Sharpening A Curved Knife

[Joe D]

Hi all,

I am trying to sharpen a curved shoemaker's knife using a 1000/6000 grit whetstone. Here is the type of knife I'm talking about:

http://cordwainertools.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=190

I have been able to get it fairly sharp, but not quite as sharp as I need it. The challenge is, due to the curve, I can only sharpen one side of the blade on the flat stone. I'm not sure whether to sharpen the inside on the corner of the stone, or what.

As a follow up question, how do I know when it is sharp enough to go from the 1000 to the 6000 grit side?

Thanks!

Joe

[simontuntelder]

Have you tried stropping it? Polishing compound and on leather.

Sometimes that makes all the difference.

[zuludog]

The outside of the curve should be no problem, so I expect you need something for the inside edge

You can get ceramic, and diamond sharpening rods. Surf the Net or go to http://www.eze-lap.com

There are round edged sharpening stones intended for wood carver's gouges, called slip stones; again, go Surfing

A cheaper version would be to make up your own round or half round sharpening stick by wrapping or glueing some wet & dry paper onto a piece of wood. Remember to lubricate it

Similarly you could make your own suitably shaped or profiled strop

Leodis Leather does a video on YouTube for sharpening edge bevellers. You could make something similar but with a larger radius to match your knife

For cutting inside a bowl, spoon, or similar, woodcarvers use a curved knife, known variously as a hook knife, spoon knife, or crook knife. There are several videos on YouTube, you should be able to pick up some ideas there. Put 'how to sharpen a hook knife' into the search box

Edited July 16, 2015 by zuludog

[Pablo27]

For strops for curved blades I have taken PVC pipe couplings with the right diameter to fit the curve of the knife ( I have one 6" coupling to fit the

Tandy Curved blade trim knife and a 1.5" for the curved Xacto type knife.) them I glue and lace a piece of leather to them and add polishing compound. Works really well.

Paul

[Joe D]

Thanks for the great advice! I will give these a try.