Hawkbill knives share their curved edge with knives like the karambit. The edge curves inward, like a bird’s beak, so most of these knives are not used for chopping. Instead, they are used for carving, pulling cuts and slicing. Sharpening a hawkbill knife is a little bit different from sharpening a normal-shaped knife: the inward curve won’t sit flat on the face of a stone, so you need a round sharpening tool. That doesn’t make it harder to sharpen than normal knives, though.
What Does A Hawkbill Knife Look Like
The hawkbill started out as a working tool: farmers and gardeners used curved pruning knives to cut vines and branches, and tradesmen used them to cut linoleum, carpet, rope and cable. The hooked blade pulls the material into the edge instead of letting it slide off.
Modern hawkbills keep the same shape but come as folding knives with pocket clips and locks, as fixed blades, and as utility knives with replaceable blades. Many people carry them for outdoor activities like fishing, camping or backpacking, and for work around the house and yard. If you are still choosing an everyday carry (EDC) knife, my best EDC knife under $100 guide covers the shapes that suit most people.
Because the point sits below the handle and the edge curves toward you, a hawkbill gives a secure grip for pulling cuts. The same shape means the tip is easy to catch on things, so close it or sheath it whenever you’re not cutting.
One note before you sharpen: if your hawkbill is a utility knife with a replaceable blade, don’t sharpen it, just swap the blade. Everything below is for knives with a fixed, sharpenable blade.
How To Sharpen Your Hawkbill Knife
Normal shaped knives are usually sharpened on the flat face of a whetstone. On a hawkbill, only the very ends of the edge would touch a flat stone, so the middle of the curve never gets sharpened. To reach the whole edge, you need a sharpener with a round surface that fits inside the curve: a round or tapered rod in ceramic or diamond, the edge of a rod-shaped stone, or a dowel wrapped in sandpaper. The angle stays the same as on other knives; the only real difference is the round shape, which lets the sharpener contact the inside of the curve properly.
Now, let’s see the steps of how to sharpen a Hawkbill knife.
Prepare your knife
First of all, prepare your knife for sharpening: wipe off any dust or dirt with a dry cloth. If the knife is grimy, wash it in warm water and dry it before you start.
Next, check the angle of the existing edge. Most pocket knives are sharpened at roughly 20 degrees per side. Coloring the edge bevel with a marker helps: after a few strokes, you can see if you are hitting the bevel or rounding it off.
Hold the knife firmly but without squeezing, edge facing away from you. Steadiness matters more than speed in knife sharpening.
Sharpen the Hawkbill Knife
Lay the rod against the inside of the curve at the edge angle. Pull it along the edge from heel to tip (or move the knife along the rod), so each stroke covers the whole curve. Use light pressure; let the abrasive do the work.
Keep stroking one side until you can feel a small burr along the entire opposite side with your fingertip (stroke across the edge, never along it). Then switch sides and repeat. On a knife sharpened on one side only, like many pruning hawkbills, sharpen the beveled side only and remove the burr on the flat side with one or two light, completely flat passes.
Finish with a finer rod, or with lighter alternating strokes, one per side, until the burr is gone. If the outside of the blade near the tip is straight or curves outward, you can sharpen that part on a normal flat stone.
For a hawkbill you carry, a small pocket sharpener with a tapered diamond rod does the whole job. The Lansky Blademedic, for example, has a tapered diamond rod for curves and serrations plus pull-through slots for the straight part of a blade.
More about sharpening tools can be found in my guides on how to use a Lansky pocket knife sharpener or how to use a Smith’s knife sharpener.
Finishing touches
Wipe the metal dust off the blade and the sharpener with a clean cloth.
You can also strop the edge on leather, edge trailing. Stropping on the rounded edge of a leather strop, or with leather wrapped around a dowel, polishes the inside of the curve and keeps the edge keen longer between sharpenings. I explain the technique in how to strop a knife.
To test that your knife is sharp enough, use the old-school method: slice a sheet of paper, pulling the curve through it. If it cuts cleanly along the whole edge, you’re done. For more ways to check, see how to tell if a knife is sharp enough.
This is pretty much everything there is to using a round knife sharpener. It is not hard, but you still need to be careful, just like with any knife sharpening.
Conclusion
Sharpening a hawkbill knife is a simple process with the right tools. The key is a round sharpener that fits inside the curve; you can buy one or make one at home by wrapping sandpaper around a dowel. The basics of knife sharpening also apply to this knife, so you don’t need to learn anything new to make your hawkbill razor sharp. Just get the right tool, hold a steady angle and work along the whole curve.
Taking your knife to a professional for sharpening can be a wise choice as well. But if you want a tool at home, a fine tapered diamond or ceramic rod is the cheapest way to do it.
For more related guides you can visit how to sharpen a pocket knife or how to fix a pocket knife that won’t close.
Gary Portman founded knivesadvice.com in 2019. He learned to cook in his family’s kitchen as a kid and has used kitchen, pocket and outdoor knives ever since, from paring and fillet knives to survival blades he carries camping and hiking. He writes the site’s buying guides, brand reviews and sharpening how-tos to help readers find the right knife for the job. More about Gary.