# Help sharpening a hunting knife; broken tip, concave shape, bevels on the spine



## andygraybeal (Jun 16, 2013)

Here's the imgur album: http://imgur.com/a/wolUU

Hunting knife? I'm lost... Halp!

It also has two bevels that are different on either side of the spine.. looks like it might be for the sinewy parts of an animal or rope or something.

How to i sharpen a concave knife shape? I've read slip stones, and emery paper with dowel rods, and buffing wheels. though in the same post about the buffing wheels the guy mentioned that this will mess up the angle of the bevel after a while if you keep sharpening with a buffing wheel.

How would you go about fixing the tip? The last knife I fixed a tip on was a kitchen knife and I ground down the spine to the edge. This knife, unlike kitchen knives, has a pronounced convex shape slanting upwards on the spine of the knife, which makes me believe that I should grind from the edge to the spine; aka the opposite from what I do on kitchen knives.

What should I do about the bevels on the spine? Are they intended to be sharp? or somewhat blunt? I don't know it's purpose.


Also, does anyone recognize this knife?


----------



## Mrmnms (Jun 16, 2013)

When's the last time you used that beauty? If I was doing it, I'd grind the spine down a touch and bring the blade edge up to meet it following the "existing " bevel for a new point. Looks like it's overdue for some TLC.


----------



## andygraybeal (Jun 17, 2013)

Mrmnms said:


> When's the last time you used that beauty? If I was doing it, I'd grind the spine down a touch and bring the blade edge up to meet it following the "existing " bevel for a new point. Looks like it's overdue for some TLC.



It's a friends ...says it's his wife's keepsake, probably her late family member or something I'm not sure. I told all my friends I'd do repair work on their knives for free if they would advertise by word-of-mouth for me. Plus I need the experience and I communicated it to them.

I did think about doing what you said, grind the spine a bit then grind the edge up to meet it. I also thought about grinding just the edge to meet the spine.

Thanks for your insight


----------



## zitangy (Jun 17, 2013)

If I were to do it..

~to remove rust, I wld spray wd 40 adn let it "eat" away the loose exidation and then sand it off by hand.

~ I wld do it bit by bit over several days and each time, I shld map out where I want to remove steel.

I wld respect the shape and profile. Thus say 50:50 spine and edge removal or what ever ratio 60:40 or 80:20 that still makes it look nice. IF you remove only from the edge, the up sweep may be too dramatic. I wld use a marker adn darken the portion that you wld like to remove adn then execute bit by bit.

Near the tip with the steel removal it will be fairly thick for an edge then.

Spine Edge. If it is original, can't imaging that it was suppose to be a cutting edge there. IF not then I wld flatten the spine as best as I could and then rounded it off. Alternatively, improve the cutting edge on the spine

If using a flat stone, then the edge will be flat bevel.

Mr preference will be to use a belt sander which can be gotten for less than USD 50. Experiment of a condemned cheap knife adn see how it grinds to get a feel of it and only when you are ready.. its time to work on this keep sake. 

OF course you can use whatever that will enable you to remove steel where you desire like stone, sand paper and files.

Note once you remove the steel you cant put it back. so remove bit by bit. Better to be safe than sorry...


If you give up after you have tried.. send it to me in Singapore and I will pay shipping to you so that I can have a go at it.... Won't be like new... but a definite improvement


have fun...

d


----------



## andygraybeal (Jun 17, 2013)

zitangy, thanks for the insights.

how would you deal with the concave shape part of the knife? emery cloth and dowel rods? is there a better way?


----------



## TB_London (Jun 17, 2013)

I'd bring the spine down to the edge, easier to do and easier to blend in. The weird swedge looks to be a modification, not sure what to do about it, if the owner wants it you could neaten it up a bit and sharpen it, otherwise I'd remove it.

Recurve blades are a PITA to sharpen. Dowel and sandpaper can make a good job of it but takes time. A half round diamond file is also good for setting the bevel. You could use slip stones if you have them.

Good luck with it


----------



## andygraybeal (Jun 18, 2013)

TB_London said:


> I'd bring the spine down to the edge, easier to do and easier to blend in. The weird swedge looks to be a modification, not sure what to do about it, if the owner wants it you could neaten it up a bit and sharpen it, otherwise I'd remove it.
> 
> Recurve blades are a PITA to sharpen. Dowel and sandpaper can make a good job of it but takes time. A half round diamond file is also good for setting the bevel. You could use slip stones if you have them.
> 
> Good luck with it



Thanks TB_London.

So it's called a "recurve" ? 

When you say you'd remove the "swedge" (is that what a spine edge is called?) How would you remove it? Just grind the whole spine down to get rid of it?

Yea, I don't have slip stones, but a half round diamond file seems like a good idea, I don't have that either. I was going to go to the hardware store and buy some dowel rods today ... I'll look for a half round diamond files too. 

I'll be hitting up Lowes, Home Depot and Harbor Fright; yay for Parkersburg WV.

Andy


----------

