Convex edges! Oh my!

[Leo James Mitchell]

I have several knives in my collection with convex grinds…2 of them with such fine convex edges that they chipped and rolled on me. :woohoo: So I won’t get into a debate regarding the brand of these knives as some have done on other forums, I just went looking for a solution.
The beautiful blades of carbon A2 tool steel were capable of accepting excellent and retentive edges but what should I do…a simple bevel or…ah then I remembered that Clay gave instructions on how to develop a convex edge. I would do that, but would make one sturdier and much less prone to chipping and rolling than what the manufacturer of the knives had provided.
I started at 20 degrees per side and carefully developed a burr on each side and made the best edge I could do using all the diamond paddles and ceramics…then I moved the collars out 1 degree and used the 400/600 stones briefly, then moved on to the 800/1000 paddles for a few strokes.I then moved out another degree and did a few light strokes with the same paddles and finally used the strops with diamond paste provided with the original standard set.
Essentially what I had done was make a 20 degree bevel and added shoulders of 21 and 22 degrees which I gently but surely polished together into one smooth shoulder and a sturdy convexed edge. Both these knives have been put to the test making fuzz sticks, hacking off branches that needed trimming from my Black Walnut tree and batoning wood in the backyard to see if they would once again roll and chip. No way! They were shaving sharp to begin with and remained so afterward. An inspection with my 15 power loupe showed me there was not a hint of chipping nor rolling of the new convex edges.
It was a successful experiment which once more proved to me the genius of the WEPS and its maker Clay. I came into this sharpening stuff a dude and now I feel like I can handle most sharpening situations. Finally after 50 odd years trying!!!

Leo

[Leo James Mitchell]

Any of you who read my post Clay Sharpening My PXL, will note the link to another forum where Clay describes the process of sharpening my four knives. He observes that each of those four blades were very sharp with very good convex edges. I used the same process described above to do these four knives (the ESEE 4 and 6 both with D2 steel and my TK2 and PXL by Fallkniven both with blades of 3G super powder steel…it was easy to do and gave me edges I could only dream about before I acquired the WEPS. I highly recommend the developing of convex edges by Clay’s method and have pretty well converted all of my collection to this type of edge…frighteningly sharp. Please let me emphasize I am talking about convex edges only, not convex grind profiles…there is a difference. You can put a convex edge on most any blade whether the knife has a convex blade grind profile or not. Correct me if I am wrong here Clay or Tom.

Best to all
Leo

1 user thanked author for this post.

M1rrorEdge

[John Herron]

Gave it a try, Still got away to go to get the feel but I’m happy with
the way the system is working. I think I’m getting close, just got to spend more time between stones.
This little vid I think is showing about what I’m after, not sure 🙁
Jdee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63YiaAGhmLk

[wickededge]

That’s looking pretty good. How many little bevels did you put on?

-Clay

[John Herron]

It was two I guess, started at the line before 20 than did 20 and than did the line after 20
I will get an angle cube soon.
It sure is sharp though 😆
Jdee

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