Posted: 1/2/2017 12:02:53 AM EDT
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It's funny how you hear about tips and tricks and you let them mull around in your mind for decades and then you see them in a new light, and they click.
Rooster is a member of Axe Junkies and he knows his stuff on axes. He uses a soft pad with abrasives to create a very smooth convex and he can create a very nice mirror polish at the same time.  Hand Axe Sharpening Technique.....Rooster Now I use abrasive belts to create my convexes and my reasonably polished edges on my axes. I've been doing it for a while so I am pretty good at it. This method would augment my work but not replace it. I would still set my edges with my belts to get the curve right and set the edge, but this would clean up the grinding marks and give me a truely mirror edge. In the absence of a belt grinder, I would use my file to set the axe cheeks at about 25 degrees and work it until we got to within a tiny bit of cleaning up. Then I would raise it a few degrees and finish out. This sharpening method would then work that edge into a very smooth convex with a very high degree of polish. Currently I have been using this method on my convex bushcrafting knives and it works so well it's freakin nuts! The best part about it is that just about any idiot can do it!!!!!  The best part is that you can vary the radius of the convex with more or less pressure.
I don't have the same set up as Rooster. My set up works the same. I start with 220, then 320, 600, 800, 1000, and 1500. Then I leather strop it to finish with green buffing compound on rough leather. This is now my favorite method for all my Condor knives that have convexes and I will most likely start using it on my axes for maintenance. I hope this will help some of the sharpening challenged guys here. This is not the right method for sharpening a Scandi grind unless, like me, you want to create a very slight, very low pressure convex to strengthen the edge. Remember, always work to a burr with your roughest grit. Then work the edge finer and finer and the burr will get smaller until you strop and it goes away completely. This is the way you create a scary sharp edge. |
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Out-fricking-standing idea!! Thanks a million for posting it, it's exactly what the doctor ordered for putting a convex edge on my scandi grinds and bigger choppers (BK9 will be the first one I'll try it on).
Makes perfect sense, and I've already got the stuff in my shop. Thanks again! -Paul |