Becker edges

[Bobby3326]

So out habit from using cheaper knives I tend to sharpen my hard use knives at about 25° per side. I'm trying to break myself of this habit since my Beckers and other higher quality knives will obviously hold up better than Chinese mystery steel. So I'm curious what angle you guys are sharpening your Beckers at, like the bk2 , 7, and 9 that see allot of impact cutting that gives a balance between sharpness and longevity.

I've read about guys thinning out the edges on there choppers and running low angles, but how well do they hold up afterwards? Right now my 2 is close to 34° inclusive and the 9 is close to 30° inclusive. I haven't had a chance to really use em much yet to see how durable they are but there both insanely sharp.

 

[Silver Needle]

I'm just going to sit here and wait for people to comment on what they do with their 2's. My 9 and 16 work well with the 40 degree inclusive from the factory, but even after several sessions sharpening my 2 the same way as the others, I just can't get it to cut the way I'd like.

 

[Bobby3326]

I'm just going to sit here and wait for people to comment on what they do with their 2's. My 9 and 16 work well with the 40 degree inclusive from the factory, but even after several sessions sharpening my 2 the same way as the others, I just can't get it to cut the way I'd like.

I convexed my 2 and held it at about a 17° angle. I've done light testing (feathering, and carving mainly) and it does a lot better than the factory edge. I'm pretty sure than a 34° inclusive edge on the 2 will be fine and hold up to the heavy use of batoning and chopping. I'm just not sure if thinning it out more would be a good idea, yea it'll make it slice better but would it hold up to impact cutting?

 

[TravisH]

I sharpen all to about 40° inclusive.

I ended up thinning the whole blade of a 5 during a restoration project. It sure cuts smoothly.

... the 9 is close to 30° inclusive.

Hmmm ... I wouldn't think such an edge would hold up under a 9's hard use.

If you want a big slicer, get a 5.

 

[Bobby3326]

I sharpen all to about 40° inclusive.

I ended up thinning the whole blade of a 5 during a restoration project. It sure cuts smoothly.


Hmmm ... I wouldn't think such an edge would hold up under a 9's hard use.

If you want a big slicer, get a 5.

Honestly the 5 is the only Becker that never really appealed to me, just not my cup of tea I guess...

Anyway this 9 I haven't used much, it's held up to what I've done so far thou. I didn't set the bevels on this one, I bought it as is and the seller said he thought it was 17°dps, thou when I touched it up a lil and used the sharpie trick I had to hold closer to 15° to evenly remove it.

I've read on a few sites of guys saying they thin out all there heavy choppers and go with low inclusive angle. That's kinda why I'm looking to see if anyone here is running acute edges on there hard use Beckers. In my head it always made sense to put a thick more obtuse edge on my choppers, to withstand impact cutting.

 

[Chameleonbear]

So, my 9 is at 40 degrees inclusive.
My 2 doesn't count cause... Well it's been highly modified.
My 7 is at 38 degrees inclusive.
My 5 is at 35 degrees inclusive but it doesn't get beat on like my 9.
My Camillus 11 is at 30 degrees inclusive, my San Mai 11 is as well. My Ka-Bar 11s are at 35 degrees as well are my 14s.
My 15s are 35
My 16s and 17s are at 35 also (I believe)

Not sure what my 3 is at... I need to figure that out, but it's a chisel ground so... It's odd.

Here is one of my 11s. It's the Camillus 11 I carry every day.

 

[Bladite]

convexed

what'ever angle that implies to a given profile

 

[TravisH]

In my head it always made sense to put a thick more obtuse edge on my choppers, to withstand impact cutting.

Yep. Thin-n-low = slicing, Thick-n-high = chopping

There's a reason lumberjacks don't use santukos and sushi chefs don't use axes.

 

[B.F.U]

It depends on which Becker. I sharpened my 15 (now my brother's) and 14 to like 15-18 degrees. I sharpen my 4 to the factory 20, but if I feel frisky next time I might sharpen the part closest to the handle at a lesser angle, maybe 15.

 

[Bobby3326]

Yep. Thin-n-low = slicing, Thick-n-high = chopping

There's a reason lumberjacks don't use santukos and sushi chefs don't use axes.

That's kinda how I've looked at it too, you don't see axes with thin acute edges.. I'll just stick with what I know and keep my impact cutters around 20 dps. I'll just use my 9 as is for awhile and see how well the edge holds just to see and work it back to 20 dps as I sharpen it.

 

[Silver Needle]

So, my 9 is at 40 degrees inclusive.
My 2 doesn't count cause... Well it's been highly modified.
My 7 is at 38 degrees inclusive.
My 5 is at 35 degrees inclusive but it doesn't get beat on like my 9.
My Camillus 11 is at 30 degrees inclusive, my San Mai 11 is as well. My Ka-Bar 11s are at 35 degrees as well are my 14s.
My 15s are 35
My 16s and 17s are at 35 also (I believe)

Not sure what my 3 is at... I need to figure that out, but it's a chisel ground so... It's odd.

