Reprofiling help needed!

[Will_]

I recently bought a John Nowill survival knife. Whilst it is a really sturdy knife, it came with a terrible grind. One side of the blade had a poor convex grind, and the other had a crude sort of double bevel.

I want to get it to a convex grind It will probably be doing a lot of chopping and heavy duty work.

To get me there I currently have the following:

4 waterstones: 200, 800, 2000 & 5000 grit
A draper sharpening stone (very rough)
Sand paper
A DC4
A sharpening steel
No files
No money to send it off for reprofiling (though I'd love to do this)

Thanks in advance for all your advice. This forum is brilliant.

 

[HillBill]

Make one of these and your away. Basically a black of wood with foam on top. Pin wet and dry over the foam and stroke into the edge. Best way to do convex edges bar none.

 

[Will_]

Thanks HillBill - I'll give that a try. Now where did I put that wet dry paper!
This might be a stupid question, but what difference will wet dry have to sandpaper?
I'm guessing because it's finer, it will give a better edge, like the difference between 200 grit stone and a 1000 grit stone, but can I do something similar to your wood block with sand paper to get it going faster?
Or is sand paper too thick for the foam to have an effect?
Also, what do you mean by stroke into the edge?
Sorry for all the questions.
Thanks for your time, the pictures and your prompt reply.

 

[BearInTheWoods]

I may be a bit naive here, but if the product is poorly manufactured, why not just send it back for a refund and buy something made a little better?

 

[Will_]

I may be a bit naive here, but if the product is poorly manufactured, why not just send it back for a refund and buy something made a little better?

I should have done. I bought it from HH so they probably would have refunded/replaced it very quickly.
However, in the excitement of getting a new knife I jumped straight into sanding the scales down to better suit my hand. To be honest I thought I'd be able to sort the edge issues out with half an hour on the stones, but it hasn't happened.

 

[HillBill]

You need rough grits to start with, sandpaper or wet n dry will both work. Whn you have it how you want it, go onto finer grits to finish it off.

By stroke into the edge i mean edge leading rather than edge trailing.

Thanks HillBill - I'll give that a try. Now where did I put that wet dry paper!
This might be a stupid question, but what difference will wet dry have to sandpaper?
I'm guessing because it's finer, it will give a better edge, like the difference between 200 grit stone and a 1000 grit stone, but can I do something similar to your wood block with sand paper to get it going faster?
Or is sand paper too thick for the foam to have an effect?
Also, what do you mean by stroke into the edge?
Sorry for all the questions.
Thanks for your time, the pictures and your prompt reply.

 

[Will_]

Legend. Thank you.

 

[Bladeophile]

You need rough grits to start with, sandpaper or wet n dry will both work. Whn you have it how you want it, go onto finer grits to finish it off.

By stroke into the edge i mean edge leading rather than edge trailing.

Thanks Silver Trader for this 'idiot' proof guide to achieving a convex. Now to embarrass myself! -Looking at your axe sharpening photo - does 'stroke into the edge' mean the carbide paper is moving towards the blade edge or away from it? Sorry to give you an AArrrrgghh!!! NNooooooo!!!! moment....but I'm trying to learn this stuff.

 

[HillBill]

No worries member

It means towards the blade, like your trying to cut into it with the edge. Going from right to left in the second pic down i posted

Thanks Silver Trader for this 'idiot' proof guide to achieving a convex. Now to embarrass myself! -Looking at your axe sharpening photo - does 'stroke into the edge' mean the carbide paper is moving towards the blade edge or away from it? Sorry to give you an AArrrrgghh!!! NNooooooo!!!! moment....but I'm trying to learn this stuff.

 

[Bladeophile]

Thanks a lot - now perhaps I too can get a convex on my John Nowill blade.

 

[HillBill]

Its pretty easy to get the hang of.... just put a bit of pressure on the blade behind the edge and stroke away. It might take a while to get the shape how you want it, but once you have, sharpening is quick and easy.

Thanks a lot - now perhaps I too can get a convex on my John Nowill blade.

 

[Bladeophile]

A great trick! And sure looks easier than learning how to move my fingers to form a convex using a flat stone!