades. Angle is still important and determining which is best for the task at hand is still important.

 

[mark a.]

Good info chaps, thanks - very interesting. And cheers Adam for the warning of your first convexing. Fortunately one of my SAKs is my "sh***y" blade so I can probably go straight to that one!

 

[Andy]

Not all convex edges or grinds are equal.

This is thing that oftem seems to get left out. An axe has a convex grind for a good reason, so does a global kitchen knife. The two grinds are very different though.
back in old days before mouse pads wet&dry could be placed onto of a few layers of soft leather wich would polish the transition between the edge bevel and the primary grind of the blade

 

[Hoodoo]

You talk to a lot of Scagel makers and they often use a hard arkansas stone to keep the edge "whetted" and convexed, sharpening in a circular motion similar to how axes are often honed. When I show Scagel makers my little mousepad hone, they often give me a look of pity.