Do you keep the factory edge?

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SethO

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Mar 12, 2015
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I wanted to know if you guys keep factory edges on your blades? I am going to order a LT Wright GNS and i asked them what edge degree they put of their blades. The knife am getting in a flat grind. They said that they put on 17-20 degree edge on their knives, meaning 10ish degrees on both sides. Most sharpeners don't even go this low. So my question is do most people just jump right to 15 degrees for both sides to sharpen their knives since most sharpeners start at 15 degrees? My tops bob has 11-12 degree edge on it, meaning 6 degrees on each side, how can a person maintain that angle? So do most factory edges change into something else or get a higher degree edge on them?
 
Wow, they are selling razors! Take it, it's a lot of fun to use. I think they mean 17-20 per side.

I normally do the sharpie test on my sharpmaker with extra fine rods to find out if the angle is within 15-20 degrees per side.

Unless it's totally out of whack, I just use the knife until it needs sharpening and reprofile it at that time.

For that acute angle, it's easy to maintain, just touch it up 15 per side as micro bevel

If it's too blunt of a grind then it's a lot more work and you actually need to regrind it to a better angle.
 
A freehand edge will go as low as you want it to. Only the guided or V-type sharpeners are limited as to how acute they can go (with some qualification -->). The clamped & guided systems can go lower than their marked settings imply, due to the angle being dependent on the width of the blade and how far from the clamp's front edge the blade's edge is positioned. Big blades with ~1.5" or more of width (spine to edge) will sharpen up considerably more acute than most clamped systems' markings imply, by several degrees at least.

Having said that, I very rarely keep the factory edge on any blade, almost always taking it lower in angle. Most of my edges end up at around ~25° inclusive or lower, by the time I've got them where I like them.


David
 
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Generally no I don't, I eventually get around to reprofiling my users. Though the knives I don't end up liking very much end up with just touching up the factory edge as they don't see much use.
 
I keep factory edges as long as they work. When they get dull then I resharpen. Some knives are very sharp out of the box, others aren't so sharp. I've also found that tips can be a problem. A factory knife might have a good edge along the straight part but not be sharp near the tip and not have good angles. The first time that I sharpen becomes more work to reprofile than sharpen, and usually a lot of work is needed near the tip. I use a DMT aligner system for sharpening. It doesn't have real precise settings but most of my knives end up about 20 degrees per side.

I have a new Bark River with convex edge. It appears to have very low angles near the edge. When it gets sharpened it will end up with some form of microbevel that will give it larger angles right at the edge.
 
wiredbeans said:
Wow, they are selling razors! Take it, it's a lot of fun to use. I think they mean 17-20 per side.

I normally do the sharpie test on my sharpmaker with extra fine rods to find out if the angle is within 15-20 degrees per side.

Unless it's totally out of whack, I just use the knife until it needs sharpening and reprofile it at that time.

For that acute angle, it's easy to maintain, just touch it up 15 per side as micro bevel

If it's too blunt of a grind then it's a lot more work and you actually need to regrind it to a better angle.[/QUOTE

The people from LT Wright told me 10 degrees on both sides for a total of 17-20 degrees.
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I am still on the fence as to what sharpening system i want. I am deciding between the wicked edge GenIII or the work sharp ken onion. Then i can just get some stones for scandi grinds. I forgot to mention almost all my knives will be for outdoor bushcraft use except for some EDC folder/fixed blades.
 
Wow, ~<10 per side, I'm not sure how strong 01 steel is but it will be an amazing slicer if the edge hold up

I would get the work sharp Ken Onion, make sure you get the grinding attachment and you will never need anything else.

For touch ups nothing beats spyderco sharpmaker
 
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SethO said:
The people from LT Wright told me 10 degrees on both sides for a total of 17-20 degrees.
Click to expand...

Looking at that knife on their web site, it's a Scandi grind. 17-20° inclusive (8.5-10° per side) sounds about right for that. I have a Helle Scandi in about the same ballpark.

If sharpened like a true Scandi, it could be as simple as laying the wide, flat bevels flush to the stone, and grind away. That's ordinarily how these would be sharpened anyway, as the bevels themselves ARE the angle guide for sharpening. Wet/dry sandpaper on a hard & flat backing like stone or glass works well for these. Other methods like a Sharpmaker or whatever could still be used to apply a microbevel @ 30° inclusive or whatever setting is used, and that'd still be perfectly functional as a knife. But, being a Scandi, they're ordinarily intended to be maintained at the angle set by the primary grind, flush to the flat bevels.


David
 
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Never.

I sharpen right away.

I've never seen a factory edge or even a custom knife edge that was satisfactory.
I lied, i had a Swiss army knife long ago that is about as sharp as my kitchen knives (which are sharp). I figured it was a fluke since the other blades were kind of sharp.
 
Not so much any more. Long ago when I couldn't sharpen very well, I would leave the factory edge as long as possible. Nowadays, I find the factory edges aren't up to what I can achieve, so they don't stay long :)
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Looking at that knife on their web site, it's a Scandi grind. 17-20° inclusive (8.5-10° per side) sounds about right for that. I have a Helle Scandi in about the same ballpark.

If sharpened like a true Scandi, it could be as simple as laying the wide, flat bevels flush to the stone, and grind away. That's ordinarily how these would be sharpened anyway, as the bevels themselves ARE the angle guide for sharpening. Wet/dry sandpaper on a hard & flat backing like stone or glass works well for these. Other methods like a Sharpmaker or whatever could still be used to apply a microbevel @ 30° inclusive or whatever setting is used, and that'd still be perfectly functional as a knife. But, being a Scandi, they're ordinarily intended to be maintained at the angle set by the primary grind, flush to the flat bevels.


David
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Wow, you are a knife nut! Thank you for sharing the info, learned a lesson!
 
I don't as a rule, with one notable exception:

My Shun VG-10 8" chef's knife came with a beautiful toothy but thin edge that I haven't touched in going on 7 years, I just haven't needed to.
 
+1 for reprofiling all my edges. If/when I buy a new knife I usually try it out as it comes, but eventually I will have to sharpen it. It's hard to force yourself to sharpen a knife at the obtuse factory angle when you could be making progress towards making the knife cut better instead.
 
Depends on the manufacturer. I didn't on my Sebenza, (of course I reprofed after a month of use...could help myself) but on my Moritaka gyoto for sure. Any super high carbon blades I do.
 
A Scandi ground knife is not like sharpening most knives, you will want waterstones or sandpaper over glass for the best sharpening results. The "edge" might be ground at 20 inclusive but as mentioned you grind that whole bevel so you never really hold any angle you just hold the knife in place so that's it's in proper contact with the stones.

You can't really use something like the EP or WE to sharpen these, it must be done by hand, which is a fairly easy process.

I would recommend at least two good waterstones,

The Kohetsu 800 and 2k are currently top of my list but I think if your in the spending mood the Nubatama Xhard Ume 1k and Ume 4k would be a good choice. Add a 400 Atoma for flattening and chip repair and you would have one good set of stones.
 
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