My sharpening quest finally led me to a 1 x 42 belt sander. After some experience with it, I have convexed everything I have, from Busse's to Hinderer's to Strider's. Love how fast I can touch up an edge or reprofile and edge with the sander.

Here is a picture of my setup with a leather belt loaded with white compound.



Here is a Busse FFBM which I convexed in about 10 minutes and was able to make curlies with, that is a .32 think piece of INFI making curlies, I love it <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />





Here is my Hinderer XM-24 that I convexed





And lastly a few of my M4 SMF Strider






The sander makes touch ups super quick which me leaves me time for everything else I need to do. Biggest benefits of a sander is the convex edges and time you can save. Best

Impressive work Bapple! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

This is a great thread! Thank you SF for starting it and thank you all for sharing your thoughts! It´s very educational to see other point of views of sharpening knives.

Cazio don´t be afraid to sharpen your knives. Start with some sheap blade that don´t matter. If you don´t have one - buy one. If it´s not dull when you buy it - make it dull. Then practise.

I started with Lansky sets that have guide rods for hones; very easy and good results. Other set I use is Spyderco Triangle sharpmaker; a little more demanding than Lansky but quicker and in the end quite easy and versatile. For my straight razor I have a Norton 4000/8000 waterstone and a hanging strop. Paddlestrop is for my other knives. These equipment are best suitable for v-grinds. Horn Dog is an expert with convex edges so listen to him.

Bapple, in order to get the convex edge are you just using a leather strap on the sander? Can you go from a flat grind to a convex using that leather belt? Kind of wondering also how long your learning curve was?

Thanks for posting your setup.

P.S. what is the product name or model of your 1 x 42 belt sander?

Thanks

sf45,

The majority of my blades all started as v edge knives. The way I put a convex on them is I first use a 200 grit belt to raise a burr, then to a 600 belt to a burr, then finish off with the leather belt you see in the picture, loaded with white compound.

The sander I have is a Kalamazoo 1 x 42 sander. I guess you could convert a v edge to a convex with only using leather, however it would take quite a bit longer than using the gritted belts first.

My learning curve on the sander was maybe 2-3 knives (cheap ones, kitchen knives mainly) before I felt comfortable going to one of my Bussekin knives or one of my folders. It really is pretty simple once you learn it. The best thing about a belt sander is the amount of time you save when sharpening, it is a very fast method. Also, after you have your initial convex edge, for touch ups, you only need to use the leather belt which makes the touch ups simple and quick. If you try it and get the hang of it, you will never look back!

Hope this helps!

Brad

Bapple, thanks much, it is a start in the direction I would like to take.

I would like to thank everyone who shared their techniques on this thread, lots of great info here. I always enjoy reading about different methods of sharpening as I feel like I can always learn from others, especially when it comes to sharpening. Thanks guys, I mean dogs!

One of the most important things I learned when going convex is to build up a good burr, Like Bapple said. I just sharpened my 511 and it scares hairs into jumping off themselves...<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />

A couple of pics...





Hey Bapple,

I have always used the leather belt with the rough side out. Seems to take compound better that way...Hope I am not doing it wrong!! Does the smooth side do ok for ya? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Ireash,

The smooth side does work very well for me. I apply the compound before putting the belt on the sander, to make sure I get a good uniform cover on the belt. I am sure the rough side would work too, but I have never tried it. Nice job on those edges also, looks outstanding!

this is a great thread