Angle of edge question

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WadeH

Joined
Apr 24, 2006
Messages
875
Ok guys this maybe a stupid question, but I have never let that deter me from asking anyway. :) At what angle do most of you put your final edge at? I know that what it is being used for comes into play. The reason I ask this is I was thinking, which is dangerous for me, that most everyone that has a knife has one of those ceramic crok sticks for sharpening with. Most have the ones that stick up from a small base. I am not sure but the angle of those look like it would be set for about 15 degrees, so would it not make sense to use that as the angle for your edge? Just wondering. I do have one of those that someone gave once, but I hardly ever use it. My granddad taught me how to sharpen when I was a kid so I almost always us a stone, but I see lots of people using these. Would they work better if the crok sticks were set at the same angle of the edge? Thanks.
 
Edges set by hand on stones tend to be convex. There is no set angle, they are formed by two intersecting caternary curves-as the distance from the edge goes to 0, the angles get higher.

You get the same type of edge with slack belt grinding. This can be set to different effective geometries by varying the curves.

This is the most durable and efficient type of edge. You will never get an edge fron set angle sharpeners that will compete.
 
I grind all my blades at either 20' degrees total or 25' degrees total on a double grind. no secondary bevel.
 
Leu...so 12-13* is the highest you hold the spine off the belt/stone/stick?

Wow, I usually set mine around 35-40 total...if I'm going for what I consider a real fine/delicate edge. Of course, I'm using production made knives...without some of the nicer steels out there.
 
Soilarch said:
Leu...so 12-13* is the highest you hold the spine off the belt/stone/stick?
Click to expand...

12.5 degrees per side on a double grind and ummm 20' degrees on a chisel ground blade. Both with no secondary bevel. So I guess yes to your question?

If you think about it...it's not actually 12-13' degrees. it's actually 90' degrees - 12.5'. so like 77.5' degrees i'm holding the blade at when i'm grinding one side of it.
 
Normally the final thickness of you edge will determine at what angle and how high you must take your edge to achieve a truly sharp knife. A good rule of thumb is your high should be 1.5 times the thickness of you edge.

Hope that makes sense, if your edge is say thick like .030 to .040 thousand you are going to have a very high secondary bevel, if your knife edge is on the thin side say .010 to .020 your secondary edge is going to be low. I really do not get to wrap around the whole this degree and that degree the knife's final edge thickness determines lots.

Spencer
 
field chopper of most kitchen knives all close to the same its more about the meat left behind the edge

now that said i do some kitchen knives that are dam near 0 ground bevel

most of the time tho 10 ish for the kitchen 15-20ish hunter and 20ish chopper
 
WadeH,

If you like to sharpen on a stone, make yourself a couple of wedges from hardwood, cover one side with thin leather and use these as a guide when sharpening. I cut mine on a power miter saw. I have one at 10 degrees 12 degrees and 15 degrees. This will cover anything from fillets to choppers.
Set the wedge atop the stone, rest the knife blade on the leather side and sharpen.
If you sharpen an edge at an angle, flatter than 10 degrees, the abrasive will, often, scratch the surface of the blade above the edge. Anything above 20 degrees is considered a splitting maul.

Fred
 
Fred.Rowe said:
Set the wedge atop the stone, rest the knife blade on the leather side and sharpen.
Click to expand...

This supposes that the stone won't significantly abrade the wood, and that the knife will stay in place relative to the wood because of the leather, no? I'm just having trouble picturing how it'd work, compared to Nozh's use of the wood to go UNDER the stone and to hold it at an angle.
 
I can sharpen a knife very well and have been for many many years. The question I was curious about is if anyone had ever gave any thought to the fact that allot of knife owners are going to use those easy sharpen methods like crok sticks and would it help them any to be able to keep their knifes sharp by setting the edge bevel to copy the angle of those sharpeners.
 
I have a Spiderco triange sharpener. It has two angles 40 and 30. I do try to match to the 30 and use about 15/side unless its a heavy use knive than I do 40. As you say I am matching the angle for ease of sharpening with these types of sharpeners. Not sure how many people have them.
 
Lucky Bob said:
This supposes that the stone won't significantly abrade the wood, and that the knife will stay in place relative to the wood because of the leather, no? I'm just having trouble picturing how it'd work, compared to Nozh's use of the wood to go UNDER the stone and to hold it at an angle.
Click to expand...

Bob,

The wedge stays put on the stone. Using the wedge, alloys you to establish, an angle.
Once you have that, it is easy to move along the abrasive surface and then make the radial turn at the tip of the blade.
The leather is there to protect the finished surface of the blade.

Hope this helps, Fred
 
Fred.Rowe said:
Bob,

The wedge stays put on the stone. Using the wedge, alloys you to establish, an angle.
Once you have that, it is easy to move along the abrasive surface and then make the radial turn at the tip of the blade.
The leather is there to protect the finished surface of the blade.

Hope this helps, Fred
Click to expand...
OH, alright. Makes sense now!
 
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