PE Hawkbill reprofiling, sandpaper and block method?

[Blerv]

Hey everyone,

I have a number of small hawkbills that take to the 701 stones and Duckfoot nicely for touch-ups. I was curious though, unless your skill is better than mine it seems the arc itself is at risk of losing some of that angle. Worse yet, a tip that becomes less "hawky".

Is there any validity of taking a high-grit sandpaper and adhering it to a tube or block? I'm thinking the small hawkbills you could take like a 1" O/D PVC tube from Home Depot and wrapping it. For larger hawkbills maybe a domed wood-block that matches the arc of the blade (or the one you would like to attain). That way you could essentially freehand it.

I guess I could just try it and report back but it's always nice running stupidity past a few smart people first. :p

[JD Spydo]

I'm glad you brought up the subject of plain edged Hawkbills Blerv>> because that's one of the toughest blades I've found to get razor sharp. And I don't care which model it is either. It took me almost 3 hours the one time I reprofiled my blue PE, VG-10 Spyderhawk and got it walking through flimsy paper. For some reason it's a very tricky blade geometry to tackle when doing a thorough sharpening. I find the serrated Hawkbills to be three times as easy to sharpen with my 701 Profiles.

I still sing the praises of my Spyderco 701 Profile kit because that's mainly what I always use on any Hawkbill tip in particular. But for the rest of the blade I use my 204 Sharpmaker almost exclusively with the corners of the stones only for my PE Hawkbills>> but even with that setup I still find it demanding to get the blade just the way I like it.

I sincerely welcome more comments on sharpening PE Hawkbill blades. Blerv I've always been hesitant to use any type of sandpaper contraption on my premium blades because I find bad scratches tend to result most of the time and I also have trouble controlling any type of sandpaper type sharpening. I mainly would use sandpaper as strictly a survivalist's method of sharpening. But hey I'm willing to learn new methods if someone has mastered it or any other type of sharpening method for PE Hawkbills would be welcome.

[Donut]

I have one of these: http://www.amazon.com/DMT-DCLF-Tapered- ... 00004WFT3/" target="_blank

I would be surprised if you couldn't reprofile a PE hawkbill with it. I think you need to pay attention to what you're doing, if you spend too much time on one spot, it will profile different than the rest.

[JD Spydo]

I have one of these: http://www.amazon.com/DMT-DCLF-Tapered- ... 00004WFT3/" target="_blank

I would be surprised if you couldn't reprofile a PE hawkbill with it. I think you need to pay attention to what you're doing, if you spend too much time on one spot, it will profile different than the rest.

Hey Donut aren't those discontinued? I've tried to find one of those even second hand and I can't find one. If Spyderco would make the 701 Profile in diamond or a very coarse stone it would remedy a lot of sharpening problems.

With all the Hawkbill, Recurves, Reverse S and many other non conventional blades out there you would think there would be a solid market for those kinds of sharpening devices.

[Blerv]

Yea...I'm working with a 1" blade. Chisel grind even

My favorite hawkbills to sharpen are long, non-chisel, and cheap.

[Donut]

If you want to borrow the diamond thing I have to test it out, we can probably make something happen.

JD, I'm not sure, it looks like Amazon still has them available for the $30 range. I suspect the price would go up if they were discontinued.

*edit* DMT has them on their own store for a reasonable price... http://www.dmtonlinestore.com/Diamond-C ... P24C7.aspx

[angusW]

I've been looking at something lately as well for my new Tasman pe. I've been thinking of getting the Flexi-Sharp from DMT. They come in extra fine to extra course. They are .006" thick to wrap around an object but they're only 2"x3".

I was also thinking of getting the 3M micro-abrasive (sand paper) from Lee Valley. Sheets are 8.5"x11" but only come in 15µ, 5µ and 0.5µ. I'd want something a bit more aggressive.

I think I might just end up using some wet/dry paper. I already have a bunch from 200 to 2000 grit. Still undecided though.

[Blerv]

Thanks Brian. It's much appreciated. I may have to tool around with some high grit sand paper on a few other knives. I think my skill and a DMT might be dangerous

[JD Spydo]

If you want to borrow the diamond thing I have to test it out, we can probably make something happen.

JD, I'm not sure, it looks like Amazon still has them available for the $30 range. I suspect the price would go up if they were discontinued.

*edit* DMT has them on their own store for a reasonable price... http://www.dmtonlinestore.com/Diamond-C ... P24C7.aspx

Yeah I'll PM you later and we'll talk about it. Back to sharpening plain edged Hawkbills>> I'm still all ears if someone could show me a better/easier way of doing it efficiently. I pride myself in doing a decent if not a really good sharpening job on most all of my knives but I'll be honest and admit that there is something about PE Hawkbills that are demanding with very little room for error.

And what really behooves me about it is that I can get most any fully serrated Hawkbill razor sharp on all the scallops and spikes in less that half the time it takes me to get a PE. OK BLERV I'm going to give the sandpaper method a shot tomorrow when I get time. But I think I will stay with something even cutting like silicon carbide paper or the very dependable 3M "Sandblaster" sandpaper which cuts really nice and even.

I might even take the Cat's Eye shaped stones from my old Spyderco Galley V kit and wrap them with some type of sandpaper and give that a try>> because those Cat's Eye stones are shaped almost exactly alike that diamond tool that Donut has been talking to us about. I hope this thread gets some more hits because I truly want to know what you guys use on your PE Hawkbills.

[Michael Janich]

I've also had good luck with a fine half-round file wrapped with sandpaper. The radius of the half round part is larger and seems to "flow" with the contour of the edge better than a round dowel.

Stay safe,

Mike

[Jason B.]

I find the rounded edge of a flat stone to work the best for all inward curving blades. Doesn't take much, about as much curvature as a Bic pen will get the job done.

Edge trailing strokes starting at the tip and working to the heel help keep things more consistent, though it's a method best used on waterstones.

Keeping the edge at a near perfect 90 to the stone will also help maintain consistsncy. You basically need to rotate the blade on the stone like you are turning a knob to keep the proper angle.

[Blerv]

Thank you for all the input folks :). I'll look for a round file, Mike.

[JD Spydo]

I'm going to have to check my storage unit this weekend because I do have some Nicholson "half moon" files that I've had for years but never used them. The more I think about it I'm wondering if one of those wrapped in silicon Carbide paper wouldn't be a good way to remove shoulder and/or reprofile a PE Hawkbill.

As much as I've progressed in my sharpening skills I have to be painfully honest because PE Hawkbills still give me trouble when getting them super sharp. I really have to work hard to get PE Hawkbills the way I want them. Reprofiling and sharpening my blue PE, VG10 Spyderhawk was truly a form of punishment :eek: Even the tips on PE Hawkbills take a lot of patience.

That's probably a valid reason I need to get the CBN stones for the 204 Sharpmaker even before I get a new Spyder because I'm wondering if they wouldn't be helpful for this type of sharpening job?