Blade angle for my GEC's

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gtrplr42

Joined
Jan 2, 2014
Messages
7
Hello,

I am new to traditional folders. I have always been into bushcraft knives with Scandinavian grinds which are therefore easy to sharpen. I just received my new #99 and #15 from GEC and want to put a nice edge on them. I'm wondering what edge angle would be appropriate for this kind of knife? I apologize if this is a stupid question. As I said, I am new to this type of blade. Thanks
 
It's really matter of personal preference. I put approximately a 25 degree edge on all of my knives. Whether traditional or modern. For me 25 degrees is plenty sharp enough yet it leaves enough meat on the edge that it won't wear down too quickly.

Just my own personal preference.
 
They're 1095 which is tough but not abrasion resistant per se (keeps a push cutting razor edge for a long time though.) I generally don't wail on my GEC knives like putting them through staples, so I honestly shoot for 12-15 degrees per side. This tends to widen the bevels a bit vs. the factory sharpening job but they cut a lot better.
 
My 92 was reprofiled by razor-edge-knives to something between 30 and 40 degrees inclusive (based on how my Sharpmaker makes contact) and I keep a 40 degree secondary bevel on it. 30 degree primary and 40 degree secondary is my general mo, I only do anything differently if I'm going to use a knife for something particular (more acute for a kitchen knife, less acute for something I'm going to beat up on).
 
I go for 18DPS for most if not all my GEC's. Since the secondary bevel is sometimes more like a microbevel in comparison to the primary grind it leaves a nice slicing edge.
 
Last edited:
gtrplr42 said:
Hello,

I am new to traditional folders. I have always been into bushcraft knives with Scandinavian grinds which are therefore easy to sharpen. I just received my new #99 and #15 from GEC and want to put a nice edge on them. I'm wondering what edge angle would be appropriate for this kind of knife? I apologize if this is a stupid question. As I said, I am new to this type of blade. Thanks
Click to expand...

Not a stupid question at all.

I tend to use 20° per side.
Because I tend to cut plastic and hard media, I prefer to put more steel behind the edge than a lot of folks. This gives the edge better support so that it does not deform as easily.
 
I lean a diamond stone on my sharpmaker and reprofile. I start by trying to put a 15° edge on, then if it is not working, I give up and put a 20° primary bevel on. Convexing also works well.
 
I generally like 20º. It's a good angle for general use. Don't worry about getting any angle exact especially if you hand sharpen. The key is to get a consistent angle - anywhere from 20º to 25º should do it. If you have a hard time picturing 20º stack two quarters on top of one another and put them on your sharpener, lay the edge of your blade on your sharpener, the spine of your blade on the two quarters and that'll be right at 20º.
 
I go with 18 per side (Edge-Pro Apex, it just makes it so easy). A couple of reasons for that: it makes it screaming sharp with a little stropping, and I can hone it on my sharp maker (20 degree setting) then the strop. In less than a minute it is crazy sharp again. The sharp maker essentially gives it a secondary bevel, even though I don't really do one, all I use are the fine and/or ultra fine sharp maker stones.

That system seems to work well for me, and the few guys I sharpen for seem to like it too.
 
I reprofile between 18-20 dps then again it to 15 dps, that way the bevel stays pretty small (I HATE the look of wide bevels) I really dont think a 15 dps bevel is too "weak" for heavy work and it cuts alot better than a 20 dps bevel. I would experiment a bit to find out what suits your preferences and needs.
 
Thanks for all the replies! I went with 25 degrees on the #15 and 20 Degrees on the #99. Figured I'd try two different and try to develop a preference. Thanks again!
 
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