Changing angle of bevel what is lowest possible.

D

DavidL41

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Oct 12, 2014
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When changing the bevel on a knife what is the thinnest I can take it before there are some durability issues. Does any one take chisel grinds down to 8 or lower degrees for tasks that aren't intense such as fish cutting or paper and leather cutting. Any difference in sharpness?

Whats the purpose of making the bevel 3/4th of the width - is this because the lower the angle the longer the bevel?
 
It depends on the steel and its tempering, RC hardness, etc. I would take it down in small increments and see how it holds up. Eventually you will find the sweet spot for that particular knife.

I use a generic sharpening method which gives me acceptable cutting for 99.9% of my tasks. I sharpen the back bevel to 30 degrees total (15 per edge), and the primary edge bevel to 40 degrees (20 per side). I know I can reduce these angles but really see no need to for my knife use.

If you start giving your knife a razors edge I think it will be great for cutting arm hair but not so good for other tasks. I mean its a knife, not a razor.
 
As Gator mentioned it depends on the blade itself, but I would add that it also depends on the material you are cutting. If all you will be cutting is soft material then I believe you could probably go down that low and be ok (such as how the Spyderco Nilakka is ground). But if you will be hitting any harder material, prying, or twisting then you will want to add a micro bevel. It also depends on the person making the cut and how you do it (no prying twisting or torquing)

When I zero grind something, depending on several factors, I can push my fingernail into the edge laterally and see the edge visibly flex. The micro bevel, even if only at 10 dps will add a lot of strength to the edge from what I have seen/read.

But in general, people use WAY under ground knives w/ much thicker edges than needed.
 
DavidL41 said:
When changing the bevel on a knife what is the thinnest I can take it before there are some durability issues. Does any one take chisel grinds down to 8 or lower degrees for tasks that aren't intense such as fish cutting or paper and leather cutting. Any difference in sharpness?

Whats the purpose of making the bevel 3/4th of the width - is this because the lower the angle the longer the bevel?
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I my experience, 30* inclusive is very safe. Most edges come more broad than this, so thinning down to that level will show a nice improvement. Generally I find I can go down to about 24-26* inclusive and it will be on the edge of durable. Any lower and lateral stability will start to really fall off, though will still work well for a carefully used tool. For comparison, straights are usually 12-16*.
 
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