Sharpening Round Knife Alternatives Good Enough?

[AlamoJoe2002]

The situation is something we all have to overcome one time or another. How to get the best edged on my Osborne Old-School Newark NJRound Knife. An no...I don't want to talk to a Chaplin at this time.

I tried the sandpaper idea where I increased the grit from 300 to 1500 in stages, stropped on a flesh side leather board covered with Harbor Freight Green Compound. Nogo...

I tried my DMT Diamond mini-hones from 300 to 600 to 1200 and stropped. Nogo...

I took the heathen to the mini lathe and used a cloth wheel covered in the same H.B. Green Compound. Much better....cutting 14oz shirting with a ton of pressure. Not good enough.

Was my knife in Hell before I got my hands on the god-less thing?

Joe

[MtlBiker]

20 minutes ago, AlamoJoe2002 said:

The situation is something we all have to overcome one time or another. How to get the best edged on my Osborne Old-School Newark NJRound Knife. An no...I don't want to talk to a Chaplin at this time.

I tried the sandpaper idea where I increased the grit from 300 to 1500 in stages, stropped on a flesh side leather board covered with Harbor Freight Green Compound. Nogo...

I tried my DMT Diamond mini-hones from 300 to 600 to 1200 and stropped. Nogo...

I took the heathen to the mini lathe and used a cloth wheel covered in the same H.B. Green Compound. Much better....cutting 14oz shirting with a ton of pressure. Not good enough.

Was my knife in Hell before I got my hands on the god-less thing?

Joe

There are lots of threads here about sharpening round knives... and I think there's no substitute for lots and lots of careful attention.  I don't believe 1500 grit is anywhere near fine enough.  You'd probably need to first shape the edge and then refine refine and refine, working up to maybe 4000 grit or higher and only then finishing up with stropping on leather.  I'm fairly a novice with this sharpening but I'm getting better and better.  I haven't yet succeeded in getting my round knives (an Osborne and a George Barnsley) sharp enough to skive leather... only sharp enough to cut my fingers!    But I have gotten my Japanese skiving knives much sharper and as I get time I'll work more on my round knives.  You might also search YouTube for round knife sharpening videos... there are quite a few.  But sharpening properly is a long process that's got to be done very carefully.  Good luck!

 

[tsunkasapa]

Greetings from one 12Bravo to another.

I don't think there's any need to beyond 14-1600. Anything beyond that and you're just going through the motions and wasting time and effort. It all about maintaining a constant angle. And the proper angle for the particular tool. I sharpen maybe once a  year,  year and a half. Other than that I strop EVERY time I pick up a blade, and EVERY time I'm done with it. And sometimes part way through a large project. For my round knives I like a long, flat angle.

Edited April 22, 2022 by tsunkasapa

[AlamoJoe2002]

Thanks Tsunkasapa!  I'm glad you recognize our crest! I read in the sharpening forum that a few leather workers won't sharpen over 1200 grit. I liked the read from an Engineer who discussed the micro-serations of the metal knife. I forget the title. 

We are 12Bravo's or

Army Combat Engineers. -Joe

[AzShooter]

I sharpen my Head Knife ( Tandy ) with a diamond stone 600 grit. I don't know what make but the instructions were pretty good.  Take the knife and drag it 10 times on each side, the 9 times, 8 times etc.  When you get to 1 I've found my knife to be very sharp and all I need to do is strop it before and after each use.

I also purchased a set of KERYE stones. Four Hundred, 1000, 3000 and 8000.  I use the same method and it's helped me get my Osborne skiving knife very sharp.  The 400 is to get a basic edge on the blade but doesn't sharpen it.  I push the blade in both directions and then go to the 1000 etc.  These are wet water stones except the 8000.  That stays dry.

 

[TomE]

You can get a lot of experience sharpening a round knife if you start with an Osborne.  I learned through trial and error that the key was to shape the blade with gradual taper before sharpening.  Mine had a bull nose shape when new.   I spent a lot of time working the taper with coarse stones.  If you're smarter than me you'll find a friend with an abrasive belt to help you. 

[Dwight]

I was never able to get the "sharpness" I wanted until I followed these guys.  May not work for you . . .  but sure did for me . . . I've used that round knife more in the last month . . . than the first 10 years I owned it.

May God bless,

Dwight

 

[tsunkasapa]

3 hours ago, AlamoJoe2002 said:

Thanks Tsunkasapa!  I'm glad you recognize our crest! I read in the sharpening forum that a few leather workers won't sharpen over 1200 grit. I liked the read from an Engineer who discussed the micro-serations of the metal knife. I forget the title. 

We are 12Bravo's or

Army Combat Engineers. -Joe

12B40

Delta Co. 9th Eng Bn

Aschaffenburg, Germany

1973-75

[AlamoJoe2002]

Tsunkkasapa,

1986-1989 Smith Kascern (sp)

D CO /9th EN BN

Very Small World!

Joe

[chuck123wapati]

i found that that alot of my sharp knife problem was actually how i was cutting the  leather, when its laid flat on a table it becomes much harder to cut, your pushing against the leather causing it to bind on the blade plus trying to cut whatever you have under it.. I found that picking up the leather or getting some air under one side or the other makes it about a hundred times easier to cut with any knife. as far as sharpening if it can shave hair its plenty sharp. its not rocket science it just takes practice. farthest i go is 2000 grit paper for stropping if that is what you want to call it. 

  Heres where folks fail IMO, create the primary edge with a rough stone, sharpen it till its as sharp as you can get it. The edge will cut but feels rough, like a saw blade, then start with your finer stones working to clean up the edge until you start to get a very fine roll of metal forming. then you strop to take of that fine roll and polish the final edge. Most folks i have seen that have problems sharpening  don't create that sharp edge first with the rough stone, they go into the finer stuff way to soon and are just basically polishing the side of the blade not the edge.