Different Edge Setups on Multi-Bladed Knives

I usually sharpen all of the blades at generally the same angle but I do have a couple of Stockman patterns that I leave the smallest blade nearly dull for scraping.

I sent the Railsplitter in my avatar out for a professional sharpening and I had the two smaller blades sharpened at an angle more suitable for light cutting. The Clip blade is sharpened at an angle more suitable for heavier cutting. I don't recall what those angles actually are but it's been working out great for me.
 
Planterz said:
I've seen Camillus and Camillus-made knives with serrated sheepsfoots, as well as Schrade, although it's entirely possibly one made the knives for the other. The serrations never really intrigued me because the way they're ground they don't look like you'd get them sharp easily; they look like serrations made for people who can't sharpen a knife but still want it to cut.
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Here is my Camillus Trapper with the serrated main.


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I sharpen all the blades on my Railspliters and stockmans to 18 degrees per side with a 600 grit diamond. The sheepsfoot and clip are the main cutting blades.
The spey is given a more refined edge with a 1000 Silicon Carbide stone.
 
I've been wanting to try this on a knife to try and optimize it for woodcarving/whittling.
I'm thinking steeper on the spey, shallower on the pen and in between on the main but all three would go to extra fine and stropping.
I just don't want to futz up a nice knife so I'm looking for a beater to experiment on.
 
Neko2 said:
I've been wanting to try this on a knife to try and optimize it for woodcarving/whittling.
I'm thinking steeper on the spey, shallower on the pen and in between on the main but all three would go to extra fine and stropping.
I just don't want to futz up a nice knife so I'm looking for a beater to experiment on.
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You should go for it! After sharpening both pen and main blades to the same finish and sharpness, I was amazed by the difference made by the different angles. I took a piece of soft wood and pressed the main (more obtuse) blade edge into it, and then did the same with the pen blade. I was happily surprised to see that the pen blade went about 60% deeper into the wood with the same pressure. Definitely a fun experiment.
 
BK14 said:
You should go for it! After sharpening both pen and main blades to the same finish and sharpness, I was amazed by the difference made by the different angles. I took a piece of soft wood and pressed the main (more obtuse) blade edge into it, and then did the same with the pen blade. I was happily surprised to see that the pen blade went about 60% deeper into the wood with the same pressure. Definitely a fun experiment.
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I think I may even try a single bevel / true chisel on a blade to really flatten the angle. Worst case I just sharpen up the back side again, right?
 
Neko2 said:
I think I may even try a single bevel / true chisel on a blade to really flatten the angle. Worst case I just sharpen up the back side again, right?
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That would be awesome. How does one go about that? Do you just grind one side a lot? How do you get rid of the bevel on the other side?
 
BK14 said:
...Do you just grind one side a lot? How do you get rid of the bevel on the other side?
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That's my plan at least. I might take a file to the current edge then start from scratch (sharpening pun!) or just go to town on the top side and see if I can wear it back a bit.

Now that I'm thinking (always dangerous) I could have chisel, standard and convex all on one knife...:D
 
Neko2 said:
That's my plan at least. I might take a file to the current edge then start from scratch (sharpening pun!) or just go to town on the top side and see if I can wear it back a bit.

Now that I'm thinking (always dangerous) I could have chisel, standard and convex all on one knife...:D
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Okay even I am geeking out now! Lol! Would you just convex with sandpaper on a mouse pad? If you end up doing this I need updates haha.
 
I usually don't sharpen the blades differently but use them alot differently so I can see the merit of it in some cases.

And I recently had a knife sharpened for me that I'm giving as a gift and wanted something special ... so the sharpener did give the wharncliff blade a slightly higher grit finish and a bit more refined edge for a bit better performance for the uses it will get aside from the main blade.
 
I do the exact same thing as OP with my own Texas Jack. A coarser, stouter edge on the main and a very fine edge on the little blade which I save for special precision tasks.

On my most recent stockman I did the same thing, except on the sheepsfoot I did a quick hand sharpen. I find it much easier to free hand touch up straight edged blades so I use that one for things I know will dull it fast so I can just casually swipe-swipe-swipe it back to normal on any old stone without having to get the "sharpening system" out.

To be completely honest I like the idea of having differently sharpened blades, but I doubt it's really making any practical difference.

Here's some pictures of the aformentioned knives becasue this thread is a lot of text.

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