I remember seeing a video of a Japanese Master Sharpener working a Katana. His movements were deliberate, and almost ceremonial as he perfected the convex edge. What a testament to patience and reverence to the craft.
Thank you Murray, you are a true master and a very interesting teacher. I'm always glued to you videos. One day I hope to add one of your fine blades to my collection. Great vid.
When I look closely at many of the knives that I own it seems that I sharpen them convex instead of flat. Didn't know I was doing it but now that I have watched this vid I know why it has happened and now I'm taking advantage of it. That little rocking motion works wonders and the knives shave hair with one pass. Thanks much Carter.
Excelllent video! And most people thing that you need a slack belt grinder to do convex. I love using Japanese water stones to do all of my sharpening. I will sometimes use a flat diamond 8x3" stone, if I need to take off a lot of steel, but always go back to waterstones.
@engelteir You'll get it! Keeping your wrist and body movement is key, and through constant observation and adjustment you'll achieve the edge you're desiring.
Alas, I shall be receiving my first CC blade in the mail this week, very excited. Also have some stones coming in to practice your method of sharpening. Thx.
This channel is so helpfull, I have improved my sharpening abilities over the time, forgin knives became also something I'd love to learn but I haven't the propper space/equipment to do that! Thanks for all the effort, maybe one day I will have my very own Murray Carter kitchen knife :D
Another benefit to convex is that. From the cutting edge, the angle is lowering along the curve to the spine. So instead of having a v edge at 20 degrees resisting a cut, a convex will have continuous lower angles the deeper the cut. Making it easier.
Wonderful video, thanks for sharing. Would love to see one for the bushcraft knife with the convex edge that just needs to be honed or lightly sharpened so to say, not actually changing the blade itself. I am new to the sharpening world and found your video very useful.
Kakarot, I like the convex edge because it is very strong and durable. There is more metal behind the edge. This means it will hold an edge longer, thus staying sharper longer. It keeps me from having to resharpen as often, which means I don't have to remove as much steel from the knife. This keeps wear from sharpening down. Problem is that it isn't as easy as the other edge geometries. Many swords have this geometry as well.
Good job. I would like to see a convex camp knife like a Bark River knife sharpened. The European style convex is a bit different to me, it seems with the gradual slant.
I've seen some people keeping the convex edge by using various grades of lapping paper lying on a computer mouse pad, using only pulling strokes. Have you tried that, or is that not repeatable enough?
A great instructional video. Thank you! I need an advice... I have a knife with a hollow secondary and a small flat primary (the knife is EKA Nordic W11) which I want to turn into a convex ground knife. Not sure how to do it, nor if it's even a smart thing to do.
Very helpfull video! Many people are very satisfied with the Norton Arizona Translucent stones (3000-5000 Grit). Did you use them/ cfn recommend? Thanks
Thanks for the video Murray! I have your DVD and my knifes are sharper than ever. But i have a question: I have a Fällkniven S1 and i feel really difficult to sharpen it. Could you make a video about how to make a flat/scandi grind on a convex grind? Thank you, Flávio.
@CarterCutlery I am about to aquire a knife of yours in trade from a good friend. I am very much looking to try your work. you are definately a master of your craft.
Hi Murray, I am a huge fan of urs and I have gotten a combo India stone and a combo Arkansas stone and plan on trying ur method... However, these are oil stones as im sure youre aware and I was wondering if you could use water with them if they were brand new or wut u had to do to make them take water... Or if I just have to suck it up... Please tell me ur thoughts... Thank u and keep up the great vids. PS will u be at the BLADE show this year in Atlanta?
Murray, I have a Buck 110 folding hunting knife. It doesn't have a convex edge, but a concave edge. How do you sharpen a concave edge on a hunting knife?
I enjoy your vids.. Especially the shaving ones. How long did it take you to learn to shave with an edge while looking in a camera.......I tried it...Holly CrapAlso convex fans that have never made a convex knife need to look at 2:28 where you circled. People ask me all the time how. You grind facets in that order all the way up then smooth the facets in Voila!. Its a nice illustration, It also represents why so few people sell convex knives. All that grinding takes time.
800 to shape and 4000 to hone will work just fine and give you a very nice working edge. He mentions often that the exact grit does not matter that much. Rule of thumb I use is 1000 or less for shaping and 2000 or greater for honing. So 800/4000 is pretty close to ideal.
TH3G00DN3WS When you say 800 to shape, does that mean I can change an edge bevel angle with it? I need to re-angle an Ontario Blackbird SK5 in 154CM, it comes with an edge angle that is way too wide imo. I haven't touched it yet, I'm still preparing my set up to work. Thanks
TH3G00DN3WS I also need to just remove a very small secondary bevel on the edge of a convex edged knife that came that way from the factory, and it's indering the cutting performance of that blade, so I need to remove that. I don't imagine that I will need to remove material from the whole main bevel to achieve this, like Murray shows here, since it is only to remove a secondary bevel on the edge, I imagine I can just use that rocking motion and that should do the trick?
+Sharpblade yes 800 would be course enough to reprofile the angle, Though the lower you go the fast the process will be. I actually have a 250 grit stone Ok use for this and extremely damage edges. Far as the micro bevel on convex edge, you can remove it by simply sharping with rocking motion, but remember that will make the edge wider. Draw the profile of the edge on paper then draw lines removing the bevel and you should see what I mean.
MrChugar45 No. For those you have to send them off to Chuck Norris and he will roundhouse kick a new bevel onto it for you. The charge? Just For Men beard colour in Chestnut brown. You're welcome.
A dished stone isn't a problem at all when you are sharpening a convex edge. If you are paying careful attention you can even sharpen a flat edge on a dished stone -- you just need to develop a rocking motion that matches the dish in the stone.
That's impossible. Anyone that knows anything about sharpening, knows that you have to have a completely flat stone. It is possible to sharpen a tool. But to achieve a perfect apex..... absolutely not. I sharpen bark rivers on flat stones always get zero degree bevels.
