convex edge idea

[Rob T]

<p class=”p1″>What do you think of this idea for sharpening conveyed knives? I’m thinking of loading a series of strops with diamond pastes. You can get them at coarser grits, starting at least at about 40 microns (about 400 grit or lower).<span class=”Apple-converted-space”>  </span>I would go through a progression and I’m thinking I will go to the stones for 2200 and 3000 to get a precise edge (I don’t think that fine grit will reprofile the edge significantly, and Clay suggests a micro bevel on convex edges anyway). And then I’ll finish with the usual high grit strops (I don’t go beyond 3.5)</p>
<p class=”p1″>These are hard use knives, not pocket knives (Bark River Bushcraft types).</p>
<p class=”p1″>Could this be a practical solution to sharpening convex edges on the WE?</p>

[tcmeyer]

I replied to Rob’s post, but apparently the OP was moved to a different Forum topic and my reply was lost in the transfer.  Just in case, I’ll copy it here:

Using strops is certainly another way to do it and would probably do it a lot faster once you work out the progression.  I’ve drifted away from strops because of their tendency to get cross-contaminated.  Once a strop  is contaminated, there’s almost no way to return it to its prior condition.  Diamond stones  and films can usually be cleaned to restore their pristine condition.  Films may take a little more scrubbing and if not clean can be easily replaced.  For the last year or so, I’ve been finishing my edges with diamond paste (1.5 and 1.0 micron) on a hardwood platen (I use maple).  Because of the hard substrate, I don’t have to alter the angle to account for “apex wrap.”  I could just as well use diamond film, but the hardwood is much more durable.

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