Case's Recommended Sharpening Angle

D

DavidGaTx

Joined
Dec 24, 2015
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On the Case website, as well as on the insert in each of their knife boxes, they recommend, when sharpening, to "hold the blade at a 10” to 15” angle from the surface of a sharpening stone". I have looked at various fixed angle sharpeners or systems with adjustable sharpening guides and none that I have seen allow for sharpening anywhere near such a "shallow" angle. As I recall, most seem to be more in the 20-25 degree range (per side). So other than using traditional stones, I was curious whether most users of Case knives just ignore their recommended sharpening angle or is there some sharpening system I have not come across that accommodates Case's recommendations. I would like to find a system that simplifies the process and makes it easier to maintain a consistent edge, but if not, I guess I will stick with freehanding the blades on my current stone.

-David-
 
I think holding the blade at 15 degree angle will give you a 30 degree inclusive (both sides) edge.
 
Spyderco Sharpmaker has a 15 degree per side (30 degrees inclusive) set of slots. It is still freehanding, but the stones are held at a fixed angle and you just have to hold the knife vertically.

I usually go with a 20 per side on Case knives myself. That steel is a little softer than I would like for a 15 per side edge.
 
I don't carry a knife if the edge is greater than 15° per side ;). I have found that that is about the right angle for Case knives, maybe a touch shallower (about 25° inclusive angle). I don't have a ton of experience with Case stainless but their CV will actually hold an edge at 20° for a while. CV is pretty soft, but it's also pretty tough. I've found it actually responds very well to a convex edge that has a final edge at about 20°
 
John, thanks for the info. I haven't come across a Spyderco in any of the stores in my area, but I'll take a look online. Sounds like it could fit what I am looking for.

jc57 said:
Spyderco Sharpmaker has a 15 degree per side (30 degrees inclusive) set of slots. It is still freehanding, but the stones are held at a fixed angle and you just have to hold the knife vertically.

I usually go with a 20 per side on Case knives myself. That steel is a little softer than I would like for a 15 per side edge.
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Thanks for sharing your experience, Macchina. I had contacted Case once about this and they were pretty insistent - as I guess I should have expected them to be - that I should stay within their recommended angles for the best results. It sounds like you are in agreement.

Macchina said:
I don't carry a knife if the edge is greater than 15° per side ;). I have found that that is about the right angle for Case knives, maybe a touch shallower (about 25° inclusive angle). I don't have a ton of experience with Case stainless but their CV will actually hold an edge at 20° for a while. CV is pretty soft, but it's also pretty tough. I've found it actually responds very well to a convex edge that has a final edge at about 20°
Click to expand...
 
I always free-hand all of my knives. Having a long and storied history with the large chopping knives from Nepal, I convex most everything I carry to some degree. While I may strop a khukuri to a thicker yet polished chopping edge, I do tend to sharpen my folding knives to a much finer edge, but I always convex them up a bit with a loaded strop. It yields an edge that will pop hair and shave paper, but it eliminates the wire edge and generally will hold up to more strenuous cutting chores than super thin edges.
 
I always sharpen my Case knives at about 15° per side freehand and then I add a 20° per side micro-bevel with my sharpmaker.
 
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I sharpen Case knives at 20° per side. No matter whether they are TruSharp or CV.

The correct sharpening angle for any blade will depend on the hardness of the alloy and upon the intended usage for the blade.

No manufacturer is ever going to know what a user is going to cut with a blade. So I take manufacturer recommendations for edge angles with a grain of salt.

►Case runs Tru-Sharp at about 55HRC, which is a reasonably traditional blade hardness, although a bit soft compared to the hardness of most blades on modern knives.
►I tend to use knives for cutting plastic and cardboard, which are tough materials and which will cause deformation of edges if the blade is not hard enough or if the edge angle is overly thin.

For these reasons, 20° per side works about correct for Case Blades for my usage.
10-15° per side might well work fine for somebody else.
 
Smiths has a sharpener with a "20°" slot, but it looks like the stone is held at something closer to 10°. I'll have to find my protractor and check it.
If 40° inclusive is the finest angle it can do, it's going back to the store for a refund.
 
So long as you're not doing anything abusive with the edge in use, like prying, screwdriver use, etc, a 25° inclusive (12.5° per side) angle will do fine with Case's blades. That's the ballpark range in which mine end up; I sharpen freehand, and that's where my hand seems to keep it. It cuts very, very well at these angles and is easy to maintain. Either stainless or CV, I do them all the same way. Take a little more care to clean up the burrs left on the stainless; that's about the most significant difference between the two steels, in sharpening them.

I was always disappointed with edges at 20° per side or more, as the steel will still wear at the same rate, but the cutting geometry is never as good. At wider edge angles, the dropoff in cutting performance will be much more apparent when the apex loses it's crispness; cutting will nearly stop in it's tracks. At a somewhat narrower angle (15° per side or lower), you'll get better cutting performance from the start, and still retain some useable sharpness as it begins to dull a little bit, due to the thinner geometry behind the apex.

BTW, the sheepsfoot blade on my 6375 CV stockman is likely very close to Case's lower 10°/side limit; it's extremely thin. I love how it handles cardboard (opening boxes, etc) and clamshell packaging, at this thin geometry. Only the very tip of the sheepsfoot blade seems to need a little more touching up regularly, but it's very, very easy with this steel, on most any stone. I'm also noticing that it's holding up better after a few sharpenings, which suggests the factory edges may be a little softer due to heat-generated changes in edge temper, from the finish grinding and burr removal on powered sharpening systems (as with a lot of factory knives finished this way).


David
 
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Am I the only guy that doesn't care about angle?

As long as both sides meet somewhat centered on the blade, and meet without any flat spots on the edge, IE Sharp, whats it matter? They all cut the same IMO.

Especially true for Case, both of their steels have a good middling heat treat, not soft, not brittle, they're not real picky knives to work with. The knife don't know what the angles are,why should I care...

Fine carving chissels, or my lathe tools, sure I'm a little more careful to have them thin, and opposite for axes, machetes etc, want it thicker...but for a pocket knife in regular use, that gets sharpened semi often anyway, I can never tell any difference from different angles.

Yall should try not over thinking it some time. ;)
Saves time and stress at the stones.

just my $0.02, a thought for ya anyway.
:)
 
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