Here is one of my 11s. It's the Camillus 11 I carry every day.

I'm pretty inexperienced as far as sharpening goes, but a Worksharp field sharpener with angle guides has worked well for me.

How in the world do you sharpen to such exact degrees? As in sharpening one blade 35 degrees and the other 38. I'm so simple minded, help me out!

Also, do you really tell in use the minute change in degrees?

 

[ThePointyEnd]

I do more or less what everyone here is doing, keep the factory angle or the convex thereof on large ones and sharpen the snot out of the smaller ones. the one exception is my BK-5, which has a rather acute convex on it since it's what I use to make porkchops, etc. with. Also, my Bk-16 relatively acute and slicey, along with one of my bk-14's being around IIRC 15deg. inc. -- I got a little froggy there.

 

[Bobby3326]

I'm pretty inexperienced as far as sharpening goes, but a Worksharp field sharpener with angle guides has worked well for me.

How in the world do you sharpen to such exact degrees? As in sharpening one blade 35 degrees and the other 38. I'm so simple minded, help me out!

Also, do you really tell in use the minute change in degrees?

He likely is using a guided system like a lansky, an edge pro or wicked edge to determine such precise angles...and I can tell a significant difference in how my bk2 performs and sharpness between 17 and 20 dps.

 

[ocnLogan]

I have no idea what edge angle any of my Beckers edge angles are, as I sharpen freehand. I'd guess they're somewhat close to stock (particularly my BK9).

Typically I don't bother changing the angle that the knife came with too much, unless I find it doesn't perform for me in some way. Some knives I've leaned back (more acute), others I've made thicker (more obtuse), although that last one isn't particularly common.

I do know that my BK9 is a bit more obtuse (most likely closer to stock) than the edge I put on my BK15 (which I leaned out some), but I've not had problems getting both to shave, and have gotten them both to whittle hair (although I don't bother with an edge that fine on the BK9 most of the time anymore). The edges seem to last pretty long as well.

Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to get at, is you might not need to worry about it so much. Sharpen it at an angle, and move from there based on your use. You'll find a preference somewhere .

 

[Chameleonbear]

This is the system I'm using. It does a pretty good job of keeping the angle consistent.

 

[Bobby3326]

I finally got a chance to take em out to play today...

The bk9 for having such an acute edge did amazing and held up no problem. It actually made it preform much better, I've used a stock 9 before and it chopped great. This one however definitely out chops a factory edge, it bites deep making short work of whatever your going through. Afterwards the edge is intact and still incredibly sharp, the only thing that didn't last was the sand blasted finish.

 

[Bobby3326]

The bk2 held up great as well, I found my sweet spot for the edge. It holds up great to the abuse and performs finer tasks with ease.

On a side note I put the bk2 in a chop test side by side with the tops BOB. 40 chops with each and the bk2 blew the BOB away.

 

[KingMC]

The bk2 held up great as well, I found my sweet spot for the edge. It holds up great to the abuse and performs finer tasks with ease.

On a side note I put the bk2 in a chop test side by side with the tops BOB. 40 chops with each and the bk2 blew the BOB away.

It's always nice to see a comparison between the BK2 and similar knives from other companies, it reaffirms the beastly qualities of the BK2 every time.

 

[Bobby3326]

It's always nice to see a comparison between the BK2 and similar knives from other companies, it reaffirms the beastly qualities of the BK2 every time.

I've yet to use a knife in its class that can compare.. I started to add the benchmade 162 in the mix but it was sad how badly it chopped so I saved it some embarrassment lol...everything I did with the 9I could also do with the 2 thou it would've taken a lil longer.

 

[bghorn]

Nice test there Bobby.

I stumbled upon this thread yesterday http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1323297-Bark-River-a2-steel
and wanted to see if I got duds as well because I didn't use them yet on anything harder than pine.

I whacked on big knotty chunk of seasoned almond and for good measure depraved our dog of few ox bones, still partially frozen.

I also wanted to see how other steel does, so I have thrown in Becker 0170-6, Esee 1095 and Ontario 5160 for comparison.

Becker was re-profiled to exact 20 dps when new and freehand sharpened several times since then, so it may be 1 or 2 degrees off and shoulder is rounded too.
After the exercise, I have examined the edge under magnifying glass and all I could find was one and only very tiny micro chip. So tiny it took few swipes on strop bat and it was gone. It is also possible that chip was already there from before. Nothing else though, no rolls or anything like that.

So, yeah, I'm not surprised anymore on how well your BK9 did with that acute edge.

No pics from test unfortunately, but these are the ones tested